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Conservatoires

Any advice for apply for an undergrad as a soprano for Conservatoires such Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall.
Mainly personal statement, how to know if you’re good enough and interview help!!! Thank you:smile:
Are you able to have what's called a "consultation lesson" with a voice professor at one of these conservatoires? (Or one nearer to you if you are not anywhere near London.) That's the best way of finding out whether you're realistically "good enough" :yep:
Any tips of interviews? Such as when they ask you if you have any questions?
Original post by Operagirl2020
Any tips of interviews? Such as when they ask you if you have any questions?

I'm afraid it's a long time since I auditioned (2006!) and I'm a pianist, so I don't know what vocal auditions/interviews are like :ninja: Generally speaking though, if they ask if you have any questions, only ask one if you have a genuine/intelligent question! There's nothing worse than asking a question that is easily answered by the prospectus :eek:
Hi Operagirl2020,

I'm a classical bass-baritone about starting at Guildhall in September. It's tricky at the moment given the whole coronavirus situation but I'm happy to pass on information that helped me.

Make sure you chat in depth with your singing teacher about whether they think you are good enough to apply. Although graded exams isn't a requirement, I'd suggest you need to be at least roughly Grade 8 Distinction standard to stand a chance at an audition. The three conservatoires you've mentioned are the most competitive out of all the colleges in the country and only take a dozen or so singers a year. I would suggest trying to organise a vocal feedback consultation with a teacher prior to auditioning. RCM offer a mock vocal feedback audition around October and Guildhall offer vocal feedback consultations as well - the info should be all on their websites. Don't be disheartened if they say you aren't ready just yet - it's incredibly rare to get a place on a conservatoire vocal degree straight out of school, most people are in their early 20s. I'm 19 and I was the second youngest at my audition.

When you audition make sure you choose your pieces wisely. Make sure you pick pieces that you can do justice right now, not repertoire you would like to be able to sing in five years time. Mozart and Handel are always good choices. I would stay clear of Puccini, Wagner, Verdi and such composers. You will need to pick three pieces and I suggest you choose pieces that are all in different languages, contrasting moods and eras (this shows your diversity). Make sure you have a piece in English, a piece in Italian and then a piece in one other language (German, French, Russian and Czech are all good choices). Make sure at least one of your pieces is an aria from an opera or oratorio and I would also suggest you have one art song. Don't bring any musical theatre. Choosing the right pieces are vital so make sure you really give it some thought.

When you get to your audition, they aren't looking for perfection. Make sure you really perform your music and don't just stand there and sing. The interview is relatively short and they usually ask you such questions as: who is your biggest musical influence? why do you want to come here? where do you see yourself in five years time? They might ask you questions about your personal statement so make sure you feel comfortable talking about what you've written. Make sure you have a couple of questions to ask the panel that are specific to each conservatoire. If you don't have any questions, it might look as if you aren't interested enough in the college. All three of the conservatoires you have mentioned will ask you to sight sing and Guildhall will ask you to prepare a monologue from a play.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions! :-)
(edited 3 years ago)

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