There is soooo little activity on this music forum. Feeling sad for everyone, but still hoping there will be a way to move forward even with restrictions.
MSM sent out a detailed email with their plansā¦ here are the important details.
Overview of Fall 2020 Semester
The plans outlined below are based on current guidelines and are subject to change should orders from local, state, or federal agencies mandate MSM to do so. MSM may also elect to alter these plans to align with best practices as recommended by industry resources.
The Fall semester will begin September 9. We have developed a model that allows for all students to begin their academic courses through remote learning, and then select one in-person performance-based ātrack.ā You may select your track based on your ability and timing to arrive in New York City. The chart below shares the schedule for the entire semester and details for each option.
Specific details for fall 2020
14 weeks of instruction + Finals week.
September 9 ā December 18
Academic Classes (music history, theory, humanities, etc.)
Courses will be scheduled Monday ā Friday in three time bands: 8:00 - 11:00 am, 8:00 ā 11:00 pm and one 3-hour block in the early afternoon.
Faculty will teach in real-time through Zoom and course materials, syllabi, etc., will be stored in Canvas.
Performing Ensembles and Performance-based Courses
Students will be scheduled for performance-based courses based on their date of arrival in New York City (September 9, November 1, January 4).
Students situated in NYC by September 9 will be assigned to ensembles and begin rehearsals on campus during the first week of classes.
Students will be allowed to participate in approved, socially-distanced ensembles, with required face coverings.
Ensembles and other performance-related activities will take place in spaces where appropriate social distancing can be observed.
Applied Lessons
On-campus or video-conference lessons only.
Face coverings must be worn at all times for non-wind instruments, including voice.
More information about specific plans for wind and voice lessons will be shared in a separate message.
The Dean of Academic Affairs will ask students and faculty to indicate lesson format (i.e., on-campus or through video conference)
Recitals and Concerts
May take place on-campus, with performers observing face covering and social distancing requirements.
There will be no audiences at performances until further notice. As many performances as possible will be livestreamed.
Arrival to MSM
Students should plan to arrive in NYC 14 days prior to starting in-person instruction if they have an obligation to self-quarantine.
14-day quarantine requirements will be determined by state and federal health agencies in accordance with the domestic or international region a student is traveling from.
All students will be required to test for COVID-19 before travel to MSM and, if they travel by airplane, to test again 72 hours after their arrival at MSM.
Late July: check MSM website and emails from the Dean of Students for up to date and specific requirements for testing and quarantine.
Students living in Andersen Hall without an obligation to self-quarantine will be asked to arrive in waves on specific dates between depending on the mode transportation.
Campus Health and Safety
MSM is making significant investment throughout campus to preserve the health and safety of our entire community.
Campus Cleaning
Touchless fixtures and dispensers are being installed in restrooms throughout the campus.
Enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols are being implemented, with a focus on high-touch and high-traffic areas.
More than 100 new hand sanitizer dispensers are being deployed throughout campus.
Sanitizing wipesā stations will be deployed throughout campus and stocked with EPA-qualified products for use against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID0-19.
Campus Usage
Everyone entering MSMās campus will be required to complete a daily health questionnaire. The questionnaire can be completed on your own personal device using Envoy, our Visitor Management System, or it can be completed at an iPad as you enter campus. Anyone not meeting the requirements of this questionnaire will not be permitted on campus.
A comprehensive program of signs and other visual cues is being implemented to ensure social distancing is maintained throughout campus.
Classrooms, performance halls, rehearsal spaces, and practice rooms will be scheduled in a way that allows for appropriate air filtration between uses.
Sneeze guards and other physical barriers will be deployed in high-traffic areas throughout campus.
Technology and Digital Resources
A new, integrated video platform, Kaltura, allows faculty and students to easily create, edit, upload, and share video recordings for coursework in Canvas.
Expansion of wired and wireless internet in Main Building to support hybrid and remote learning.
The Library has increased its digital resources by 50%, with audio and video recordings in a wider array of genres and more print resources, including non-public-domain scores.
MSM will provide students with recommendations for microphones, speakers, recording devices, and internet connections to optimize sound quality for online courses, lessons, and performances; we are currently exploring agreements with a vendor to create ātech packagesā at a discounted rate for MSM students.
MSM will have a supply of microphones/recording devices available to lend on-campus students who are unable to purchase equipment.
Communication Plan
In the following days and weeks, MSM will be sharing more specific details so that you and your family may make necessary arrangements to commence your studies for the Fall semester. Look for important information on:
Week of July 6
MSM Fall Reopen web pages launch on MSM website ā look for red alert bar on MSM homepage.
Students sent My Arrival to MSM survey
Week of July 13
MSM Performance and Production Operations details ensemble and recital options
Mid-July ā August
Online orientation and meetings with faculty commence
Student sessions for using Kaltura and Canvas
Yikes! It all gets really confusing, doesnāt it? It would be great if all schools could come up with a uniform approach (especially for families with multiple children in different schools). But then again it would be helpful if all states could do the same (now that weāre seeing big spikes in non-urban as well as urban areas, so itās harder to say that different areas require different strategies). My son, as Iāve said, is sitting out the fall semester at Berklee and just taking some online classes toward his degree from home, so I donāt really have skin in the game at the moment. But I frankly donāt see how anyone is going to be able to pull all this off (MSM or elsewhere) at this point, with so little guidance and insight into what will happen next with this thingānot the schoolsā fault; just the way it is. So many ADULTS are unable or unwilling to take the simplest precautions; Iām not sure that college-age people can be expected to do much better.
Iām sorry for always sounding like such a downer on this stuff, but at least my instincts about summer programs were pretty accurate early on! So few people seem willing to make even the smallest āsacrificesā for the good of the community as a whole (even in my liberal little northern NJ town, Iām constantly bitching at people who pass within inches of me with no mask on, and after about a month of almost no new cases weāre suddenly getting a somewhat significant and sudden spike). Weāre not exactly setting a good example for young people as they head off to learn how to be adults on their own in college.
But I would really love to see our musicians, and others in the arts (Iām a little biased 
), be able to find ways to carry on and thrive and create, on campus or not. To have oneās life put on hold at that stage seems particularly cruel.
Fwiw, my son moved back to his apartment in the MSM neighborhood a few weeks ago and many of his musician friends in the neighborhood have also moved back in (or never left). Theyāre finding ways to play together, with masks (other than the horn players) and social distancing. Theyāre doing some live-streaming together and thereās a weekly outdoor jazz jam on Sunday evenings at one of the local restaurant/bars, most of which are now open for outdoor dining and drinks. Still no indoor dining/drinks at this point. NYC has been reopening cautiously over the last month and so far it seems to be going well (knock on wood). The fact that NYC was hit so hard at the outset may have the silver lining that people are taking the situation seriously and for the most part are being pretty responsible.
@vamusicmom1, what is the housing situation like there? Curious how the 14 day quarantine works.
I was also wondering about housing and dining plans.
@jazzpianodad made me happy to read about your son
MSM and Juilliard fall plans sound quite different. Are those school approving gap year / leave-of-absence requests in 2020-2021?
My sonās conservatory is approving gap year / LOA requests only in 2020-2021. It is āstillā opening. They prioritize in-person classes for applied lessons, chamber / ensembles, repertoire, technique, etc. All ensembles are going to be small. Probably, no large orchestra. Liberal arts, music theory, music education, music engineer / technology, etc will be remote classes.
According to dean:
ā While there are unique challenges facing specific disciplines, most notably vocal studies, we are working to devise solutions whereby on-campus lessons can be taught via low-latency, remote technologyā
His conservatory encourages students whose health is at risk not to attend but conservatory would work individually for their āremoteā courses. They offer the same to students who are unable to attend school due to travel difficulty.
First year student move-in is August 20th. Fall semester starts on August 31st and all in-person classes end on November 20th (before Thanksgiving week), then switch to all remote classes. Nothing yet about spring semester but I am sure they are planning for both fall and spring at the same time. All students will have a Covid-test at arrival and within 24 hours of arrival, they must quarantine until test result is negative (in their dorm room or own housing). They are not sure yet how often to test students in campus yet but if students have any symptoms, they will give a test at least. So, I am sure there will be some kind of daily āhealth check reportā information coming out soon.
Dorm rooms are all single and all in-coming freshmen need to live in dorm. They did have 130-ish committed new students who paid deposit but 30+ students are international. In new social distance āsingleā dorms, his school can have 80 students to live on campus. Sophomores (usual years, all freshmen and sophomores are required to live in dorm) were given two choices to live their own off-campus apartment and school will assist sophomoresā apartment hunting (probably roommates, too) or at nearby hotel (with a staff) as off-campus dorm. All ādormā students (on-campus / hotel-dorm) will be required to purchase a meal plan which is most likely grab-to-go kind. If any of ādormā students get tested āpositiveā, his school plans to isolate him/her/them somewhere in campuses and provide care / monitor their health.
After an official plan from his school last week, my son and his friend have committed to live in off-campus by themselves and found an apartment in 8-min walking distance. Online apartment hunting was very challenging but they started earlier on researching and targeted in a few apartments nearby because sophomores have good ideas about the town. They didnāt ask schoolās assistance but with their official proof of full-time enrollments at the school in their joist application, they got a room (2-Bed/2-Bath) and even got ā5% students discountā. They are very happy about an unit (which they have seen only floor plan and photos of similar units in the building but will have actual video tour next week) and already ordered some furniture to be delivered. So, it was a very exciting week for my son.
I have purchased my sonās one-way Southwest nonstop flight to arrive on August 15th (lease starting day) with considering a possibility of 14-day quarantine policy between states. If his school needs to close campus again like spring semester, he plans to continue living in his apartment with his roommate. Several of his jazz program friends (class 2023) will live in off-campus apartment and plan to live through even school closes campus. I am still worried, getting even more worried by recent spikes. But now, it seems like a commitment time for everyone.
Hi all been off for a while - busy with work since kids were out of school. NEC came out with a comprehensive plan. All rooms will be single in dorm. They are taking over part of the Revolution Hotel with NEC-only floors, including RAs. They have all kinds of rules, protocols, technology (air cleaners, etc.) for students and spaces. Live, remote or combo is up to students. They are doing all orientation, assessments, auditions in summer and week early move in. Sept to Thanksgiving is performance intensive. They can stay home after holiday (or stay on campus free) and holiday until end of semester is academic intensive. Again with choices in delivery of ed, master classes and small performances. They are waiving the 2 year rule for on campus. Dining halls open. There are tons of regulations around different instruments. In fact, S is rethinking what heāll take as his primary instrument (heās a composer) - and forgoing piano for voice. They also have testing, masks, quarantine, etc. all ready to go. They have a town hall next week for Q/A. I have to say they have been communicating a lot throughout the planning process.
It is confusing - so MUCH information, but it looks like they have all bases covered and S is so excited to be on campus. Iām nervous but I think heāll be OK. Remote was a disaster for him this spring and he already had a gap year.
Next week heās starting Curtisā summer program - itās ALL virtual with a pretty demanding schedule. Heās nervous and excited but also disappointed not to be on-site - itās just a different vibe and experience in person.
He did use the lockdown time to take an online production class - so I think that technology is one area in which kids can expand their knowledge during this situation. NEC is planning on unveiling a minimal latency technology platform for group virtual performances. Excited to see how that is.
So minimal latency means technology that minimizes lag time? Does this mean performers can be far away? Will this technology be used on site with performers in different rooms? Just curious what this means.
Oberlin has this technology too - yes, thatās exactly right. This means you can have performers or performers / instructors in separate rooms without the lag that many systems have.
Boyer kid is moving back at the end of this month. As of now, his music theory class is in person and his two general eds are remote. Heās got a three bedroom apartment steps away from campus and is chomping at the bit to get back. They already have a sign-up system for some of the percussion practice rooms that they will probably extend to incorporate the rest.
Heās lucky that they can at least have percussion ensembles for the fall. Other, larger ones are still up in the air. One of his professors has been running a remote āstick controlā seminar all summer so kidās skills have improved drastically. The only sad part is that their great emeritus professor (Alan Abel) passed away from COVID earlier this spring.
MSM has one dorm building and it is actually connected to the school itself. My D is in an apartment nearby, but lived in the dorm for 3 years. It is a 17 story building (with the school President living on the top floor). There are hall bathrooms only.
Iām not sure how quarantining will work.
I havenāt been commenting here bc I donāt have a kid in school. All I can say is āI feel for all of youā. I wish I had words of wisdom but I have none. I have no idea what I would do in your situation.
My D is pretty sure that she will not be performing until next Spring based on what companies have announced recently (March right nowā¦but itās a moving target). She has been called back to her day job. And, she continues to teach. Sheās self-supporting and lives with her boyfriend so her life does not seem drastically different. She did one zoom theater production (more of a reading). She has done āshort clipsā for a a few theatersā instagram accts. But she fills her time now with social activism/conversations (which is new for herā¦she would never have put herself out there before). She is half Asian and has a lot of BIPOC friendsā¦and of course systemic racism is a big conversation in the theater/music community now. While none of this is easy, I just hope something good comes from all the struggles and challenges of 2020.
Now back to college and the coronavirus. All I can say is hang in there!
I have seen MSM dorms and it is pretty much same as my sonās college dorm but taller and newer building with elevators (elevators can be another problem for social distance).
One of my sonās school dorm buildings has communal bathrooms in each floor. His school will assign maximum 4 students per communal bathroom on top of all āsingleā room so each floor seems like limited to only 4 male and 4 female students at most for 2020-2021. Hope, freshmen are allowed to use common space (lounge) with same-floor dorm mates for small and casual social life. My son lived in āforcedā triple dorm room and shared a communal bathroom with 12-13 other male students last year.
Anyone heard from your music school about āpractice roomsā? We heard nothing about it yet. We can imagine that practice room access will be limited due to social distance / cleaning protocol. Because most colleges are going with a āsingle dorm roomā direction, musicians can practice in their dorm room.
Now, we need to buy a 88-weighted-key electric keyboard with MIDI for my son to work in his apartment bedroom. He is jazz non-piano performance major but he plays piano a lot and makes some āelectronic musicā. We are looking at Roland JUNO-DS. It would be very nice if we can find a nice and cheaper keyboard. It will be placed on his large desk. So no stand needed. Any suggestions?
@JeJeJe , I know just about nothing about keyboards, except that my son loves his Roland (Iām not sure which model it is). I just happened to see that someone was selling one used on nextdoor.com one day some time last fall or winter, and it was half the price of what it would cost new. I didnāt even know that Rolands are considered really good keyboards, but when I told my son about it he was like, YESSS! Get it!! And obviously it turned out to be a real blessing once he had to come home from Berklee in the spring.
So maybe check around for listings for used ones in good shape? Also, Guitar Center and, I think, Sweetwater sell used and āopen boxā instruments that are less expensive. Iām sure that there are other sources as well. Our used one works really well, apparently.
Yamaha makes some good weighted 88 key electric pianos.
Now that Harvard has announced plans for 40% of students to return (in the fall, freshmen and students needing to be there for academic reasons), I wonder what happens to double degree students also going to NEC?
I believe the Harvard program is different than Tufts/NEC in that the students donāt attend simultaneously. The first two years are one campus, the other 2/3 years on the other campus.
No the Harvard students do participate at NEC. It is different from Tufts of course since it is a masterās at NEC. Here is the info from the Harvard website:
āStudents pursue a bachelorās degree at Harvard while taking private lessons and preparatory classes at NEC or Berklee. In their fourth year, students complete Harvardās bachelorās requirements, and complete their masterās program in the fifth year.ā
and " During your first three years, you will take studio instruction each semester at NEC, but you will focus on your academic coursework at Harvard. In your fourth year of study, you will complete your degree requirements at Harvard and begin to fulfill NECās Master of Music (M.M.) degree requirements, which you will finish in your fifth year of study."
So it is mainly 4th year students I would be curious about, since they will not be on campus at Harvard.
Iām sure theyāll be flexible with those students just as they are with the Tufts/NEC students (who must work each year on both campuses) and accommodate them as best they can- they have an advisor for these programs. NEC may have to offer housing to those 4th year students- itās probably not very many though. There are only a handful of kids each year in my Dās program, and the Harvard program is only for instrumentalists so I imagine that might lower the numbers even more.