Audition Day P. III

Greetings readers,

I know that some of you may be wondering: "How did you do?"

And with my deflective answer, I will just say: "You'll have to ask Zaugg."

I'm guessing that's not enough to satiate your curiosity.

I'm glad to report that, although nothing is for certain, I did the very best that I could do. I felt the process allowed me to demonstrate the range of my skills, whether it was my glaring weaknesses or my apparent strengths. I felt exponentially better each day so by the time I reached the third ensemble... I wasn't worrying about my position within the choir but focusing on the fact that I was getting to make music with different groups of talented people. As well, upon further reflection, I realized that some of our auditions actually began back in November. This was when Zaugg started working with Pro Coro for the first time in preparation for his Artistic Director audition concert. Working with singers within a natural context can't beat an audition process, where tasks and pieces are selected in order to simulate the same environment. 

Overall, I felt like it was a fair process and that everybody had their own opportunities to demonstrate their musical prowess. Zaugg was very clear at the start of the ensemble portion that he would be giving direct, specific feedback to singers in order to avoid a "Oh, but if you only told me to do _____" type of situation when he provides feedback later this Spring (all singers, successful or unsuccessful, will be receiving written feedback regarding their performance). Well, he definitely told us what he wanted individually from each singer so we really have no one to blame but ourselves if we didn't respond to his feedback.

What was also remarkable was how different each of the ensembles felt. While there may have been some similar analogies and questions, I was often surprised by new twists. One such moment was singing through the Lidholm piece past the marked boundaries of the quick-study passage. That was totally unexpected. Another was running Mozart's "Kyrie" in mini quartets facing each other in a circle; it was super fun passing the thematic lines to one another as we made our way through the piece. I also noticed it was so much easier singing the moving sixteenth notes when I could hear the Kyrie theme sung straight at me. If only more things were blatantly obvious in choir. Also, it was refreshing to make eye contact with other singers who had parallel passages and initiate musical sequences together. There was a really nice sense of choral camaraderie within the ensembles. These mini quartets, I think, were one my favorite parts from the ensemble audition. As well, there were moments when things just clicked. One of my alto partners and I managed to execute a Mozart run with equivalent momentum and articulation at the start of the "Kyrie". I knew it was noteworthy because even Zaugg looked up from his stand to acknowledge it.

Now what? Well, there are still two more days of auditions in May for those singers who could not make the first audition round and then the final singer roster will be announced mid-May. Zaugg remarked that he would release results on May 13, however, after a brief moment of reflection, he realized that, perhaps, he shouldn't do it on Mother's Day. I agree. All I know is that I will either be a very happy or very sad Choir Girl while in Toronto (that's where I'll be before Podium 2012). May the best chorister sing!

Until next time readers, take care!

Audition Day P.II

Greetings readers,

Day three of auditions has now finished and yesterday was the first day of ensemble auditions. I can say, with confidence, that this is by far the most comprehensive, consuming, and yet, exciting audition process I have ever been through. With the verbal and written comments I've been receiving from my Audition Part I entry and reading the news feed updates of local singers... it is safe to say the entire choral community is buzzing. There is such a sense of shared community uniting us as we navigate our way through the path that Zaugg has constructed for us.

The ensemble portion of the audition consisted of working through Mozart's "Kyrie," Debussy's "Dieu! qu'il la fair bon regarder!" Webern's "Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen..." and a second shot at the Lidholm quick-study from the individual audition. It was like a choral masterclass since there were only about 10-12 singers, which equated to around 2-3 people on each part. In an intimate, yet supportive setting, Zaugg challenged us to take a critical look at the music, chord progressions and how these corresponded to crucial moments or the structural progression in a musical passage. He illustrated how to articulate the "Kyrie" text in order to mimic the bow contact of a string instrument within the musical lines. As well, he emphasized the need for a seamless sense of ensemble in the Debussy, and instructed us to eliminate our visual and auditory senses (eyes closed; no audible breath) to innately feel the fluid momentum of the work as a conjoined entity. We also experimented the auditory effects of having unmatched vowels on chords, with the basses producing a slightly more spread vowel on purpose. The pulsating acoustic instability of the chord was instantly perceptible. This was juxtaposed with a balanced chord column of sound. I would love to analyze and compare those spectrograms. It has definitely been a long time since I've dedicated that much concentration to thinking about the text, musical structures, and chord tuning in a focused set of works. It's quite luxurious to bask in the self-indulgent nature of music-making and the satisfaction that comes from producing detail-oriented work. That is what makes the ensemble audition so exciting: the energy and interaction with the other singers. Auditioning can be a lonely process so it's really fortunate that we have the ability to demonstrate our chorister ensemble skills as well.

While reflecting upon the audition process so far, I think there is a sense of apprehension but eagerness towards the prospect of the unknown. Everybody is shaken, nobody feels safe, and as frightening as it is for me to be a part of that pool of participants... it's exactly what Pro Coro needs and why Zaugg is the new Artistic Director. I find I'm struggling between a sense of curiosity as an objective spectator but, at the same time, a looming anxiety regarding the outcomes of the process. It's taking a fair amount of mental stamina to make it through this process. Meanwhile, there is another day of ensemble auditions today and nothing is for sure yet. It can be crippling to focus on the uncertainty of the future; however, the future depends on present and that is where I intend to focus my energy for today. It's not over until it's over, right?

Until next time readers, take care! 

Audition Day P.I

Greetings readers,

Yes, I know, you're probably all curious and wondering how the Pro Coro individual auditions went for me. Lucky for you, dear readers, it appears that my sense of shame does not hinder me from sharing my experience with you.

Firstly, you know it's not a great sign when you arrive at an audition and the response to your arrival is: "You've allowed no time to look through the quick-study." 

"Great..." I thought to myself while trying to stifle a flashback to the powerpoint presentation that remained half-finished on my laptop, a string of last-minute supervisor edits in my inbox, and an evening submission deadline looming. "Focus," I said silently to myself, as I cued myself back to the present.

As I stood there in the hallway, I glanced down at my watch. "I still have 5"ish" minutes," I thought to myself. I took out my tuning fork, struck it, and held it to my ear, why couldn't I find my note? I paused and noticed the dominant piano accompaniment echoing from the room next door. Oh yes, there's a festival class going on right now. Why do I suddenly hear the music on the page? Oh, somebody who was on-time was working through it on the piano in the practice room. While standing at the music stand in the hallway, I attempted to work through some of the initial intervals in the piece. Suddenly, I noticed the same feeling of cascading frenzy I get when I attempt to cram before an exam.

This was not helping. I should just go in. I knew very well that the audition was constructed in a way that would make my choral deficits extremely apparent. Therefore, I should just embrace it.

Here is a figure to illustrate my sight-reading skills:

You can tell I'm a Science student, right?

Confounding variables aside (a.k.a excuses), I am not surprised by my performance because it was representative of my skill level in that particular construct. If I had to estimate my sight-reading mean, meaning a piece that would give an average view of my abilities, it would be something formulaic by Handel. Thus, if I were to sight-read something like that, I would be able to make my way through it relatively unscathed. My performance dispersion on either side of the mean highlights a ± 1 standard deviation, encapsulating 68% of my sight-reading abilities. The upper 34% would be like sight-reading pieces I have sung in the distant past, thus, increasing my perceived performance proficiency due to familiarity. The lower 34% would be pieces with no predictable tonality patterns to use as an aid, such as the atonal Lidholm passage that was the quick-study for the audition. You can probably imagine the outcome.

One does not just suddenly acquire the skills overnight to spontaneously sight-read music like Lidholm. My music learning occurs within a tactile-motoric modality paired with auditory feedback (a.k.a learning by ear), the visual input from the music notes play a less dominant role in my music learning process. Definitely not ideal but, unfortunately, that is the compensatory skill I have acquired in order to learn music. While it serves me functionally within a choral setting, it is glaringly obvious that this is the case when faced with an audition framework. Thus, even with insightful coaching within the audition session, follow-up attempts did not elicit a significant improvement. However, it did give me new sight-reading considerations to ponder.

As for the other components in the audition, the Anton Webern test piece felt more shaky than I anticipated. I wasn't certain if it was just me, the piano accompaniment or maybe components of both, but it didn't feel settled. There were also some standard range and color exercises. Oh, isn't it always humbling to sing around your upper and lower voice breaks? The art song at the end of the session felt like a self-produced musical send-off. Which was a gift, really, since it was the only thing we had control over within the audition construct.

Overall, how did I feel regarding the audition process? I was definitely wavering between pangs of shame and humor (frustration is not a fruitful emotion to bear)... followed by an intermittent sense of worry. Alas, there is no time to dwell on the past since the individual audition is just one part of the audition process. Mini ensemble work begins today. Stay tuned, it's going to be an interesting weekend.

Until next time readers, take care!