Professors from NIU’s School of Music have caught on to the social media trend and have posted instructional videos on YouTube that give advice to high school musicians auditioning for the Illinois Music Educators Association’s fall music festivals.

The IMEA is an organization that hosts concerts for the best high school instrumentalists in the state, said Doug Pelt, NIU alumnus and current band teacher for Timothy Christian School. He added that the students who perform the best in their auditions work with conductors on music that challenges them beyond their regular curriculum.

“There are thousands of students across the state who compete in this competition,” said Paul Bauer, director of the School of Music.

Trumpet professor Mark Ponzo first came up with the idea to create a virtual instructional guide to help young students learning music for IMEA auditions, Bauer said. He added that the videos are meant to aid students who may not have the money or the time to hire an instructor for private lessons.

“The videos provide students with valuable information to better realize their potential and be a success with their auditions,” Bauer said.

He also said that it is a shame when students go into their auditions and do poorly because of mistakes that can be easily corrected with a little extra instruction.

Bauer said the videos created by the faculty are an example of an excellent performance for an audition, as far as hitting the right notes and using the correct style goes.

“The most important thing we provide is that members of faculty are serving as models for students,” Bauer said. “They’re modeling and presenting information in a very nurturing way.”

There are six videos available that contain free tips and techniques high school students can integrate into their own practice.

“What I tried to do is keep it concise and cover the most important things that need to be attended to,” said Anthony Devroye, assistant professor of music. He added that he tried to anticipate problems young students may have and addressed them in his video.

The videos have other purposes as well.

“I was seeing it as a potential recruiting tool,” Devroye said. The informed guidance given to NIU’s recruiting base may generate an interest in the university.
Feedback for the videos has been positive.

“I felt very proud to be an alumnus of a school that’s been so progressive,” Pelt said. “They’ve been thinking of clever ways to help students.”

He added that he as a teacher recommended that all of his students watch the videos because they focus on little details he doesn’t always have time to cover in class.

More videos will be posted as the next round of auditions comes up.

“My goal for next October is to have more faculty involved,” Bauer said.

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