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Is there a place to warm up?

A warm-up room is available for brief use by each candidate prior to the audition.

Is the competition open to the public?

The only event in the competition open to the public is the Finalists Concert of the Lieder / Art Song Division.

All those who have participated in that Division may attend this concert free of charge.

What should I wear?

Wear what you would normally wear to an important audition.  This is true even for the Lieder Finalists Concert.  The Winners Concert at Weill Hall is a more formal affair where gown and tuxedos are appropriate.

How long is the audition?

At the preliminaries for the General and Wagner Divisions we hear 7 or 8 people an hour.  For the Art Song Division we hear 6 people an hour.  The time slots at the finals are somewhat longer.  It is in the candidate’s best interest to offer contrasting selections in a variety of styles that best show off his or her talents.  Beginning with a lengthy selection may not be the wisest choice.   There is a wealth of repertoire that is not overly long that can serve you very well.  As with most auditions It may also be helpful to offer the judges the choice of the second part, no recit, the ornamented section, etc. so that you make optimal use of your time.  At the very least, do not take offense if the judges make such requests of you. 

Show us what you can do, not what you think we want to hear. 

In all likelihood the first selection will be your choice.  The judges will choose a second and (particularly in the case of Lieder) possibly (part of) a third. 

Wagner contestants, yes, please do start with Wagner.

Can I get feedback from the judges?

The judges’ feedback will not be made available to the candidates, although on occasion comments may be offered at the time of the audition.

Must I be a United States citizen in order to compete?

No.  The Competition is open to singers from all over the world.

Who are the judges?

It is not our policy to make this information available in advance of the event but the names and affiliations of the judges will be posted at the time of the Competition.

What if I have studied or coached with one or more of the judges?

In order to have judges who are knowledgeable in their field and who take an interest in up and coming talent, it is a virtually impossibility (particularly with regard to candidates based on the east coast) that every single singer in the competition is an unknown quantity to the panel of judges.  Our judges are clearly instructed to recuse themselves from scoring a candidate if they feel that they are too intimately acquainted with that singer or their work to be objective.  Since the entire competition is based on numbers and NOT discussion, that singer’s score will be made up of the average of the remaining scores.  This is one of the reasons we always have a panel of no less than three judges.

Why don’t you ask for a resume?

 

Ours is a vocal competition based on vocal ability and expression. 

Your experience or lack thereof is not the element on which the judges will base their scores.  A resume would in fact be a distraction in their scoring process. 

 

Why do you no longer ask for our repertoire on the initial application?

We used to, but so much time elapses between the mailing of the application and the competition itself that a lot of time was lost when singers (whose vocal ripening does not stand still between September and January) had made repertoire changes and needed to announce them at the audition. 

 

Is it acceptable to have an operetta aria in the General Division?

Yes.

 

FYI

 

Within each division there are two different panels of judges for preliminary and final rounds.

 

Before you enter the contest be sure that you are available for the Winners Concert at Weill Recital Hall.  If you cannot appear you will not be granted an award.  Be careful with prior commitments and contracts.  If you have a cover contract for that date it essentially makes you ineligible to compete.

 

 

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