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From: DEBORAH
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Auditioning new students
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Hi Rocio & list,

Allow me to clarify my statement regarding being accepted by a
teacher of singing:

I called several teachers on a list sent to me by NATS and talked
with them over the phone. I requested references from all of them,
but only called the references of the two that I "clicked" with
on the phone.

The teacher I finally called back had earlier explained that she
takes students on a 10 week basis. That way, if things don't work
out, personality conflicts, schedule conflicts, etc, we don't have
any awkward moments about moving on. My impression was that this
was as much for my benefit as it was for hers.

So, I believe I did my homework and that I did audition my teacher,
in a sense, by "giving her" a phone audition and checking her experience
and references.

As far as teachers auditioning students:

I would think that this would depend upon several things, including
the teacher's temperment, experience, desire to teach a certain
experience level of singers.

For example, if the teacher tends to be lacking in patience and knows
his limits in that department, he would be doing me a favor by
auditioning me and even, possibly by turning me down if our experiences
together wouldn't be positive due to his limitations.

Bravo to those teachers who have that extra dollop of patience added
to their personalities and who can handle the hard to teach with
gentleness and give them a positive learning experience. I believe
you are a rare breed, indeed.

Thanks for listening.

Deborah