Can I go to Carnegie with this piece?

December 6, 2010 8:06 PM

Do you think this Ginastera piece played perfectly (by a high school junior) could merit a trip to Carnegie Hall?

I'm a junior in Highschool, looking to audition for Carnegie Hall. I've never taken my piano too seriously so I'm just looking for the nonsugar coated truth.

If I play the Creole Dance perfectly, then would I have a shot to go to Carnegie? Keep in mind, I'm in a highly competitive group.

posted by ptsampras14 to media & arts (6 answers total)

I'm not sure what your question is: do you actually have an audition to Carnegie Hall (?) and are asking if the submission is good enough for that audition? Or do you have some idea of what Carnegie Hall means as a musician and you're asking if you've "made it"?

As an aside: I'm a very amateur musician, but don't think there's such a thing as playing a piece "perfectly", which you mention twice in your question. You may want to forget about the notes and concentrate on the music.
posted by sfkiddo at 8:54 PM on December 6, 2010

Echoing that your question is unanswerable as written.

But given that you say, I've never taken my piano too seriously, the short answer is probably "no".
posted by supercres at 8:57 PM on December 6, 2010

Is that video of you playing or just a random recording of the song? I also don't understand the question.

Also, weren't you a junior in high school two years ago?
posted by naoko at 9:59 PM on December 6, 2010

The title is "Can I go to Carnegie..." so, I'm taking that it meant this is the poster playing.

Well, as another musician who doesn't take it too seriously, no. Unless something is sailing over my head about this piece (possible) some of your chords are muddy, and you drop the tempo at least once. Plus, as noted, music is not something that can be done perfectly.

That said, this is pretty fishy.
posted by cmoj at 10:36 PM on December 6, 2010

I've performed at Carnegie Hall eight times. I would recommend doing what I did when I was a junior in high school: practice my ass off for the next eight years. While you're doing that:

Constantly surround yourself with musicians - your peers, teachers, and students - who challenge you to be better. Constantly.

Say "YES" to every opportunity to collaborate. Every one.

Be a good person.

For your own sanity, forget about "perfect" whether in reference to yourself or anyone around you. Like me, you will ignore this advice for years until you discover it for yourself - at which point your life will simultaneously get more pleasurable and your playing will leap forward.

You can do it. Good luck.
posted by violinflu at 5:08 AM on December 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

I don't really understand the question - it's not like Carnegie Hall has a monthly off-the-street audition for who's going to be performing there. If you mean something like the Young Artist's Showcase, I wouldn't think so. That piece doesn't rate exceptionally highly any time it appears in an audition ranking - usually at the level of what most decent pianists could do in late junior high or early high school.

But as a general rule of thumb, a piece that runs a minute and a half long is not major audition material. I can't think of a single one, at any level of difficulty. I've also never known of a major audition for classical piano where you just played one piece. (Which is why I'm hoping you're asking about some sort of specialized youth competition, otherwise this question is extremely misguided.)

Usually for a pianist, a general audition (like to get into conservatory) will consist of *at least* a Baroque piece, a Classical piece, a Romantic piece, and a Modern piece. Frequently one of those will be an entire concerto. They will all be very close to flawless. They will all be harder than the Ginastera.

(As an aside, I'm hoping by "perfect," you don't mean just the right notes. At any higher level, everybody will have the right notes. It isn't unique or special.)
posted by wending my way at 7:12 AM on December 7, 2010 [2 favorites]