Auditioning for the Conservatory of Music
December 01, 2022
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The first part of the auditions required me to submit three songs that I worked on. My brain was in P-A-N-I-C mode.
My brain automatically said: “ THREE SONGS?! I just sing in the shower and make beats to make me feel better throughout the day… I’m not cut out for this. I mean, do they want me to play the clarinet? I know Squidward taught me a couple of things, but - I never made an entire song with vocals, instruments, and… and… MIXING?! I don’t even know what that is… is that A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?!?! *insert more rambling*.
So as you can see here, I was a high school girl who just liked making music. I had some experience here and there, but never professionally submitted something before. But, I stayed up a lot of late nights until I created three songs that I felt comfortable presenting that were a representation of me as a whole. I sent in one instrumental and two songs that had vocals on it, as well (one of them I was rapping for the first time on, but we do NOT need to bring that up again). Once those were accepted by the music program, a huge weight was off my shoulders. I was proud of myself, now knowing that I could create a full-length song… But then I got an email for a live audition… and guess what I did? I PANICKED.
Brain: “I’ve never been interviewed on a scale like this before. What do I even say? What do I even do? WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?!” (See… I wasn’t really good under pressure back then).
Fast forward, I’m in the audition room and I see three professors (Johnathan Jetter, Peter Deneberg, and Silas Brown) staring at me, and I took a deeeeep breath. As soon as they started talking, all of my worries went away. It was like a casual conversation. They asked me questions like: Who inspires me? Who’s my favorite producer? What do I know around the studio? etc… They were very interested in who I was as a person and why I chose to be a studio production major. To me, it seems like what matters most is who you are, your determination, your work, and what type of musician you want to be. The program automatically starts everyone at base level so we can get the same learning experience and knowledge. So when auditioning, yes, they asked me some music theory and studio etiquette questions… But they focused on who I wanted to become, and that was very important to me. Auditioning for the music conservatory was my first step into the professional world. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but totally worth it! Looking back I always chuckle, but I am thankful… and those same professors (and others) are the ones that taught me everything I know today. I loved every second of it and I hope you do too. <3
–Aniya Russell