<p>Anyone have suggestions on what colleges are best for clarinet performance? We want to start looking this summer and I (her mother) know nothing about music. Help!!!!!</p>
<p>University of Michigan has great woodwinds, including a wonderful new clarinet teacher, Daniel Gilbert.</p>
<p>Hi!
I'm a senior in high school and I'm a clarinetist... I've applied as a double major in education and performance at some schools, but I'm leaning toward switching to only performance... Anyway, I've been through the whole process and am accepted at VA Commonwealth University, Indiana University and Ithaca College (still waiting on 3 more schools!). There's a lot I don't know about you and your D, so I hesitate to make any specific recommendations. However, my teacher's doctoral thesis is a study of the prominent clarinet professors in the country - so combine that with my own audition tour of six schools plus visits to a few I didn't end up applying to, and I think I can answer any specific question you can come up with. I'd be happy to make recommendations to you based on your geography and personal preferences, etc. Feel free to private message me if you like! I always love helping out fellow clarinet people!
Good luck to you and your D!</p>
<p>lostinthemusic, I'd love to have a look at that doctoral thesis. Do you know if it is published or if your teacher is planning to make it available?</p>
<p>Yehuda Gilad at USC and Colburn is very highly regarded.</p>
<p>The</a> Colburn School of Performing Arts</p>
<p>USC</a> Thornton School of Music : Faculty Profiles: Yehuda Gilad</p>
<p>juniorbill - I'd let you look at it, but she's not done yet! haha.
If she finishes it and decides to make it available, I'll let you know.</p>
<p>Some other schools to consider for clarinet:
Eastman - Ken Grant
Oberlin - Richard Hawkins
Indiana
DePaul
Northwestern
Peabody
New England Conservatory</p>
<p>Thanks juniorbill.
Eastman and Oberlin are definitely on her list. I'm not sure about Peabody and New England conservatory.She wants a reall college experience. I don't know anything about the others. Would you tell me about them?</p>
<p>"Real College" experience and Eastman is probably not realistic, at least in terms of how I think you're defining "Real College." Eastman is a couple of miles away for the University of Rochester. Students have to take a shuttle bus to go to and fro. Eastman students live in a dorm a short walk from the Eastman buildings. The setup is basically the same as Peabody/Johns Hopkins. </p>
<p>If you want to double major at Eastman/U Rochester, Peabody/JHU and Oberlin, I believe that you have to be accepted to both the conservatory and the "regular" school and some of these even make you get a third acceptance, that to a double degree program. I know this is the case at Peabody/JHU. </p>
<p>Double majors are quite a challenge, especially in a "commuting" situation like Peabody and Eastman. Working in shuttle buses, class schedules, practice time and ensembles is quite challenging.</p>
<p>Another school you should add to the list is Lawrence</a> University in Wisconsin. The clarinet prof, Fan Lei is very nice. Lawrence will remind you of Oberlin in location, campus layout and size.</p>
<p>I'm not an expert by any means, so anyone who wants to chime in to correct me is certainly welcome, but my daughter went through the decision process last year and the year before. She's a freshman.
Eastman - what Imp/Zep said, and it's in a downtown area that's not the best but not the worst - definitely a "city" feel, not a "campus" feel.
Indiana - big state university with large music school. Very nice campus.
DePaul - medium-smallish Catholic school in the heart of Chicago. Several top-notch clarinet teachers, including the soon-to-retire principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Larry Combs.
Northwestern - selective, expensive, top-notch school with great facilities and teachers.
Peabody - I don't know much about it beyond what Imp/Zep said.
New England Conservatory - like Eastman, a true conservatory experience, in the heart of Boston. My wife took our daughter there for her audition so I didn't get to see it.</p>
<p>Another possibility is Ithaca College. We visited but they didn't offer "get-acquainted" lessons. It was nice enough, it just didn't click with our daughter, but we had read great things about the music program.</p>
<p>One more to consider: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. It's not the strongest music school you could find, but it has one of the best teachers in Burt Hara, principal with the Minnesota Symphony. It's also one of the largest universities in the country.</p>
<p>Finally, you and your daughter might like to spend a few hours at The</a> Clarinet BBoard</p>
<p>I can fill in more on Peabody since that's where D is a sophomore in clarinet performance. Two clarinet studios, Ed Palanker (once taught a then young Ricardo Morales) and Steve Barta. </p>
<p>School is located in the Mt. Vernon district of Baltimore, which has been the better part of town for a long, long time, not like the recently rebuilt inner harbor. There are many trendy restaurants right in the neighborhood and it's a short, "safe" walk to inner harbor. "Safe" in paranthesis since no matter how you cut it, it's a city and students need to be in city mode. </p>
<p>The nicest part from a parental-driven security perspective is that the entire campus spans a contiguous city block which is a "secure" area with limited, gated access. Students can get from their dorm rooms to practice rooms, class rooms, etc., without ever going outside.</p>
<p>Students can take classes at Johns Hopkins. D was all set to take Italian there this year, but realized that the reality of the situation was that she would be burning too much time riding the shuttle bus and losing valuable practice time. Therefore she ended up taking Italian at Peabody.</p>
<p>Downsides: very ex$pen$ive and parsimonious with merit grants.</p>
<p>D chose Peabody over Indiana, Lawrence and Illinois Wesleyan. Visited Oberlin and Ithaca, attended NHSMI at Northwestern, and had many interactions at University of Illinois, but none of these made her audition list.</p>
<p>At Oberlin, it is best but not necessary to apply to both programs from the start if you are interested in the double degree program. Being admitted as a double degree student allows you to take more than one class per semester in the college during freshman year. For those who start out in the conservatory only, it is still relatively easy to transfer into the double degree program at the start of second year. It involves getting some paperwork filled out and obtaining two recommendations from teachers on the college side. Since conservatory students are required to take one class each semester in the college, the recommendations are fairly easy to get. (Hint: make sure to take classes in the college from two different teachers your freshman year if you want to do this.) Several people switch in and out of the double degree program each year and both admissions departments are very used to this procedure. People have switched into the program as late as the start of their third year and still managed to complete both degrees in five years. Those who start out just on the college side have a much harder time because they have to audition with everyone else to get into the conservatory. This does not happen very often at all. </p>
<p>The current dean of the conservatory is himself an Oberlin double degree grad (Tuba performance and English Lit.) so there is institutional support for those who want to follow that path. A handful of individual music teachers are reported not to want their students in the double degree program. That is a good thing to ask about when meeting with the teacher for a sample lesson.</p>
<p>What does anyone know about the West Chester, PA program?</p>
<p>IZ, you mention Illinois. I have always wondered why this school isn't mentioned much anymore, because I think it used to rank pretty well in the past as a music school. It's just a riddle that I haven't been able to figure out, just wondering what happened. I think they have one of the best music libraries, but people don't audition there as much anymore (for any instrument, that I'm aware of.)</p>
<p>D interacted favorably with director there, who was a frequent guest conductor at our HS, as well as participating in "Superstate" fesitvals at Illinois. However, she had 0 interest in applying, keeping my proposed tuition corollary to Murphy's Law intact; "A child will want to attend the school with the highest tuition and the lowest financial aid offer."</p>
<p>I think the focus of the program, whether real or perceived, is that it's a school for music ed. Every music student teacher at the HS during her time was a UofI music ed major. One of them was even a clarinet player. </p>
<p>Like you observed, few people who apply to schools like Indiana or Northwestern for performance also apply to Illinois. The faculty is excellent and I've heard their wind ensemble play a few times and they were outstanding. Go figure...</p>
<p>IZ: your Murphy's Law tuition corollary is too funny, and, as I have also found, too true!! I think of my one son who was offered full tuition to a school, and just didn't want to go there at all.</p>
<p>Well, I have to say maybe it's not such a bad thing, regarding the "tuition corollary." I sometimes wonder if the student should be kept in the dark about what the financial aid offer is and choose the school on the more important factors, because I think the money can skew your reasoning, sadly. I know this is probably totally unrealistic, but it has crossed my mind a few times....</p>
<p>That's interesting about Illinois, because I think it used to be more prominent in the NWern, Indiana, Michigan circuit but not as much now. Always wondered why. The Krannert Center is pretty cool I hear and they bring in big names, and the facilities aren't so bad. The campus is fine. Who knows.</p>
<p>Not only is Zep's Murphy's Law tuition corollary a truism, there are the additional rules that apply to music students:</p>
<p>-undergrad acceptance automatically generates new instrument
-instrument must be the most expensive available; string instrument cost<br>
should be be no less than COA of most expensive institution where student<br>
accepted.<br>
-cost of new accompanying bow must at least equal yearly room and board<br>
estimate</p>
<p>:eek:</p>
<p>ah yes, violadad.</p>
<p>and when in doubt, ALWAYS choose the school farthest from home!</p>
<p>Violadad: Yes, there is truth to what you speak and I do feel for you string parents. Whenever D asks me for a new "child (instrument)" my groans are greeted with, "Hey be glad I play woodwinds and not a string instrument!" When I consider that statement I am glad, since a quick total of her entire, sizeable stable of woodwinds would probably not buy a "mediocre" string instrument. </p>
<p>Yes, clarinets rule from a cost perspective! The most expensive commerically available professional Bb clarinets run less than $5K and a custom made one probably wouldn't even go for 5 figures. That kind of money are rounding errors on strings!</p>
<p>L.Fortissimo: Agree with your statement, but I would caution parents to look at it more "front ended" by only allowing your child to apply to schools that you can afford WITHOUT any financial grants (loans are OK in this calculation). This way you won't have the heart wrenching task of telling your child, "I know that you have your heart set on Podunk U, but you can't go there because we can't afford it." In this scenario any financial grants (which is what I consider to be "financial aid") are total gravy and may help buy that new instrument that they'll want...</p>