Performance Reviews, Exams and Recitals

It is a privilege to have an audience gather to hear you perform. It is your job to make sure, by the excellence of your preparation, that the audience is privileged as well to experience your performance! The sequence of hurdles outlined below is designed to help you attain that excellence.

First Year Performance Reviews
All students with music as a major and voice as their primary instrument must sing to be reviewed at the end of the first year. This review provides an opportunity for feedback from the entire voice faculty on how students are progressing toward the qualifying exams for their majors. Requirements and forms for first year performance reviews can be found at (click here). Be sure to bring sufficient copies of the appropriate forms, etc. to the review (see forms for details). Students will be assessed as having made unsatisfactory, satisfactory, or commendable progress toward their intended major, with specific strengths and weaknesses cited. This review is advisorial only, and does not affect degree standing.

Qualifying Exams
All voice majors must take an exam to qualify for their particular degree by the end of the sophomore year. This qualifying exam must be passed in order to continue in that degree and major and before any recital is given. Requirements and forms for qualifying exams can be found at (click here). Be sure to bring to the exam both a copy of the form for each faculty member and three copies of your foreign language texts. Postponing the qualifying exam is discouraged, and is allowed by petition only. Students wishing to present additional, non-required recitals might discuss with their teacher the advisability of attempting the qualifying exam earlier. At the exam students are either passed, given a partial pass, or failed. Qualifying exams that are not passed may be retaken once without petition, and should be retaken as soon as possible. Passes imply the faculty’s confidence that the student is progressing well toward successfully completing the recital requirements for the particular degree and major. Partial passes indicate some concern, but imply the faculty’s confidence that given sufficient attention and effort to the problems identified, the student should still be able to pass a timely retake. Failures imply the faculty’s serious concern about the possibility of passing within a reasonable time frame. Specific feedback is given in all cases, as well as guidelines and a proposed timeline for a rehearing for exams that were not passed.

Recitals
Bachelor of Arts students with voice as their major instrument may use a half recital for their required senior project. Music Education majors with voice as their primary instrument are required to give a half recital in the junior or senior year. Vocal Performance majors are required to give a junior half recital and a senior full recital. Half recitals contain at least 20 and no more than 30 minutes of music, are usually paired with another half recital, and are performed without an intermission. Full recitals contain 50-60 minutes of music and are presented with an intermission. Any additional, non-required recital given on campus must have departmental approval, a pre-recital hearing, and must occur in terms one or two.

Program Selection and Recital Preparation
While there are no specific literature requirements for degree recitals, the teacher and student should work together to ensure that a variety of literature, periods, and languages is included, as appropriate to the specific student and degree. Non-traditional literature usually should comprise no more than a fourth of the program. The proposed program with accurate timings should then be submitted to the voice department faculty (an e-mail attachment to the department chair is preferred) for confirmation two months prior to the planned performance, the time by which music should be provided to the accompanist as well. This should give sufficient time for scheduling the required recital hearing and for program adjustments, should any be necessary. You must fill out a recital request form and submit complete program information to the conservatory office no later than one month prior to the recital. While it will not be printed until you have passed your recital hearing, this will allow timely preparation and checking prior to printing.

Recital Hearings
All formal recitals given on campus must have a pre-recital hearing three to four weeks ahead of the performance date to ensure quality of preparation for a successful performance. To schedule a recital hearing, two months prior to your recital submit to your studio teacher a copy of the combined schedules of all performers for the third and forth weeks prior to your performance date. The studio teacher will then bring this to the voice faculty for scheduling. Programs may not be printed nor the recital given until the hearing is passed. Every effort should be made to be solidly prepared by the hearing. Insufficient preparation will either result in the cancellation or postponement of the recital, possible deletions from the program, and/or the need for a second hearing. Usually two faculty in addition to the primary teacher will adjudicate the hearing. Three copies of the program order and program notes or translations should be provided for the faculty adjudicators at the hearing. The primary criteria for passing the hearing are security of vocal, linguistic, and musical preparation, and reliability of memory. It is assumed that the time between the hearing and the actual performance is for further polishing of interpretation and presentation, not for basic preparation. Since recitals must be passed to complete degree requirements, passing the recital hearing implies the faculty’s confidence that the actual performance will be of passing quality. Well prepared recitals of great literature are rewarding to give and a pleasure to hear!

Dress Rehearsals
In addition to your preparation, you will want to dress rehearse your program in the performance venue (usually Harper Hall). This hall is often fully scheduled. You will need to confer with your teacher and collaborators and schedule a dress rehearsal well in advance (probably about two months) in order to obtain an optimal rehearsal time. Allow 2 hours for a one-hour recital. Ideally a dress rehearsal would occur two days before a recital, and a maximum of one week prior to the recital. If possible, schedule several runs of your recital program to assure proper pacing, endurance, and anxiety management as well as to encourage artistic development. Video recording of these rehearsals for subsequent review and development of rehearsal goals is strongly encouraged.

The Recital
• You and your pianist will have access to the recital hall one hour before your performance time. Plan on opening the house doors 10-15 minutes prior to the recital time.

• Check 30 minutes prior to your recital start time that your stage manager, usher and recording engineer have arrived. Alert teacher or one of the above, if all are not present.

• Recording of Recital: A sound recording is made of all recitals. A CD will be copied and given to you by the recording engineer at the end of your recital. For a VIDEO RECORDING of the recital, you must purchase a VHS tape from the Con Office (to assure quality and compatibility) and present this tape to the recording engineer at the time of your recital.

• Green Room. If the Green room is locked, call campus security or find a maintenance person to unlock it. The Green Room is to be available for you.

• Stage Management. Request that when the house lights are lowered, the row of stage spots is still on, and there is still enough light to allow for the reading of translations. Inform the stage manager of any other needs, such as a chair for the page turner, additional music stands for instrumentalists, etc.