The Peabody Institute’s grand arcade welcomes visitors off Mount Vernon Place and leads them to a two-story staircase descending into the campus’ internal plaza. It was designed as a crossroads and central public meeting space. This beautiful, buzzing space is what young artists and their parents encounter when arriving for the annual Audition Week that takes place each February. The architectural grandeur can feel both inspiring and imposing. “When I first came on campus, I was excited but I also felt this atmosphere of prestige as I walked around,” says Ashley Schumacher, a Vocal Studies master’s candidate and Admissions Office student employee who worked this spring’s Audition Week. “It’s such an old-style building, looks very high class, like high art—and it can feel a little intimidating.”
When arriving to audition, “everyone is nervous,” says Ariahna Hurtado, a first-year Vocal Studies undergraduate and Admissions student employee who also worked Audition Week. They sat at one of the check-in tables at the bottom of the stairs in the arcade, where applicants and parents pooled upon arrival, picked up a packet with a practice room assignment, met for campus tours that started every hour on the hour—and asked anybody with a Peabody ID how to get to a practice room amid the winding hallways.
“Some people were more calm and collected but there was always a tell—a tapping of the fingers or just the way they were acting,” Hurtado continues. “And everyone was nervous in their own way.”
“I found that applicants who visit for longer than just their audition day got a richer experience out of their time at Peabody, even if that experience is just watching and listening.”
Every degree- and diploma-seeking candidate at Peabody auditions or interviews. Some early decision candidates do so in December. Dance BFA candidates audition in January. And some candidates are able to audition by video or at one of the regional auditions in Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York in January. The majority of prospective students, however, audition in person.
Of course, auditions are a regular part of life for a performing artist at any level. And they are a critical part of the admissions process for the colleges and conservatories looking to enroll a new class of student-artists.
Audition Week at Peabody is remarkable in part for the operational pivot that supports it. For just about every other week of the year, Peabody’s one-city-block campus is a hive of performing arts education, rehearsal, study, recording, and performance, often stretching from early morning until midnight.
During Audition Week, virtually every rehearsal room, studio, and recital and concert hall is required for the visiting applicants—and the behind-the-scenes work that makes that happen provides a snapshot of the uniquely collaborative campus culture that makes Peabody, well, Peabody.
Grad student Schumacher, for instance, remembers feeling a little intimidated when she first arrived on campus. “Coming from a small school, I was blown away,” she says, “but everybody was so encouraging, and the faculty were really kind, and that was reassuring.”
“My goal as an Admissions liaison was to create a sense of calm for prospective students,” Schumacher continues, noting that she made sure to welcome nervous auditioning students (and their sometimes even more nervous parents) in a calming manner. “I wanted to let them know that we want them to do well. So if I saw someone who was especially nervous, I just wanted to reassure them that here at Peabody we are a community that not only inspires but also encourages, that the faculty really care about their students and want them to succeed—not only at Peabody, but in the world.”
Every degree- and diploma-seeking candidate at Peabody auditions or interviews. Some early decision candidates do so in December. Dance BFA candidates audition in January. And some candidates are able to audition by video or at one of the regional auditions in Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York in January. The majority of prospective students, however, audition in person.
Of course, auditions are a regular part of life for a performing artist at any level. And they are a critical part of the admissions process for the colleges and conservatories looking to enroll a new class of student-artists.
Audition Week at Peabody is remarkable in part for the operational pivot that supports it. For just about every other week of the year, Peabody’s one-city-block campus is a hive of performing arts education, rehearsal, study, recording, and performance, often stretching from early morning until midnight.
During Audition Week, virtually every rehearsal room, studio, and recital and concert hall is required for the visiting applicants—and the behind-the-scenes work that makes that happen provides a snapshot of the uniquely collaborative campus culture that makes Peabody, well, Peabody.
Grad student Schumacher, for instance, remembers feeling a little intimidated when she first arrived on campus. “Coming from a small school, I was blown away,” she says, “but everybody was so encouraging, and the faculty were really kind, and that was reassuring.”
“My goal as an Admissions liaison was to create a sense of calm for prospective students,” Schumacher continues, noting that she made sure to welcome nervous auditioning students (and their sometimes even more nervous parents) in a calming manner. “I wanted to let them know that we want them to do well. So if I saw someone who was especially nervous, I just wanted to reassure them that here at Peabody we are a community that not only inspires but also encourages, that the faculty really care about their students and want them to succeed—not only at Peabody, but in the world.”
Piano technology manager Renee Kelsey says Audition Week is one of her team’s busiest weeks of the year. Kelsey, piano techs John Kopacko and Yuri Kosachevich, and several part-time employees spend the two weeks leading up to Audition Week prepping nearly every piano on campus. “Practice room pianos, every single one gets used,” she says. “We prep all the studios and classrooms being used for Audition Week—and then the concert halls, which require more attention. The piano in Goodwin [Hall] has to be in peak condition for piano auditions and the piano in Griswold we keep track of for voice auditions, and in Friedberg for Artist Diplomas. We tune all of those during the lunch breaks.”
Kelsey is touching on one aspect of Audition Week’s sprawl: It involves coordinating nearly every artistic and administrative department on campus, with the Admissions Office in the lead. Admissions coordinates the info sessions, which include panelists from Student Affairs, Financial Aid, and Academic Affairs, and collaborates with Production on rehearsal and performance spaces; with Campus Security and Facilities to prepare for a volume of visitors; with faculty for scheduling auditions and any departmental or studio gatherings; and so much more.
Since on-campus auditions returned in 2022 following the pandemic, the audition pool has grown every year as the number of applicants increases in response to growing programmatic offerings and lower financial barriers. This year, nearly 1,100 students visited campus to audition.
That means Audition Week makes use of just about every space on campus, and Production Manager Natalie Colony and her team spend that week tweaking room setups at regular intervals. “We change the halls and rooms into whatever configuration is needed,” she says, which could involve a new stage plot or simply restoring practice room set-ups. “Our students like to move things around in practice rooms,” she says. “So for Audition Week we make sure we have the proper equipment in every space.”
Every Audition Week is different and presents its own sets of challenges. This year, the possibility of snow during Audition Week made Assistant Director of Admissions Olivia Meadows worry about possible transportation issues.
While snow didn’t arrive, extreme cold did. “This Audition Week was our largest ever and exceptionally cold, so inside of the building in many places the humidity was 10 percent,” Kelsey says. “Pianos really like 30 percent humidity, and that affected the tuning. The drier and colder it is, usually the flatter pianos get, and flatness in pianos sounds so much worse than sharpness.”
That means Audition Week makes use of just about every space on campus, and Production Manager Natalie Colony and her team spend that week tweaking room setups at regular intervals. “We change the halls and rooms into whatever configuration is needed,” she says, which could involve a new stage plot or simply restoring practice room set-ups. “Our students like to move things around in practice rooms,” she says. “So for Audition Week we make sure we have the proper equipment in every space.”
Every Audition Week is different and presents its own sets of challenges. This year, the possibility of snow during Audition Week made Assistant Director of Admissions Olivia Meadows worry about possible transportation issues.
While snow didn’t arrive, extreme cold did. “This Audition Week was our largest ever and exceptionally cold, so inside of the building in many places the humidity was 10 percent,” Kelsey says. “Pianos really like 30 percent humidity, and that affected the tuning. The drier and colder it is, usually the flatter pianos get, and flatness in pianos sounds so much worse than sharpness.”
“We’re looking for students who are not only fantastic musicians but who are going to be successful in the program, and I think that the students respond when you treat them like people who are making a choice in their life—a really, really important one.”
“You can’t avoid any issues whatsoever, and no two Audition Weeks are the same,” says Meadows, coming off her fourth stint of overseeing Audition Week. “At this point we feel like we have a process, and my goal is always, How can I make this experience more efficient? And how can we make sure that the students have the best experience they can?”
It’s important because, as Meadows acknowledges, some applicants might not have previous experience with a conservatory. “Conservatories have a reputation of being cold, competitive environments,” she continues. “I think that’s changing, but I think it’s absolutely not true at Peabody. There is competition and there will be anywhere you go—and if there isn’t, maybe that’s a problem—but the environment here is communal. So coming here makes a really, really big impact on a student’s decision to enroll. They get to meet the faculty who are incredibly warm and inviting, and some host gatherings for prospective students and invite their current studio members to talk with them. It gives students an opportunity to see what it would be like to study here.”
Both Admissions student liaisons Schumacher and Hurtado recall visiting students—and especially parents—asking what it is like to be a student here. It’s one of the most common questions they fielded during Audition Week. “I think I got the question, ‘What is it like living here?’ the most, and primarily from parents,” Hurtado says. Parents would pull them aside and ask, “What do you really think of this school?”
“And I would always be honest,” they say. “Sure, the campus can feel small, but there are lots of ways to get off campus and explore the neighborhood or take the shuttle to other campuses. Same with students, who asked about the faculty and the community, trying to get a sense of what it would be like to be here for four years. I had a lot of students ask where the cafeteria was because they just wanted to sit for awhile and take in the environment. I think that’s what a lot of students wonder about— what does a day in the life of a conservatory student actually look like?”
Given that nearly the entirety of campus is required to accommodate Audition Week, only so much of the usual programming and rehearsals are going on, but students arriving early or staying late might catch a concert. Schumacher performed in the spring 2025 production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and recalls seeing visiting students and their families in the audience during rehearsals. “I found that applicants who visit for longer than just their audition day got a richer experience out of their time at Peabody,” she says, “even if that experience is just watching and listening.”
“You can’t avoid any issues whatsoever, and no two Audition Weeks are the same,” says Meadows, coming off her fourth stint of overseeing Audition Week. “At this point we feel like we have a process, and my goal is always, How can I make this experience more efficient? And how can we make sure that the students have the best experience they can?”
It’s important because, as Meadows acknowledges, some applicants might not have previous experience with a conservatory. “Conservatories have a reputation of being cold, competitive environments,” she continues. “I think that’s changing, but I think it’s absolutely not true at Peabody. There is competition and there will be anywhere you go—and if there isn’t, maybe that’s a problem—but the environment here is communal. So coming here makes a really, really big impact on a student’s decision to enroll. They get to meet the faculty who are incredibly warm and inviting, and some host gatherings for prospective students and invite their current studio members to talk with them. It gives students an opportunity to see what it would be like to study here.”
Both Admissions student liaisons Schumacher and Hurtado recall visiting students—and especially parents—asking what it is like to be a student here. It’s one of the most common questions they fielded during Audition Week. “I think I got the question, ‘What is it like living here?’ the most, and primarily from parents,” Hurtado says. Parents would pull them aside and ask, “What do you really think of this school?”
“And I would always be honest,” they say. “Sure, the campus can feel small, but there are lots of ways to get off campus and explore the neighborhood or take the shuttle to other campuses. Same with students, who asked about the faculty and the community, trying to get a sense of what it would be like to be here for four years. I had a lot of students ask where the cafeteria was because they just wanted to sit for awhile and take in the environment. I think that’s what a lot of students wonder about— what does a day in the life of a conservatory student actually look like?”
Given that nearly the entirety of campus is required to accommodate Audition Week, only so much of the usual programming and rehearsals are going on, but students arriving early or staying late might catch a concert. Schumacher performed in the spring 2025 production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and recalls seeing visiting students and their families in the audience during rehearsals. “I found that applicants who visit for longer than just their audition day got a richer experience out of their time at Peabody,” she says, “even if that experience is just watching and listening.”
“You can’t avoid any issues whatsoever, and no two Audition Weeks are the same,” says Meadows, coming off her fourth stint of overseeing Audition Week. “At this point we feel like we have a process, and my goal is always, How can I make this experience more efficient? And how can we make sure that the students have the best experience they can?”
It’s important because, as Meadows acknowledges, some applicants might not have previous experience with a conservatory. “Conservatories have a reputation of being cold, competitive environments,” she continues. “I think that’s changing, but I think it’s absolutely not true at Peabody. There is competition and there will be anywhere you go—and if there isn’t, maybe that’s a problem—but the environment here is communal. So coming here makes a really, really big impact on a student’s decision to enroll. They get to meet the faculty who are incredibly warm and inviting, and some host gatherings for prospective students and invite their current studio members to talk with them. It gives students an opportunity to see what it would be like to study here.”
Both Admissions student liaisons Schumacher and Hurtado recall visiting students—and especially parents—asking what it is like to be a student here. It’s one of the most common questions they fielded during Audition Week. “I think I got the question, ‘What is it like living here?’ the most, and primarily from parents,” Hurtado says. Parents would pull them aside and ask, “What do you really think of this school?”
“And I would always be honest,” they say. “Sure, the campus can feel small, but there are lots of ways to get off campus and explore the neighborhood or take the shuttle to other campuses. Same with students, who asked about the faculty and the community, trying to get a sense of what it would be like to be here for four years. I had a lot of students ask where the cafeteria was because they just wanted to sit for awhile and take in the environment. I think that’s what a lot of students wonder about— what does a day in the life of a conservatory student actually look like?”
Given that nearly the entirety of campus is required to accommodate Audition Week, only so much of the usual programming and rehearsals are going on, but students arriving early or staying late might catch a concert. Schumacher performed in the spring 2025 production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and recalls seeing visiting students and their families in the audience during rehearsals. “I found that applicants who visit for longer than just their audition day got a richer experience out of their time at Peabody,” she says, “even if that experience is just watching and listening.”
According to institutional archives, Peabody’s first Audition Week appears to have taken place in 1986, and an internal admissions memo following that first year lays out some early foundational thinking recognizing this campus culture:
“As the Alumni Representatives talked to our current students, they noticed a pattern to what was being said. Words like; warm, supportive, open and comfortable were often heard. Phrases like; ‘seem to care for the individual,’ ‘followed through in a difficult situation,’ and ‘helped beyond the call of duty’ were used. . . .
The point is that it is not enough to be a top flight music school. There is no way we can prove to our applicants that we give a better education than other schools. The good news is this: we don’t have to be better. We just need to fit the needs of our students and applicants. And those needs are human as well as musical.”
“It is not enough to be a top flight music school. . . We don’t have to be better. We just need to fit the needs of our students and applicants. And those needs are human as well as musical.”
According to institutional archives, Peabody’s first Audition Week appears to have taken place in 1986, and an internal admissions memo following that first year lays out some early foundational thinking recognizing this campus culture:
“As the Alumni Representatives talked to our current students, they noticed a pattern to what was being said. Words like; warm, supportive, open and comfortable were often heard. Phrases like; ‘seem to care for the individual,’ ‘followed through in a difficult situation,’ and ‘helped beyond the call of duty’ were used. . . .
The point is that it is not enough to be a top flight music school. There is no way we can prove to our applicants that we give a better education than other schools. The good news is this: we don’t have to be better. We just need to fit the needs of our students and applicants. And those needs are human as well as musical.”
Those human needs are what Peabody’s campus culture aspires to address so that the faculty and student music, dance, and art making can thrive. “The conservatory model and environment is very different from a large-scale university with a college or department or school of music, and it’s not a fit for everybody,” Meadows says. “So when I’m talking with students, part of what I want them to know is that we see them as people and we want them to come here if that’s what they want. We want somebody to go where they should be and where they’re going to be their best self and get what they need out of their education. And that might be Peabody—and I really hope it is, genuinely. But if it’s not, that’s also OK. We want students to be successful here and we’re looking for students who are not only fantastic musicians but who are going to be successful in the program, and I think that the students respond when you treat them like people who are making a choice in their life—a really, really important one.”