<p>mamenyu–I never once implied any sort of qualitative difference between “teachers who also perform” and “performers who also teach.” There are too many examples of outstanding teachers who are not necessarily renowned performers to name. And there are certainly great performing artists who cannot connect well to students, do not have a coherent pedagogical philosophy, etc. My only point was that it’s apples and oranges to compare a school where the majority of the faculty teach there full-time vs. a place where the faculty are mainly on campus when they are teaching lessons, and that’s it. No student has yet complained to me or anyone else in the administration that their primary applied teacher is MIA, unavailable, and uninterested in their development and growth. As for names that do sit on the door here, many are eminent composers and musicologists (Joan Tower and Christopher Gibbs come immediately to mind). </p>
<p>The other apples and oranges comparison is a school that in 2007 had 50 or so students with a school that has had 600+ students for a very long time. You most likely visited at a bad time–because all of our students are pursuing a double degree, many are in other academic classes in other buildings during the day, and many rehearsals and chamber music coachings take place at night. But I have been to Oberlin and yes the building is hopping–as you would expect with a school containing many more students. </p>
<p>I was also very clear that I did not want to get in to a debate over which school was “better.” (It’s as absurd as the fight between students at Reed, Wesleyan, and Bard over who’s “edgier,” “more activist,” etc.). Jeremy Denk is an Oberlin grad; two colleagues with whom I work very closely, Frank Corliss and Kayo Iwama, are also Obies. We have two Oberlin graduates currently studying here–one in the vocal arts program and the other in the post-graduate collaborative piano fellowship. But in keeping with my original point–that Bard’s program is being viewed by some as up and coming, on the make, etc.–I wanted to stress the fact that when there are people applying to both Bard (Conservatory) and Oberlin (Double Degree), and they are admitted to BOTH, so far, the choice has been in our favor. Since there is not 100% overlap of the two applicant pools, I also made it a point to emphasize that this subset (people who’ve applied to both) was not representative of the Oberlin Conservatory population as a whole. However I do want to get the idea out there that, when it comes to auditions, Bard is not a safety or not as tough as some of the other conservatories out there. </p>
<p>Having earned a double degree myself, my own feeling is that I would have benefited from a learning environment whereby all students were engaged in the same endeavor, instead of being occasionally treated like I was weird or a traitor for not devoting myself 100% to music. Oberlin is certainly the most welcoming environment out there for this kind of approach, and if someone is wanting to dabble in the double degree but wants the option to drop one or other after trying it out, then certainly Oberlin or other programs that allow the flexibility make more sense. I will say, though, that by taking the position that we have, the burden for making the double degree more userfriendly, achievable, workable, etc. has shifted from the individual student to the institution. It’s now our job to ensure our students stay happy, are not overburdened, don’t have mandatory labs clashing with orchestra rehearsals, etc. And the student doesn’t have to get up every day and re-convince him/herself to once again take the plunge in these pursuits. So overall it is a very attractive mental climate–there’s a real sense of esprit de corps among our students–and I can say without hesitation that our students are indeed happy, and sleep well at night.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you had such a strong negative reaction to our campus and program. I’d like to think that if I was on board at the time I could have helped improve your impression of the place. As it was, they had no admissions person from 2005-late 2007! Very uneven and haphazard approach to recruiting students during this time. And so we’re not a Cup-O-Noodles Conservatory–and we appeal to those who want to join a new program and shape its outcome and eventual reputation. Some days I imagine what it was like to work at Stanford or Cornell back in the late 1800s–when they were just getting off the ground but Harvard, Yale, Princeton et all were already 200 years old. (Actually the balance of political and cultural power shifting from the Northeast elsewhere [California, Texas] really interests me). </p>
<p>You have someone at Oberlin, and I work for Bard, so at some point this conversation will just reach a dead end. I mean, the title of this thread is “Bard vs Oberlin” after all :)</p>