Apologies for starting a new topic if this has come up before. Search seems to be weirded out by the phrase and isn’t pulling up helpful results.
Does anyone have experience with From the Top? Was it worthwhile? Is it a helpful credential? (Is any credential helpful for college admissions for a performance major?) Looks they’ve recently changed to an online screening process.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/721200-from-the-top-radio-show.html
I’m sure there are some on the CC board with recent experience.
There probably aren’t any credentials that are going to make a big difference. Admissions panels aren’t regularly scouring the auditionees’ resumes. (at least for conservatory programs, perhaps that’s not the case in smaller schools that want to recruit from among the best. And, I’m not aware of practices for instruments/voice other than strings)
Of course, if I had a child who had recently won the Menuhin Competition or the Queen Elisabeth, I would proudly have them add that to the resume! However, admissions do come down to the audition. Sometimes, I’ve known it to help to have had some relationship with an instructor if the audition is less than what the student would like and is capable of.
If you child is interested in From the Top, be sure the dates aren’t going to interfere with possible college auditions. I’ve known a number of students that have participated. They had fun, generally. Some went on to be music majors at major schools, others moved on to other fields. By the way, not all of those that were on the program are currently employed/working as musicians - even those with conservatory degrees.
@Momofadult - Thanks for the links and the insights. My daughter is in 8th grade, so we’re not yet worried about interfering with college auditions. From what the other threads seem to say, maybe there’s no time like the present for her to apply.
From the Top is a lot of fun. A great performance experience–and as you know, the more you perform in public, the more experienced you are with performing in public. (Two of my kids were on FTT several times. One went to conservatory; the other chose a different path. Both loved it and made some good friends through the experience.) That said, many of their friends who went on to conservatory and careers in music were either not accept to FTT or never applied.
FTT won’t help your student get into a conservatory except in an indirect way, but if your child’s ultimate goal is performance, then it’s a good thing to do.
I’ve been on FTT twice and it’s a great experience, and it looks pretty good on a resume.
FTT is kind of a weird beast IMO, it blends elements of serious music with some of the kind of spectacle that made shows like the Voice and American Idol so popular. They get a lot of highly talented kids on the show, some of whom are already at soloist caliber, but they also like the ‘prodigy’ angle with some 9 year old kid playing some gee whiz music, or they will feature a high school student ensemble whose kids are all these academic superstars who are also on the swim team and such. There is a lot of talent there, don’t get me wrong (and listen to GH especially, she knows the show pretty well because of her kids participating in it), but it is also an entertainment show as well, it is very different than competitions like the Menuhin and such, it has a very different audience and reason for being:). One thing I would tell you is not to worry if a kid doesn’t get on there that somehow they aren’t good or talented, because of the entertainment aspects some kids are more interesting, or because of other things based in the dynamic of the show, I also have heard kids soloing and in ensembles on the program who aren’t necessarily the best out there.
The key factor is the fun factor, if approached as that, it is a really neat thing. As far as value on a resume,it might work as an EC for a regular admission, on a music school admit it won’t count for much, any more than competition wins do (if someone wins the Queen Elizabeth, you would figure they are high level; on the other hand, I know of someone who won the Menuhin, and the same year didn’t get into Curtis, go figure).