<p>My D is applying for double bass, classical, performance. Her top picks now are Peabody, Oberlin, CMU, Ithaca and Eastman. Any info on these schools? I know they are all very different. She has visited all of them, just looking for other perspectives.</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Oberlin in 2009 with a BM in Performance in double bass and a minor in Ethnomusicology. It was very much the right school for her. While initially interested in the classical orchestral path, she had a lot of other interests that she wanted to pursue at Oberlin. In addition to classical double bass with Thomas Sperl, she studied jazz with Peter Dominguez. Peter encouraged her to sing while playing and, in her words, “what started out as a party trick led to the development of a unique style of solo performance with voice and upright bass accompaniment.”</p>
<p>She also studied classical Indian music with sitar guru Hasu Patel, hand drumming with Jamey Haddad and viola da gamba with Cathy Meints, all three of whom are highly respected in their fields.</p>
<p>The co-op system was another unexpected benefit. She rose through the ranks to become one of the head cooks (an elected position) which made her responsible for supervising preparation of dinner for 80 a couple of times per week in a vegetarian/vegan dining co-op that also had to be sensitive to certain allergies, including gluten. The meals were made from scratch with the students responsible for everything from budgeting, purchasing ingredients (many directly from small local farms), planning and preparation, serving and clean up. The meals were usually both healthier and better tasting than what was being served in the school cafeteria, and at a lower price. She used these skills to secure day jobs that let her support herself for a couple of years after graduation until she was getting enough gigs to go into music full time.</p>
<p>The winter terms worked out well for her, allowing her to pursue special interests, as did the ExCo classes that she took. At one point she was considering a dual degree with Mathematics and she was able to explore that possibility for over a year before deciding to concentrate on the music alone and she still graduated in four years.</p>
<p>Since graduating, she has supported herself with very little help from us. A few months back, one of her bands received the Audience Favorite award at an international music competition in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Yesterday, she auditioned at New England Conservatory for their Masters program in Contemporary Improvisation. She expects to get a decision from them some time in March, but it sounds like the audition went about as well as it possibly could have from her point of view.</p>
<p>It is good that your daughter visited Oberlin. The place can be a bit quirky, which makes it perfect for some and not so great for others, so visits are important there. If she is accepted and is still considering attending, I highly recommend the All Roads program that they hold in April, which lets accepted students attend classes, spend a night or two in the dorms, eat at the cafeterias or co-ops, and generally experience life as a student for a couple of days.</p>
<p>^ congrats on your D’s success BassDad. Her journey is fascinating. Keep us posted.</p>
<p>Thanks for the wonderful info. Nice to hear such positive remarks about her experience at Oberlin. Such a nice program they have there with a great community of students and wonderful faculty.</p>
<p>debtaps-my son is Jazz Double Bass at NEC and I know he speaks very highly of the classical Double Bass students and faculty.</p>
<p>I was wondering if any could give some advice. My DS has been playing double bass for 7 years and is preparing for college auditions. He has done the All State thing, and is pretty sure he wants to major in Double Bass performance, but likes jazz and world music as well. His SATs and ACT were above average but not stellar and is GPA is C+/B- territory. He wants to have a chance to take classes in other disciplines (language, anthropology, sociology) so the straight conservatory route is not for him (also although he is serious about music and pretty good, he would not qualify for the top programs. I think Bard and Oberlin may be out due to the low GPA. don’t think he plays at the caliber for Indiana. He is pretty open about going anywhere but cost is an issue, so besides in-state we wonder if anyone can recommend schools with good double bass that are either affordable or have been known to give scholarships. Thanks.</p>
<p>We are especially interested in any information people would have about schools in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, thanks.</p>
<p>Unt offers in state tuition to accepted music students and I’ve heard the teacher is great there. We are cello people but I’ve heard good things.
Their academic admit isn’t as competitive but their music department is awesome and your son’s scores would be fine there. I don’t mind the easier academics. I know how hard you have to work at a tough liberal arts college, and I just don’t see how you’d have time to practice and write perfect papers and do long complicated projects. That’s me though and some kids are gifted with amazing time management skills. Unt also has a great exchange student program.</p>
<p>My S is also a double bassist. He is applying to Ithaca, Oberlin, Duquesne, Peabody and possibly UNT. My S also does Classical and Jazz (he went to All State for Jazz and won State Solo and Ensemble for Classical). He definitely wants a program that will allow him the flexibility to do both.</p>
<p>Hi Socks,
There are a few really good bass teachers in NC: Leonid Finkelstein (spelling may be off)-teaches at East Carolina and is principal of NC symphony. In the summer he teaches at Eastern Music Festival (EMF). My son studied with him at EMF for two summers-great guy and a fabulous teacher. Craig Brown is at UNC-G (he is also in the NC symphony). S studied with him at Brevard Music Festival. Craig came out of Indiana and spent a year there as a visiting professor recently (before they hired Kurt Maroki). Many of Craig’s UNC-G kids have gone to grad school at Indiana (one of the top bass programs in country). Craig is a strict taskmaster according to my son but a great orchestral teacher. UNC School of the Arts is a conservatory. Paul Sharpe is the teacher there-also good (S did master classes at honor’s all state in HS with him). Your son’s stats would be fine for any of these schools.</p>
<p>If you didn’t mind traveling a little further south, there is the the University of South Carolina (new guy who got his DMA at North Texas-program has grown under him during the three years he has been there). Furman is a great liberal arts school. The bass teacher there is a really nice man and has many connections for sub work. Lots of opportunities for playing and good attention from the teachers (one for jazz bass and another for classical-s got to work with both). Pm me if you want more detail on Furman.</p>
<p>Mom sings-
Great choices! Duquesne has one of the best double bass teachers out there (Jeff Turner). It is a smaller program where your son with get great attention. Pittsburgh is also rich with music and a fun city for college students. UNT has a well-respected teacher (Jeff Bradetitch). The only downside is that the studio is huge (40+ basses) with grad programs. Developing players might not get to work with Jeff during their first years there. Ithaca is smaller (good attention) with a very good teacher. He did a master class at Carnegie Mellon last spring that was great (according to my son).</p>
<p>My S does have a number one choice and will be applying ED there. I hesitate to name it specifically on the forum since the bass community is so small! If he did end up at UNT, it would be primarily to work with Lynn Seaton, their jazz bass prof in addition to Jeff Bradetich for classical. S was there this summer for a workshop and learned that all of the jazz bassists work with Jeff their first two years at minimum. At the other schools, he will try to either double major classical and jazz or do a classical major with a jazz minor.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I think we will look around the Carolinas with your recommendations. We had not heard too much so appreciate the advice!</p>
<p>Any info on University of Maryland? They have a nice performing arts center, and several bass professors. Also would appreciate info on Penn State, thanks!</p>
<p>BTW, we did make it to East Carolina. Unfortunately, it was on a weekend so meeting the double bass professor was out. The campus was nice, but somehow we did not get the impression that the arts were a big deal there - it seemed that business, journalism and pre- professional majors were popular. The music building was way off in one corner of the campus. My impression was made on a quick visit though…not sure it was accurate.</p>
<p>Rob Nairn is at Penn State-a great teacher. S worked with Rob at EMF a couple of summers ago and considered working with him in grad school but elected to go elsewhere-nothing to do with Rob just wanted a bigger city and grad program. Rob also teaches at Julliard and is into Baroque period music/instruments. He grew up in Australia and trained in Germany for his grad work.</p>
<p>Too back you did not meet Lenny when you went to ECU. I don’t really know anything about ECU as a whole, just that Lenny is an excellent teacher. You may also want to look at CCM (Cincinnati) since you are looking at Penn State- not too far away from Penn. Al Laszlo teaches at CCM and has an excellent reputation as a teacher. Duquesne in Pittsburgh would also be another good undergrad bass program to check out in Pa. Jeff Turner is there. Temple University in Philadelphia also has a good program with members of the Philadelphia Symphony as teachers. Joseph Conyers is one of them.</p>
<p>You may want to make appointments with the teachers for a trial lesson when you visit.</p>
<p>Can’t help with Maryland as I don’t know anything about the teachers. </p>