Steve A

Here goes...

Through that uniquely youthful (well, mostly uniquely youthful) mix of blissful ignorance and (largely unfounded) self-confidence, having completed my whole audition tour coming out of high school, and wanting to enter a performance program in university, I discovered the hard way that I had bitten off WAY more than I could chew. Long story short - after many auditions, much money spent, and tremendous expenditure of energy, I found myself rejected by every school I applied to. I had in effect, basically overlooked the solid backup choice in my hometown (lesson learned!), and so, was left scrambling to try to organize a second audition tour, much too late, and with severely limited options. (As it was, by the time I heard the results, too late to audition for said backup through the normal process. I tried - they said no.)

After a masterclass he had given, Andrew (McCandless - I had had a few lessons with him, but he was not my regular teacher) took me aside, and asked how my auditions had turned out. I told him that I had pretty much crashed and burned, and that I really didn't know what to do. He said to give him a call the next day, and we would talk it over.

So, of course, call him, I did, and after explaining the situation, he offered me some sorely needed words of encouragement, and made a few calls on my behalf to the school I had overlooked. Well, lo and behold, following his recommendation, they were able to book a special audition for me, and as it turns out, they even were able to offer me a generous scholarship.

Anyway, I'd like to take this chance to thank Andrew again for the exceptional care he takes to look out for the interests of his students, and his whole musical sphere of acquaintance. It's deeply, deeply apreciated!

Steve