I'm a flutist and piccoloist from Long Island. I've made NY all state piccolo twice, I'm headed to all eastern in the spring, and I 've been principal of both my youth orchestras for several years. I've known for a while I'm in the awkward limbo where I'd be at least the best of the freshmen at most state schools, but getting accepted into a conservatory is quite a reach. Still, I applied to Vanderbilt Blair (the only conservatory I applied to) and hoped to at least get a live audition. Yesterday I was informed I did not pass the prescreen round at Blair. I'm not shocked but I'm taking it pretty hard. Was it unrealistic to apply there? Is it still worth focusing on performance if I can't get into a conservatory (I've been debating between performance and education for some time). I understand flute is competitive, but this was a huge blow to my confidence. What do I do next? My audition at SUNY Potsdam went really well, but I still have several left at Hartt, Purchase (prescreen withstanding), CUNY Queens, and Hofstra (which I will probably cancel). How does SUNY Purchase's conservatory rank?
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Didn't pass prescreens: was I being unrealistic?
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National Endowment for the Arts at Risk
If you care about the arts than PLEASE contact your legislators and plead with them to stop this.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Trump-Administration-Plans-to-Eliminate-National-Endowment-For-The-Arts-20170119
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Eastern Music Festival vs. Brevard Music Center
Hi everyone,
I have to choose a scholarship to one of these camps by tomorrow because of a competition I placed in (cello), so could you guys please give me your opinions of both summer camps? What is the relative playing level of the people at both camps? What are the pros and cons of each? Is one harder to get into (I still need to audition to them in a month, the scholarship is only awarded to me if I get in). Thanks so much!
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Majoring in Music with no high school interest
I wish to major in music (piano performance) but had a question as to how much weight is placed on high school classes that were musically related (in my case pretty much none). So do colleges care that much that I took no music classes in high school or will they be more worried about what I can do now (ie. my audition). I've been playing music my entire life I just never realized I wanted to study it until now (I know, bad timing). I am also currently in the military so perhaps an online course or two in music would be worth my time to augment my lack of high school classes? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
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Looking for a degree in some form of music....
I have been wondering what would be the best college for music.
Specifically, I'm looking to be a band director, and then maybe be part of a Drum and Bugle Corps staff.
I'd also want to look into composition and music theory.
Sorry if this is a bit concise, I admittedly know nothing about local colleges and what they're good for. Some people have recommended UC schools, like UCI or UCLA, but I'm not sure.
Help is highly appreciated.
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ACCEPTANCES FOR UNDERGRAD CLASS OF '21, GRAD CLASS OF '19 thread
I will be listing all of the acceptances here, so just as you did with the prescreens, please PM them to me with:
the school and your instrument or voice type or if you are a comp major, etc. When you make a final decision, send me that too and I will highlight that within the list. Remember to have fun over the next couple of months because you won't have these opportunities again.
Wishing everyone, students and parents, good luck and safe travels!
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Music Festival Master List
Hey guys, Feel free to add to this list -- For future reference:
Aspen Music Festival
Location: Aspen, CO
Open to: All instruments, all voice types, piano, composition, conducting
Website: Tanglewood Institute
Bowdoin International Music Festival
Location: Bowdoin, ME
Open to: All instruments, piano
Website: Brevard Music Center
Britt Institute: String Quartet Academy
Location: Jacksonville, OR
Open to: String players
Website: Crested Butte Music Festival
Domaine Forget Academy
Location: Quebec
Open to: All instruments, guitar, all voice types, dance
Website: http://www.easternmusicfestival.org/festival.php
Hartwick College Summer Music Festival
Location: Oneonta, NY
Open to: All instruments, all voice types, piano
Website: Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Home
Interlochen Center
Location: Interlochen, MI
Open to: All instruments, all voice types, piano
Website: Internationales Orchesterinstitut Attergau
Jeunesse Musicales World Orchestra
Location: (Touring)
Open to: All instruments
Website: Kneisel Hall
Lucerne Festival Academy
Location: Lucerne, Switzerland
Open to: All instruments, conducting
Website: Marlboro Music School and Festival
Manchester Music Festival
Location: Manchester, VT
Open to: All instruments, piano
Website: Mendocino Music Festival
Music Academy of the West
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Open to: All instruments, all voice types, piano, conducting
Website: www.noimusic.org
National Repertory Orchestra
Location: Breckinridge, CO
Open to: All instruments
Website: NSO/Kennedy Center Institute
New York Summer Music Festival
Location: Oneonta, NY
Open to: All instruments, all voice types, piano; Ages 10-25
Website: Norfolk
Orford d’Arts Centre
Location: Canton d’Orford, Quebec
Open to: All instruments
Website: Opera North
Pacific Music Festival
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Open to: All instruments, string quartets
Website: Ravinia
Round Top
Location: Round Top, TX
Open to: All instruments
Website: Sarasota
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
Location: Lubeck, Germany
Open to: All instruments
Website: SHMF
Tafemusik Baroque Summer Institute
Location: Canada
Open to: All instruments, all vocalists, conductors
Website: Tanglewood Center
UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra
Location: Switzerland
Open to: All instruments
Website: Verbier Festival
Yellow Barn Music School
Location: Putney, VT
Open to: All instruments, piano, composition
Website: Yellow Barn Music School & Festival
Youth Orchestra of the Americas
Location: (Touring)
Open to: All instruments
Website:
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Curtis, New England Conservatory and Juilliard
Does anybody know roughly what percentage of applicants are invited to audition and what percentage of those who audition ultimately get admitted? Cheers
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Acceptance Rate after Audition
I am wondering if there is a general sense of how getting an audition translates into acceptance? Do music schools plan to accept most applicants they allow to audition (for ones that select students to audition)? Is it generally a 50% or 33% chance? I know it is school specific, but is there a general rule or trend that people have found from years of experience. As a side note, I searched the forum and couldn't find a similar discussion on this topic. If there is one, let me know and I will go there. Thanks
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Dreams of Piano, Where to even start?!
I am the parent of a passionate young pianist. My daughter is a sophomore in high school. She attends a public high school that, while it has a decent music program, is more interested in churning out STEM students.
DD has daydreams of being a concern pianist. However, I think she is young and naïve in regards to her goals. (But my 7th grade son wants to be a major league baseball player...he can hang onto this dream for a bit). DD, while talented, is not on par with world class pianists.
That said, I believe it is possible for her to pursue a career involving her love of piano. But, I don't know where to begin.
How do we develop a list of possible colleges or conservatories? It is overwhelming. I have found the top ten lists of music schools, etc. Needless to say the top ten would be a long shot in terms of both getting accepted and paying for it. So, we need a list that includes long shots, and sure things and everything in between.
In addition, the only award she's ever won was Honorable Mention in a young composer's contest in middle school. So, her resume needs to be sweetened up. But, I don't know how to do this either.
Any and all advice is welcome!
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Yale grad solo piano audition
Hey guys-
so, I got my prescreen results from Yale a while ago, and I'm having an audition (for solo piano). I was wondering if anyone has experience/information on what the audition is like-- I hear that you are quizzed in general music history (which I am decent at) but the way i've heard it seems pretty specific- ex. being able to play themes from operas, naming as many brahms chamber works you can, etc..
anyways, I'm just really nervous. any other info is appreciated :]
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AUDITION HORROR STORY... Can I still get accepted?
So yesterday I had my audition for my top choice and the audition went... horrid.
During the day everything went fine, I did my theory test and aural test and they both went pretty well. Plus I was able to participate in the school's chorale and I even made some good connections within the alto sections (when I walked into the audition room the head of the choir department who was judging my auditions said "You've made a big impression on the Altos... you've basically got some agents who are advocating for you" which I found pretty hilarious).
Now, the audition: The pianist for my audition came out before it was my turn to audition and asked to look at my pieces. She scanned through them pretty quickly and didn't even ask for the tempo of one of them. I don't blame her for this, as it was already 3:30 and they were a bit behind so the auditioners were trying to move the auditions along as quickly as possible. So I get called in and I start my first piece (which was the one she didn't ask my tempo for) and the pianist is dragging SO MUCH. I usually practice it at about 120 bpm with a metronome and she played it at what I can guess was about 90 bpm. When I would try to speed up, she would keep slowing down so I had to sing at her tempo in order to not sound like I didn't know how to keep time. And then, on the last page, it turns out the version that I printed had the song in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT KEY and the panel just decided that they had heard the best parts of the song and asked to move on to my second piece. I will take the blame for that key problem haha.
I wish I could say that was the worst that happened. The song I was singing has a few key changes, which I had circled and drawn an arrow to just in case. Well, half way through that song, the pianist forget to changes keys. Before you know it, we were both at different keys and different tempos and I got super nervous. My voice teacher had always told me to keep singing no matter what mishaps happen at an audition, so I just tried to brave through it and I got to the end of my piece, thankfully I was able to keep my original key down and I ended strongly on the high note that I was worried about.
I'm pretty okay with how my voice sounded, but I don't know if the problems with the pianist will affect their decision when it comes time to admit me. What do you guys think?
P.S. I don't blame the pianist one bit for what happened. It was late in the day and she was being rushed and from I overheard she was a student who had just volunteered to help out with audition day, so in a way I feel terrible for her too.
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What to Bring to Music Composition Audition
Looking for advice on what to bring to the audition for Music Composition? The schools have the portfolios, should my D bring duplicates with her? Also, any other advice going in? Thanks!
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Westminster Choir College
Could someone tell me what's wrong with Westminster. I keep hearing how terrible it is, but I never actually hear why. I mean, there's a facebook group and everything!
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Jazz scholarships--Nevada-Reno, Berklee, USC-Thornton, Northwestern?
Hi, new poster here (longtime visitor). S is senior @ a Colorado HS. Excellent jazz trumpeter (all-state, etc). He's going to apply to CU (which has the great Brad Goode teaching here) but also University of Nevada-Reno, USC Thornton, Northwestern, and Berkeley.
I'm trying to get an idea of comparative *music department* scholarships at these colleges. Anybody heard of full-tuition being awarded by music departments from these schools? I know Berkeley doesn't usually give much merit aid; but, D, who goes to BU, said a friend who goes to Berkeley told her they're short on trumpet players right now...
Thanks!
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Tanglewood v. Walden
My son is a pianist who has become interested in composition. He has been taking composition lessons for several years and his teacher says he is pretty good. He will be applying to colleges next year and is trying to decided whether to pursue performance or composition. He wants to go to a summer program to see if he would enjoy spending full-time on composition. He applied to both Tanglewood and Walden. Does anyone have any idea whether one of these would give him a better idea of whether he would enjoy a college composition program (or is there someplace else that would be better)? All else being equal, I would think he would enjoy Walden because he also loves singing.
Thanks
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Disappointing experience with Northwestern Bienen School of Music
I have to relate a really disappointing experience with Northwestern's Bienen School of Music. S, a jazz trumpet applicant, put together and recorded the required pre-screening songs; and spent several hours trying to upload them, without success. The next day--which was a school day (and work day for us)--we attempted to help by trying to upload them from home. After a few hours of no success, we e-mailed the school; and received a reply from an Associate Dean at the music school indicating that we should compress the files. We did that; and the upload *appeared* to be a success (screen stating "upload complete"). Then, we heard nothing for 7 weeks. We assumed they decided his pre-screen recordings didn't justify a live audition. After 7 weeks, S got an e-mail from the same Associate Dean, indicating that, because he'd never uploaded pre-screen recordings, NWern would not offer him a live audition. We e-mailed this Dean with the details of what happened, including a copy of the e-mail chain; and never got a reply. If NWern had told us earlier that the prescreens didn't upload (contrary to what their website said), we could've uploaded them again.
Very disappointing and un-classy action by NWern.
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A question or two for composers and parents
My D is a full-time staff accompanist in the music school of a state university. She also does recitals with soloists throughout the country. She is going the have a recital with a soloist in less than 4 weeks in a gathering specifically for professionals and students of the soloist's instrument. One of the pieces is a recent published piece (premiere in late 2015). The soloist has asked the composer to send a copy to D. Through the email communication between D and the composer, he implied that he will not do that and suggested that her school purchase a copy. D did immediately make the request to the music librarian and email the composer. Meanwhile D explained to the composer that it will take months before the library acquires, catalogs the sheet music. The composer replied that's great. And that's the end of it. She checked WorldCat.org and found out that there is only one institution that owns a copy and it does not have any partnership/agreements with her library. She ended up requesting through ILL (InterLibrary Loan) anyway. Got that music today. For those who don't know, ILL is expensive especially when the lending library does not have partnership/agreement with your library.
D had have composers sending her sheet music free of charge on request of the soloist. And she said that it is a common practice. Is it? I do understand that composers need to make a living. That's why I asked if it is a common practice. But this piece is very new and judging from the fact that only one academic library owns it and the recital is a perfect promotional tool of the piece, shouldn't the composer be pleased to send it for free?
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Music Industry
I have been interested in a music industry major.. So far I've found schools offering this program are USC, UMiami, Drexel, and NYU. At USC, you can either choose BM and BS, with BM requiring an audition. What is the primary differences between these two?? A&R interests me, but i don't want to give up playing completely unless necessary.. What other schools offer this major and what are highly respectable?? Thanks
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USC-thornton school of music for voice
Does anyone have any information on the voice program at USC?
I've heard about their popular music program but I'm going for classical voice with some musical theater, and USC has a musical theater minor so I'm interested. I've looked at the website but I haven't gotten any first-hand opinions.
If it helps to add, I'm interested in high academic schools like Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon so USC could be up there on my list because of its high scores.
*oh and I'm talking about undergrad, I'm a rising senior in high school so I'll be applying and auditioning this Fall
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