Music camp prepares students for auditions

Although already accepted to University of Memphis, soon-to-be college freshman Morgan Fite needs to ace his bass trombone audition for his school’s ensemble groups.

His goal: to land a coveted spot in a high-level music ensemble, a group he will practice with almost daily.

To polish his music and audition skills, Fite and other incoming high school juniors, seniors and college freshmen from around the country spent a week at the Jacobs School of Music’s College Audition Preparation Workshop.

“It develops your ability better because you play with better people,” Fite said.

The future music majors took private lessons, attended classes with graduate students and learned how to combat audition-day jitters.

“The portal into a music program, you’ve got to audition,” workshop director and Jacobs faculty member Dee Stewart said. “That audition is the pivotal point in their careers.”

In college auditions, students spend about 10 minutes playing for faculty members, five minutes playing a prepared piece of “pretty high quality” and five minutes of scales and sight reading.

“We don’t really push IU,” Stewart said. “The audition process will be the same pretty much wherever they go.”

Stewart said the camp has “a pretty good track record” of future Jacobs acceptances. One year,  Jacobs admitted four freshmen clarinet players — three of whom attended the workshop.

Stewart, a trombonist, started the workshop 12 years ago for a small group of trombonists.

“I get a lot of people who come from all over the world for just a lesson,” he said. “They hope for magic that can turn their life around.”

So he decided to extend the one hour lessons into an entire week filled with audition advice and preparation.
“The dean heard about it and said, ‘That’s a really great program. Let’s do that for all instruments,’” Stewart said.

Haley Jenkins, an rising high school senior and vocalist from Broken Bow, Neb., said her week-long experience helped her banish audition fears.

Her most valuable audition advice came from a “Fearless Auditions” seminar by a Jacobs faculty member.

“It really touched home for me,” Jenkins said. “It helped me connect with this is what you really need to do to have a good audition.”

Jenkins took away three ideas from the seminar: being fearless, knowing when you’re not fearless and getting back to being fearless.

She also learned the importance of relinquishing fearful, negative thoughts — a useful tool for her five upcoming college auditions.

“I wrote so much in my notebook,” she said. “I have everything he was saying.”
Jenkins, who plans to apply to IU, said the workshop helped her with more than auditions.

She also visited one of her short-listed schools and experienced college life — ice cream socials, roommates and down time with her floor.

Jenkins said she has few opportunities to sing with strong male vocalists at home, something she’s taken advantage of during classes and her spare time at camp. 

“We went in the first floor and just jammed,” Jenkins said. “We sang songs we all knew so we could harmonize.”