I love almost everything about conducting an elite, auditioned extracurricular men’s choir.
Almost.
The worst part of running the Rockford Aces is holding auditions. For two big reasons, I feel strongly that auditions are at best a necessary evil.
- Every year I hear talented, passionate young men who won’t get into the ensemble this year.
- Every year I see confident, smart young men scared to look at me because I’m judging them.
During the three hours of auditions, I have to occupy a different space than I will the rest of the year. It’s foreign, and it goes against the relationship I want to maintain with my students.
I’m lucky – I only have to go through this once a year; many of you deal with multiple stressful audition processes per year.
Every time I finish, I walk away hoping that the students know that I care about them, regardless of the results.
It’s surely the worst part of the process for the students. I hope they know it is for me, too.