Performance Prep Guide: Faculty Tips for Recitals, Auditions, and Competitions

Performance opportunities are an essential part of a well-rounded music education. Whether preparing for a recital, competition, or audition, a thoughtful approach to performance preparation helps music students make the most of each experience.

In this guide, Music Institute of Chicago faculty share tips on how to prepare for solo and ensemble performances, including recitals, auditions, and competitions, along with ways parents can support their child throughout the process.

Elif Allenfort  | Piano Faculty

• When preparing my students or my own children for auditions and competitions, I encourage them to see the experience as a chance to show their skills and overall progress and not as a test.
   
• Sometimes holding a “mock audition” before their event is very helpful, especially if you make it fun; run through the audition process at home with a few family members (or friends) as audience. Remind them that it is not about “perfection” but it’s about doing “their best.” 
   
• Let them know that it is ok to be nervous and that is part of what we do. I tell them even professional musicians like us get nervous before performances. Taking their time before they begin to play and taking deep breaths help them calm their nerves. 
   
• Resting and getting enough sleep are very important before any important event as proper nutrition on the day of the event. 

Everardo Sanchez | Cello Faculty (Suzuki)

• Make sure they're getting enough sleep! Most of our processing and learning happens while we sleep! 
   
• Remind them that no matter what the outcome of their recital is, their playing is not a reflection of their worth. We continue to grow even through recitals! 
   
• Celebrate them at every win! Recitals are big milestones for them and reminding them that their hard work paid off is a feeling they should never forget! 

Ben Woods | Voice Faculty

Audition

• Warm up for at least 10-15 mins before the audition. Keep it simple. SOVTs (Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract exercises), buzzing, lip trills, raspberries, etc. To keep the resonance forward.
• Revisit the audition material and make sure you are comfortable with it. Don't just memorize with your mind, put the material in your body. Try not to stay stagnant when memorizing, always be moving.
• Breathe. Ground yourself. Deep breaths before going into the room. Even find a wall or chair to further ground yourself.

Competition

• Warm up for at least 10-15 mins before the competition. Keep it simple. SOVTs (Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract exercises), buzzing, lip trills, raspberries, etc. Keep the resonance forward. Even take time to use one of these exercises with your repertoire.
• Always revisit your material. Even the night before you compete. 
• Breathe. Ground yourself. Deep breaths before you go on stage. Even find a wall or chair to further ground yourself.
   

Performance

• Warm up for at least 10-15 mins before the performance. Keep it simple.
• Make sure that you wake up early enough so the voice can be fully warm.
• Breathe. Ground yourself. Deep breaths before you perform. Even find a wall or chair to further ground yourself.

Dr. Daniel Baer | Piano Faculty; Program Director, Chamber Music

Playing chamber music is one of the great joys of learning to play an instrument. Many of the skills that we work hard to perfect in our practice are used to create art with friends and family. The best ensembles learn how to rehearse so that they can put themselves into each other’s ears and hear the piece (or pieces) they are playing simultaneously as individual parts and a concerted whole. Here are some tips that can help supercharge your chamber music rehearsals and achieve a higher level of performance. 

Study what the other members of your group are playing
We know that in solo music, composers are developing musical ideas in an ever-evolving musical conversation. This is especially true in chamber music. Knowing what is going on in concert with your part is an important way in figuring out what you want to hear and how you want to play the work.
 

Count expressively
St. Augustine says that “music is the art of measuring well.” Rhythm and meter are crucial in understanding music. The best ensembles can feel a unified pulse that underpins even the most rhythmically complex work. Knowing how your colleagues are feeling the rhythm and pulse is crucial in creating a coherent performance. Counting expressively can also be an efficient and powerful way to communicate how each musician is hearing rubato, accelerando, and other alterations to the pulse.
 

Sing to each other
If you can’t sing a phrase, you can’t play it! Singing communicates so much information to other musicians about what we hear in a phrase. Just make sure that you sing the phrase with as much expression as when you play it.