Teacher Workshop: Helping Students Succeed in the College Audition Process

Applying and auditioning for a performing arts major is much more complicated than applying for any other major. Most programs include an addendum to the overall application: the audition. Helping choose material for a college audition, guide students on which schools are right for them, and going through the senior year audition process can be both exciting and daunting for performers, parents, and their teachers.

Our College Audition Workshop, featuring NYU’s Assistant Director of Music Theatre – Program in Vocal Performance, Professor Ryan Driscoll, is designed to assist teachers whose students plan to audition for university-level performing arts programs as they guide their students to audition for schools with confidence. Join us for this unique opportunity to learn from those in the know — a decision-making faculty member at one of the top college programs in the United States.

In this workshop, recommended for high school teachers, private voice teachers, coaches and parents (students are also welcome to attend), you’ll learn:

- the ins and outs of the current audition process for universities (including pre-screen videos and in-person auditions)

- what schools are looking for right now from your students

- how to help your students make the best impression in the first five seconds

- audition technique, monologue/song selection, audition wardrobe, follow-up etiquette

And it's 100% free! Be prepared to take notes, because there will be a lot of information.

About Professor Ryan Driscoll:

Ryan Driscoll began his performing career when he was cast as the lead role of Hermie in Summer of ‘42 which was developed at the Goodspeed Opera House and subsequently mounted in Ohio, California and Stamford, CT before opening off-Broadway at the Variety Arts Theatre. For his performance, Ryan won the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical and was nominated for Best Debut Performance by the Connecticut Critics Circle. He can be heard on the New York cast recording with Rachel York on JAY Records and is also featured with TV and film star Kristen Bell on the Fynsworth Alley recording of "Believe: The Songs of the Sherman Brothers." In addition to years as a professional actor, Driscoll has written orchestrations that have accompanied performers such as Laura Benanti, Stephen Pasquale and Patti LuPone. Ryan currently works as a Broadway music copyist, having prepared the orchestra music for such shows as Come From Away, Bright Star, Gigi, First Date, Fun Home, Tuck Everlasting, Allegiance, The Scottsboro Boys and Big Fish among many others and has worked with composers and orchestrators such as Marvin Hamlisch, Stephen Flaherty, Andrew Lippa, Ricky Ian Gordon, Larry Hochman, August Eriksmoen and Bruce Coughlin to name a few. For his teaching experience, Ryan co-developed a music theatre program at Columbia Secondary School in Harlem with no previous arts program that is now represented by over a quarter of the school's student population. Professor Driscoll is currently a full-time faculty member and the Assistant Director of Music Theatre for the Program in Vocal Performance at New York University and is also a Visiting Guest Lecturer at The Iceland University of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland. Driscoll is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, The American Federation of Musicians and the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance. He holds a Bachelor and Master of Music in Vocal Performance and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Vocal Pedagogy all from New York University.