Autumn / Winter music thread - 2026/2027

[northerngoldilocks]

Time for a new thread for the new school year!

Come and talk about music lessons, choosing instruments, exams, auditions, specialist schools, orchestras or whatever other music activities are going on. Everyone is welcome, from those with total beginners to those whose children are studying music at advanced levels. Ask for advice or share successes or struggles.

Looks like the same rule for woodwind, @achangeofnameisasgoodasarest!

https://www.rncm.ac.uk/study-here/make-an-application/your-audition/rncm-school-of-wind-brass-and-percussion-audition-requirements/

I would phone up for clarification, but have entirely lost my voice.

Well, we'll see. She's making one anyway as school thinks it is needed, so we will see what happens.

Good luck to all on conservatoire applications. Doesn’t seem long since mine was applying and he’s finished his degree now.

It flies, doesn’t it?
DS has just gone into his third year, but it feels about 5 minutes since he started.

How’s your DS finding professional life? There’s never been a tougher time to start out as a pro musician, IMO.

He’s working in a bar part time to pay the rent. He’s got a few gigs lined up over the next few months but hoping to get some more dep work when the orchestras get busy. He’s spending more time at his conservatoire now than he did as a student! He’s doing a fair amount with his quintet. We’re calling it a portfolio career and hoping the balance eventually shifts v

Well it turns out he DOES need to do a recording, and to a fairly exacting brief! (Finding all this out has taken the detective skills of Poirot - maybe it's some kind of 'pre-entry sift').

So, he's having to sort repertoire, compose a short talk, sweet-talk accompanist, find a room and do a decent recording before Thursday. He hasn't been practising anything relevant, so will unearth three songs he did for his diploma in the spring. What can go wrong!

On the plus side, extra work he did on one of his A level subjects has got his predicted grade up to an A, so UCAS applications looking more hopeful!

@herbaceous oh no, what a stress! Kudos to him for pulling it together though - and for improved prediction.

DD's 'short talk' is quite waffly and even on her best take she pulls a slight face when one of the notes does not go the way she wanted - I'm hoping, probably in vain, that this is less noticeable when you don't know her.

Good luck to him!

I'm hoping his 'last minute cobbled together' attempt won't stand up too badly against rather more polished entries, and that this is just a preliminary sift before the real auditions!

Two conservatoire applications in, one with recording. One UCAS form to go.

Feels a bit odd doing it remotely - mostly just requests for money to pay for auditions. So glad she's only doing two!

After the music department having to rally round like mad to find a slot where accompanist and recording could be in the same room at short notice, said slot was set to be during PE today. DS excused himself nicely and got a shitty email from head of PE saying it’s ‘compulsory’. Sadly for head of PE he also copied in head of music. Pistols at dawn.

ha - @herbaceous - i think it is more unusual for DD to turn up for PE than be absent for some musical reason. Yesterday apparently she was demonstrating her bassoon to some of the little ones instead.

Hope he gets it done and in soon.

Hello, just found this thread. I'm not on mumsnet as much as I was 10-14 years ago when the kids were little but both of the now teens are aspiring professional musicians and there is a lot going on. Both are at a London JD and DS is doing NYO Inspire this year, as well as a couple of other holiday courses that he loves. NCMC was a big hit last summer. Just trying to work out what to do about potential clashes this year

I think this was at the root of his frustration, @achangeofnameisasgoodasarest! Music types using PE as an extra time to get stuff done, rather than taking their session of 'ultimate frisbee' as seriously as he would like.

@schooloflostsockssaw your post on the other thread but answering here- LSSO auditions had a link to book the audition sent directly to the students. So get your DC to check their email and can book a slot

How annoying.

When ds was at school his form tutor was head of PE, but said tutor was so encouraging of ds and his performing arts. (his own daughter was a dancer and ended up at full time dance college so he understood). He told me at parents evening that his job was to get ds through the qualifications he needed to go and pursue his dream.

Talking of which it's fairly quiet for him at the moment. He has no work on at the until November but is financially OK as he has managed to save a lot of the money from his contracts throughspring/summer. Annoyingly though he has had to turn down a couple of dates playing with a well known orchestra because it clashes with his panto contract. It's the age old thing. Do you take the safe, longer contract or hold out in case something more prestigious turns up?

Hi @schooloflostsocks love the user name. Negotiating clashes is very familiar territory. Clashing parent-taxi demands as well as actual children wanting to be in two places at the same time. Really hoping we can renegotiate NYO inspire at half term, they've offered DD the one day she couldn't do. Really hoping this is on their own initiative and not because I misread the preferences form or I'll feel very guilty if it can't be fixed.

Oh for goodness sake. After setting up elaborate recording scenario, with proper mics and camera, music bod then only sent over the audio recording, not the video. Gnnn…

I know you're all agog (!), so will be pleased to know it's all sorted, and the joint RNCM Man Uni application is now IN. He'd better get a place after all this.

Glad he got it all sorted @herbaceous. Fingers crossed for a “yes”!

Best of luck for him.

It’s ultra-competitive - I think there four or five places each year - but someone’s got to get in! He’s hoping as a male singer he’s rarer than pianists (his other specialism).

Good luck to everyone who is applying. FOr those going for straight conservatoire at least the EE offers take the pressure off on results day!

Well done to @herbaceous getting that in. Tech stuff is so frustrating! Mine is glad for a good video from June which can be used for auditions, meaning just excerpts to do now. And has also got some takes in the bag and has identified a last day to do them well before closing date. She has definitely stepped up this year to reduce stress for herself.

I'd been hoping we could use a 'mum-o-vision' recording of a recital I did back in March, but the requirements stipulated 'recent'.

@thirdfiddle and @northerngoldilocks thanks! It turns out LSSO didn’t get the application even though I have an email acknowledgement of it! They are apologetic. I am doing another one.

A question for those whose DC are in conservatoires now or any lurking conservatoire profs: how important are qualifications on paper these days? DS is in Y10 and doesn’t have grade 8, he never got around to it and now thinks it’s beneath him. He will have lots and lots of orchestral stuff on his application and some concertos