State Audition Music

Some of the next few posts are going to directly address the region and state competitions for high school singers.  Our region, which compromises Friendswood, Pearland, Clear Lake, and Texas City, is one of the top 5 MOST competitive regions in the state.  Just getting past District-level auditions is an honor.  Many singers who fail to make Region choir in this area would be shoo-ins for other regions in Texas.  The singers in this area are THAT competitive.

Singing for the Region auditions is very similar to sports in the Olympics, in that judges grade you in two broad categories: Accuracy and Artistry.  Accuracy pertains to ensuring that all pitches, rhythms, and notated dynamics are performed correctly.  It is a very objective measure that is easy to grade.

The more subjective measure is artistry/musicality.  Some singers just have IT, whatever IT is.  When you hear them, you can hear the emotion and drama of a song, even if it is in a foreign language.  Most singers have to learn musicality, and believe me, it CAN be learned.  My personal belief is that great musicality can and should triumph over accuracy, else we are just well-produced machines.  And I hate to say it, but music technology has come so far that a machine is far more accurate than the most proficient singer.  What makes a singer great is not their technical aptitude, but their ability to COMMUNICATE through song.

I said musicality can be learned; well, I will tell you some ideas on the next post!  ;)

DWS