Auditions… In-person vs Recorded vs Virtual-Live

Let’s talk about auditions. They are super exciting and potentially extremely nerve-wracking… either way they are a reality for those applying to the performing arts everywhere. With several ways to complete the audition (in-person, recordings, or virtual-live options), who’s to know the way to go?

The fact is, each methodology has pros and cons and it’s going to be up to you to decide what’s best for you. BUT that can be hard to do if you don’t have enough information to decide. So, here I am, your humble informant, offering information and context so you can weigh your options from an informed perspective. Let’s get into it.

In-Person

This is the audition gold-standard. Faculty will never be sad to meet you and hear your music live and in-person and for good reason. There are a lot of perks to this method. Faculty get a really clear picture of your sound, presence, technique, personality, mannerisms, etc. You get a chance to see the campus and meet with faculty, students, and staff from the school. Faculty often assume that if you come in-person their program is one of your top choices, so there’s an undeniable element of flattery to showing up in-person.

However, traveling to various campuses to do a live audition is expensive… really expensive. Some students can’t afford to make it to one in-person audition, not to mention multiple. Also, since many schools do auditions in February you often can’t physically get to all of the live auditions. There are maybe 4 weekends in February and most students are applying to 10+ music programs. You can’t do everything in-person. As an aside, this is why I always encourage you to take advantage of non-February auditions. If you see something earlier, you need to make that happen if you can.

Recorded

In a post-COVID world, recorded auditions have become more accepted/tolerated. While I think faculty will prefer in-person auditions for the foreseeable future, there is some general softening to virtual options. Recorded auditions bring some great things to the process. First of all, students save money on travel expenses. Students can complete and submit their recordings on their own timeline. Faculty can review recordings as they come in- helps with workload management. Because students can make recordings on their own time, and an untimely illness or injury is much less of an issue- especially if the student prioritizes making the recording well ahead of the deadline.

That being said, faculty can find recordings a bit tough. The sound quality is almost never as good as in-person, they don’t know how many times the student attempted and therefore lose a lot of perspective in performance skills/error recovery. Students can struggle to gain access to good recording resources whether it be a studio or a microphone. There are organizations that working to support students in getting access to quality microphones so they can make good quality recordings. My personal favorite organization is Music Inclusion Coalition (MIC). In addition to supporting access to microphones, they are also working directly with universities to make the audition/admission process more equitable.

Virtual-Live

Virtual-live auditions seem like they would be the best of both worlds and in many ways they are! Faculty can see how you react to a one-shot set up, respond to any live mistakes, etc. Students can get real-time interaction with faculty and save money on travel expenses. All great things.

BUT, students lose the opportunity to see campus and meet people. Faculty still lose some sound quality and you have the added factor of something going array with Wifi, microphones, etc. Personally, I think virtual-live is a great option if you also submit a recorded audition for faculty to use as a back up in case there is a tech issue in real time or if you’re sick/injured the day of your audition.

No matter what you choose, the most important thing is to complete your audition. Use your resources well and get support where you can!

That’s all for now, folks. Talk soon.

-Veronica