MEA-NJ piano auditions: a parent's guide
Most families meet examinations first, and assume auditions are the same thing with more pressure. The Music Educators Association of New Jersey runs something rather different, and for many children it is the better place to begin.
It is not a competition
This is the point to understand before anything else. The MEA's Annual Piano Auditions are an incentive programme, open to piano students of all levels and ages - including adults. Nobody is ranked against anybody else. There is no winner.
A student prepares the repertoire and technical requirements for their category, plays for a judge, and receives a written evaluation and a certificate. That is the whole shape of it.
Who the judge is
Usually an active, highly qualified piano teacher - somebody who spends their working life listening to children play. The Young Artist Master Class audition uses two judges rather than one.
What a student takes away is the written evaluation. For many children this is the first time anyone outside their own teacher has listened carefully to their playing and written down what they heard. That is worth a great deal, and it is worth more than a mark.
The categories
They run from early beginners through to accomplished young artists, with Young Artist A and B and Preparatory A designations at the upper end. A child of any standard has somewhere to enter.
The annual syllabus sets out the repertoire and technical requirements for each category. It is published to members, and your teacher will have it.
When and where
Auditions are held on weekends in May and June, at five colleges across New Jersey. Around 1,400 students take part each year.
There is one date families must not miss. Registration closes behind a March 1 deadline: membership dues have to be received by then in order to register a student at all. A child who is ready in April is a child who has missed the year.
What continues over time
Additional awards are given at three, five, seven and ten years of participation. This is quietly one of the best things about the programme - it rewards the child who keeps going, rather than only the child who is brilliant this season.
Results can also bear on eligibility for MEA scholarships and camp enrolment.
Why we recommend it
For a young or nervous student, the auditions are a gentler introduction to playing for a stranger than a graded examination is. There is no pass mark to fail. The child prepares, performs, and is written to thoughtfully by someone who knows what they are listening for.
It is also good preparation for everything that follows. A student who has played for a judge at nine finds an examination at thirteen a great deal less frightening.
A note on names
Two organisations in New Jersey have similar names and are often confused. The Music Educators Association of New Jersey - the MEA - runs these piano auditions. The New Jersey Music Educators Association - NJMEA - is a separate body, which runs All-State band, orchestra and chorus auditions.
If you are searching for information, it is worth knowing which one you are looking at.
For graded examinations rather than auditions, see our guides to the RCM and the ABRSM.
For graded examinations rather than auditions, see our guides to the RCM and the ABRSM.
Before you decide
Requirements and dates change from year to year. This describes the programme as we currently prepare students for it; the Music Educators Association of New Jersey is the authority on what applies in any given season.
Whether auditions suit your child, and which category to enter, is one of the things we discuss at the Complimentary Music Assessment.