Anyone play in UA music ensembles besides Marching Band?

<p>Curious if any students have played in one of the music ensembles besides marching band. Auditions aren’t until August and the professor D is in contact with suggesting leaving the slots “open” when registering at BB. The times for the two ensembles are smack dab in the middle of the day on MW or TR, so it she is having to pass on a lot of potential classes when working on a potential schedule. Just wondering how other students may have dealt with this.</p>

<p>My daughter is an incoming freshman music major, so we don’t have any experience with ensembles, but we had the same question. Since the music school is rather distant from some of the other academic buildings, it isn’t just a matter of holding the actual ensemble times open, but also of making sure that she isn’t going to be in a class in Ten Hoor or Comer or Morgan immediately before or after the ensemble time. We contacted her applied professor, who was able to give her an idea of her likely ensemble placement based on hearing her admission audition. He told her that she should sign up for that ensemble when she goes to Bama Bound (not just hold the spot open in her schedule).</p>

<p>Okay, my son is not in an ensemble for instruments but has spent the last two semesters in the University Chorus and will be in a different Chorus for the fall semester. I know that Moody seems far from the other buildings but he has never had a problem making the trek from one class to another. He has had classes back to back and far from Moody. You just have to leave class on time and move fast but it is doable. Sometimes kids bike to the more distant classes. I do know that there are always additional practices besides class times right before performances.</p>

<p>Also, ask what type of clothes will be required for performances. My son has to wear a Tuxedo for performances.</p>

<p>He is not a music major.</p>

<p>As an Alabama alum, I would advise incoming freshman to be careful about scheduling classes at opposite ends of the campus back to back, particularly if the student will be stressed out by at the prospect of running late. Some professors are very understanding about late arrival due to cross campus scheduling, while others are not. It is a mile by foot by the most direct route from Moody Music to Morgan, slightly more to Ten Hoor and slightly less to Comer. While that might be okay for a Tuesday - Thursday class, it probably isn’t physically possible without a bike for a M/W/F class. This is mostly an issue for freshman and sophomores who are still taking core classes – once students are taking classes primarily in their majors, their life becomes more centralized.</p>

<p>^^^True, I should have added that my son is a very fast walker :)</p>

<p>You just have to judge for yourself, but it probably is better having some extra time in between.</p>

<p>Paying~We were also looking at the travel distance and were concerned about only having 15 minutes to get from one side of the campus to the other. D isn’t majoring (or minoring) in music, so she won’t audition until August. She was going to play for Dr. Mann in March when we were down there, but it didn’t work out. Dr. Mann told her to leave the spots open until the auditions, but told D to call her if there was a problem at BB.</p>

<p>Robotmom~ good point about the performance dress. I’m hoping what she wears for orchestra now will work!</p>