Berklee 5 week summer 2017 participants

Thank you very much! A scholarship to Berklee or a 5 week summer program scholarship? Or both? Either way, that’s great! Did they prep students for the audition during the summer program? (I assumed this would be at the end but sounds like auditions may take place at the mid-point of the summer program, so just wondering if the students know what to expect or are kind of thrown into it.) I appreciate your patience with all my questions! I’m getting so much info here-thanks everyone!

He got a five week scholarship, he was a rising junior at the time.

My daughter did not get a scholarship (apparently much tougher to get if you miss priority scholarship deadline as we did) so very difficult decision now. Although a big sacrifice and impacting the little college savings we have, we can get most of the tuition together and my daughter has figured out some creative ways to earn some extra money to cover the rest. Part of me can’t justify paying the full tuition (cost is more than full year tuition at most state colleges!) but I do see great value in her being exposed to a top level music school in which she would have amazing collaboration opportunities, very challenging coursework, high level ensemble experiences, and even the chance to go through a real college audition (that alone may be worth it!) Plus she could earn college credit, although would have to hope it transfers to other colleges if she doesn’t go to Berklee. In addition, she could get a feel for college life, including the perks and drawbacks. I know some 5 week students left feeling it was the perfect school for them and others who ended up deciding Berklee just wasn’t the right fit for them, so even helping with the elimination process (whichever way it goes) is a plus in my book. In searching for alternatives, there is a 2 week songwriting and a 2 week contemporary performance camp through Frost Music School in Miami which she could still audition for and seems like a good program and is definitely a school she is considering for college. It is cheaper but only 4 weeks vs. 5 and we’d have to consider airfare costs (not cheap.) We are leaning towards making the sacrifice to move forward with the Berklee 5 Week Performance Program but any insight or advice would be appreciated as we weigh the pros and cons. She REALLY wants to do this but understands the cost and justification issues we are struggling with. Thank you!

Berklee has a 5-day songwriting workshop (Jun 25-29), so if college credit and the chance for college audition are not of prime concern, then another possible option may be to combine this with the 2-week contemporary performance program at Frost (Jul 2-13). The time seems quite a good match, and the advantage is not only a big cost cut but also the opportunity to get a taste of both schools.

@Compojazzmom That’s a good idea…would definitely give you the flavor of the place!

That’s a good point @Compojazzmom although Miami in July might be an unfair turnoff to the beautiful school, campus and great program LOL. @diglass was in a similar situation with her D last summer so maybe she can shed light on if she feels it was worth it in the long run.

Mine did a week-long workshop at Berklee the year prior to doing 5-Week. During that, he was invited to an undergrad audition (and at the time, he/we knew nothing about any of this stuff)–so he told them that he was only a rising junior, and they said his would be for scholarships for the following summer instead of undergrad, so he went for it. Great experience and not any different than his undergrad audition at 5-Week or subsequent regional Berklee audition during regular admission. And in a way, I think he’d say the week-long seminar was more intense and focussed and included more committed students than 5-Week did the following summer. So maybe one of the shorter programs could provide the same value with less financial commitment?

In the search of summer music programs, I found that the fees could vary a lot across schools. While the weekly costs of attending Oberlin, Frost and Eastman are in line, Berklee charges 50% more…then there is this school which is only asking for 60% of the ‘typical’ rate - the University of Illinois, a place I learnt about from a CC parent. Worth taking a look: http://isym.music.illinois.edu/

@AmyIzzy We were in your shoes this time last year. My D did not get a scholarship for 5 week. We struggled with our choice. My D did much research and compared doing 2 different camps or some combination of 2 Berklee workshops or one Berklee workshop and the NYU songwriting camp. We never looked at Miami, so I can’t weigh in on that one. I can see how there would be some benefit to attending two different programs. But the choice will have to be what your family can manage.

We found that the price of the programs we were considering pretty much added up to, or very close to the same as 5 week. I suppose the possibility of earning college credit for all that money was also a deciding factor. We chose to send our daughter to Berklee 5 week. It was a financial stretch. She had never been to a summer music program so my husband and I decided that the 5 week program would give her the best opportunities for growth before heading into college auditions in the fall. I don’t know where you live and what types of training your daughter has at home. We have pretty much nothing at home so my daughter would not have progressed much at home.

My daughter loved her time at Berklee. She did grow and improve while she was there. She has even said that she continues to use what she learned at Berklee in her private lessons and in her prep for college auditions. She also earned college credit that her college will accept. I will say 5week is what you make of it. Some things were not exactly what I thought they would be but my D says she was fine with it and learned a lot anyway. She would say it’s what she needed at the time. 5 week was a great experience for my D. I don’t think she would have had the same outcome from college auditions if she had not gone to 5 week. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thank you so much diglass for that insight! I was calculating a few other camp options too (some would still be costly when we add in roundtrip airfare) but I really feel the 5 Week encompasses everything she needs right now as she preps for college. Some kids are intimidated by top-level music schools/camps/challenges but my daughter says she would be SO motivated to push herself harder than ever if she had this chance. I am sure it will be humbling being around the best of the best nationally and internationally but also insanely inspiring. We live in a suburb of Buffalo, NY and luckily our community is very supportive of the arts. Her school is public but known as a theatre/music school so she is very blessed in that regard. So there are local opportunities for sure but I think she wants to try out the big leagues at this critical time. I’m sure most of you can tell I’m leaning yes on this and my husband is pretty much on the same page, even willing to take out a small loan if needed. My daughter is contributing as much as she can financially and I know she’d put her heart and soul into this experience. So I’d say we are 90% yes if our finances come together. But I’m still open to hearing from anyone who thinks we are crazy. Lol. Thanks for all the feedback so far!

My 15 YOS is attending the five week program this summer, not on scholarship. Thus far, It’s been a disaster. We flew from Wyoming last year to attend a one week day session clinic to try things on for size. That was a much better organized program with more students that surprizingly included actual players. We thought, how could we go wrong, so made arrangements to attend the five week program this summer. What we discovered is that there were virtually no returning students as fifteen year olds. The program is comprised of entering junior and senior high school students. There is very little structure associated with the program for musicians, being almost entirely focused on singer songwriters with big dreams of making it on AGT. As a skilled jazz percussionist, there is zero educational value for rhythm players at Berklee Five Week. The check-in to dormitory and upstart for the program is chaotic and actually takes four days before anything educational even starts, leaving a lot of idle time on students hands that, in my sons case, lead to a great deal of disappointment and homesickness. To say you get off on the wrong foot is an understatement. The classes are rudimentary for advanced players and include almost no performance opportunity, but rather a bunch of theory lecture oriented classes and survey percussion style discussions that are essentially film reviews of different percussion methods. What a joke! There is only thirty minutes of private lesson per week and the “jazz ensemble” class is a fundamental exercise in blues play. They don’t even work on jazz standards! This is not a program for fifteen year old kids. Two students have already been kicked out of school for alchohol and other violations to the code of conduct. In the orientation presentation after check-in, we were advised that 11 kids had to be shipped home last summer due to code of conduct vilolations.

So…my son is a drummer right. Having access to ensemble rooms that include instruments is pretty important for performance with other players. There are very few ensemble rooms available for players to actually play together in a band, and those rooms are available to recording artists, the public and full time college students, making them very difficult to be reserved. If you are fortunate enough to get a session reserved for an ensemble room, be prepared to spend $50 per hour to have access to a damn drum kit where other players can play with you! Bottom line: my son has been reduced to renting a cojon so he can at least find some opportunities to jam with some kids in the hallways of the public areas in the dormitory. I’m giving it a few more days to see if I can make any progress with a bewildered faculty that is utterly befuddled that my son isn’t having the time of his life, yet does very little to try and remedy the situation. This, before I fly out to exit my son from this worthless program.

So sorry @sharptail but we have been there. I sent you a PM

I wonder if age is a part of his reaction to those 4 days of relative inactivity. For a 15 year-old, did they promise a very structured program beginning on the first day?

I also wonder if this is more of a foundational program than he wants. In many fields, even the most talented musicians can benefit from going back to the basics a bit.

We know percussionists in DMA programs who were talented at 15 but have studied for 12+ more years than your son.

There may be disappointment for a young musician who is clearly talented and used performance as a priority. Does he do lessons every week at home? What kind of training does he have?

I honestly hate to see a great school deliver so poorly for a summer program, if that is indeed what is happening, and hope he can stick it out and get some benefit out of the program despite whatever level of disorganization is present for such a large program.

Also there are issues particular to percussion that clearly need to be resolved. Access to instruments, access to practice opportunities, are easier for other musicians.

@sharptail I am so very sorry to hear this. My now-17 year old did the five-week last year. It was great for him, but I definitely see the validity of your criticisms. It was far less structured, with more free time and fewer group events (most of which my son chose not to attend). With nearly 1,000 kids, the jam sessions were, well, jammed, and he did most of his playing in student lounges with other kids he’d met. Also, I’d say that less than a third of the kids were what I would call serious musicians. My son connected with many who were, and had a positive experience, but he is also a kid who loves down time and wandering the city on his own.

By contrast, he attended the Eastman two-week program this year. Every moment from 8:30am to 9 pm was scheduled, including weekends, which was a little too much for my son but might work great for another kid. There were only 45 players, of uniformly high quality. Instruction was exceptional. His playing improved a lot.

Overall he loved this program and I would say it was much better organized overall. Your son might want to give it a look next year. (One caveat: no a/c in the dorms, which given the long heat wave this summer was pretty miserable.)

Best of luck to you and your percussionist!

S also thinks highly of Eastman’s program. He had an unforgettable experience there this summer, and after a week he’s still talking about how much he wants to go back in time to do it again! The school has indeed moved from who-knows-where to the top of his college application list!

As for Berklee, S didn’t participate in the 5-week program but joined Boston Conservatory at Berklee for a 1-week program last year. While he did learn a lot, he also enjoyed the freedom given and had a great time hanging out with his friends in the city of Boston.