<p>From looking at the website it is a small program, it looks like they have two teachers for violin (could be there are more, that is just the website). The symphony orchestra is 70-75 members, which is indicative of a small program. One thing I suspect is that the symphony, to make that kind of size from a small program, will be both instrumental majors and non music majors, which could mean the level isn’t that consistently high (I don’t know for sure, this is guesswork). I looked at the repertoire, and it is relatively challenging.</p>
<p>Here are some pluses and minuses I see, hope this helps, this is how I would evaluate it to help my child:</p>
<p>Pluses:</p>
<p>-if you get a lot of scholarship money from them,means you won’t be in debt or have your parents on the hook for a ton of money,which is generally a big consideration in music. </p>
<p>-The small size might work for you, the repertoire that I can see has a lot of violin solo work, and if you are good enough to get serious scholarships from them, it might indicate that you would have a good shot at solo opportunities (from my perspective).</p>
<p>-It looks like Bard’s program, where you also have academic classes to take,if I read it right, so it will be a lot more rounded then a conservatory environment</p>
<p>-The teachers are young, but both seemed to have come out of U Mich under Kantor, who is a high level teacher, and they seem to have active careers. And being in a small environment, might mean more attention, though I don’t know. More attention might mean, for example, that there will be more room to work on issues you might (or might not) have technically and otherwise, in a conservatory setting there may be less room to work on such issues (again, just my opinion, based on what I have seen and heard from others, that isn’t personal experience)</p>
<p>-Great campus location it sounds like, and in an area dense enough to support a lot of music activities outside the school (seattle/tacoma). </p>
<p>Negatives:</p>
<p>-If you are the kind of person who drives themselves up by competition around themselves, an environment like this might not be the best. There are kids who are so self driven they push themselves higher and higher regardless of where they are, others seem to do better seeing how good everyone else is and go after them, so to speak. I suspect in an environment like this, the playing level will be at varying levels, much more so then at a conservatory. A place like this you might need to be more self driven, even if the teachers are demanding (a word that associated with violin teacher seems like a double statement!), because there may not be many students at your level.</p>
<p>-As I noted above, the level of the orchestra and ensembles may not be as high level as it could be, so it may not be as beneficial experience as playing in a higher level ensemble at a conservatory. </p>
<p>-The teachers may be an unknown quantity, they are young, and could be great, but they also may be less then great, there is no way of knowing. I am not saying the teachers aren’t good, I am saying not knowing is tough…with a teacher who is more established, you may have more indications of what they have done…</p>
<p>-If you don’t like your teacher, it sounds like your opportunities are limited, given the small faculty. </p>
<p>-if they require you to do an academic degree as well as the musical one, as at Bard (I couldn’t tell from the website), it could be a lot more work. </p>
<p>SFCM-</p>
<p>Pluses:</p>
<p>-Pretty high level program, generally attracts high level students. If you need the competition to drive your own level up, it will be here I suspect. </p>
<p>-Number of respected, known teachers on violin. Among other things, you could switch teachers if the one you were working with didn’t work out. </p>
<p>-Ties to the SF Symphony and SF Opera Orchestra, both of which are top level ensembles (access to concerts, also master classes, etc). </p>
<p>-Probably performance opportunities in and out of school, given the nature of SF.</p>
<p>-SF is an interesting city, lot of artsy stuff and other things (also a great city if you want to stay in shape…just walk around and you lose weight, I swear:). </p>
<p>-From what I know their orchestras are high level and play uniformly challenging rep</p>
<p>Negatives:</p>
<p>-Cost (sounds like you would be full freight there). Coming out of music school with debt is generally not a great thing if you have to go that way.</p>
<p>-Competition would mean your opportunity to solo and such opportunities would be limited, given the caliber of students.</p>
<p>-Being a smaller fish in a big sea means you could in some ways ‘get lost’. </p>
<p>-If you don’t like the neighborhood, that may be a negative</p>
<p>Conventional wisdom would be to go with SF and the more established/known program, but in the end it has to be what is right for you. One other thing to keep in mind is that your UG study doesn’t have to be the end of the line, as someone else mentioned with a voice student you could go to UPS, do well, and move on to another, more ‘prestigious’ program for an MM, for example, happens all the time…I am saying that so you realize that the UG experience isn’t necessarily life threatening, that there are a lot of paths to making it in music:)</p>