My US Audition adventure: the verdict (+exciting announcement!)

Welcome back to the series! I know it’s been a loooooooong time since I’ve promised to keep you guys posted. Truth is a lot of different events kept alternating the definite outcome of the audition process. That’s why I procrastinated writing this blogpost. But ever since the end of 2018, things are seeming to point into one direction. And it is time to share it with you.

THE OUTCOME OF THE AUDITIONS

As you may recall, I auditioned in three schools: New England Conservatory in Boston, Manhattan School of Music in New York and Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. In the course of March and the first week of April 2018, I began to receive the verdicts.
NEC wrote a very polite e-mail, stating the refusal of my admittance. But MSM, JSOM and – quite out of the blue – Herb Alpert School of Music in LA have accepted me as their future student.
YEAH BABY! I lost at least several years of my life due to all different kinds of stress, but. it. was. worth. it! Needless to say: I was euphoric. And I was damn proud of myself. Still am, for that matter.

However. (Yes, you felt this one coming, didn’t you…)

Life wouldn’t be life, unless it tests you regularly. I was admitted to the schools, but the three scholarships (BAEF, Fulbright and Vocatio) had refused my application. Talent, yes. Funds, no.
This is the point where I lost some of my hairs in addition to years.
It marked the beginning of a very dual period, where I tried to hold on to the euphoria, while simultaneously find a solution to the financial problem.
And after long e-mail conversations, explanations and negotiations, I bloodydamn* did.

There’s this thing called a deferral, which means that the admitted student keeps his or her place at the school for one year without actually attending the classes. During this year, the student can find enough money to pay for tuition.
So, I was admitted for 2018-2019, but thanks to the deferral, I can start my academic year in 2019 as long as I pay for tuition on time.
All right, dodged that bullet! Now let’s get this baby going.

*In case you’re wondering, I’ve been re-reading Pierce Brown’s Red Rising novels to increase my levels of self-worth and teeth-gritting determination. I can assure you it worked, but I might be slightly more foul-mouthed than usual.

RE-APPLYING FOR THE SCHOLARSHIPS

I’ve never been one to back out of a challenge, especially once I tasted victory. And practice supposedly makes perfect – it does for music at least – so I re-applied for BAEF, Fulbright and a new scholarship called AAUW.
I rewrote the required essays, implemented my successes from the past year and added the letters of admission. Fun fact: I’m quite excited to inform you that my teacher-to-be at Jacobs School of Music was so kind to write one of the three required letters for each scholarship.
Now, I can only await the committee’s decision in February and hope for the best.
But I won’t make the same mistake twice. I won’t let my dream – which is more within reach than ever – depend on scholarship outcomes alone. So I’ve been working on something big.

INTRODUCING MY FUNDRAISING EVENT ON FEBRUARY 16, 2019

Some of you might have organized a fundraising a thousand times. To me, however, it is the first time and it took a while before I managed to find a concert hall, an exact date, friends who could help me with the website, the posters and flyers and who want to join me on stage.
So yeah, that’s what I was working on the past few months. And now I am more proud than ever to introduce to you:

Look at that poster. Ain’t it awesome?! Both the picture and the design are credited to Sofie Vandenhoven, a very dear friend of mine. Go ahead and find her on flickr or instagram, she does incredible stuff with a camera and/or photoshop.
But wait, there’s more!

Should you be interested in attending the event or sponsoring for tuition, you can find all the information (in Dutch) on this website: www.nathaliematthys-fundraising.be
For this beauty, I need to thank Maxim Martin, another friend who worked his ass off to make me a happier, less-stressed musician. If any of you people is looking for someone to help build a website, he’s your man.

Lastly, there’s a lot of people who will help me on the big day itself and I promise I will introduce every one of them to you on a brand-new page on this website. In the course of this month, you will find what exactly we’ll offer for the financial support, what program we’ll perform and who will join me on stage. Lots to be done! But I’m looking forward.

I hope you’re able to kick-off 2019 in an equally excited way as I am. Let’s chase those dreams!

Much love

Nathalie