Help! Resumes and repertoire lists?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello all fellow CC music people.</p>

<p>I have a question about resumes for high school musicians applying to college... I'm a junior in high school, and although I'm not applying to college (yet), I have a summer program I'm applying to (Tanglewood) that asks for a resume. Because I really want to get in, I'd like to do it formally and just as I would if I was applying to a college. Aside from Tanglewood, I think it'd be a good idea to get mine started now anyway, and I can just add to it as I go so it'll be ready to print come senior year and audition season.</p>

<p>Last summer, I attended a program at Indiana University called College Audition Preparation and learned some very very valuable things there... among them how to write a good resume or repertoire list. But after turning my house upside down, I can't find the notes I took at that lecture. Can someone please tell me about writing resumes? What categories should I have on it? What events/experiences/etc. go under each category? And how do I format it formally?</p>

<p>Thanks so much in advance for any help given.</p>

2

<p>There are tons of online resources and books covering this subject. Usually they are geared towards job applications. Usually a resume is not required for college applications and the activities list of the common application substitutes for this. Keeping an up to date resume is a good idea. It is often needed for summer programs and will also be useful when it is time to fill out the common app.</p>

<p>Preparing a resume is not mysterious or complicated. There are three main components: name/contact information, experience, and awards/accomplishments. For college applications, you might also want some separate categories such as community service. For some applications, you may also need to include a list of references. Usually your name, address and email address can be provided as a header. The names of the other categories can be varied to match your specific information or the format of the institution where you are applying. Each entry should include the title of the entry and approximate dates. You may also need to add a very brief description of the item, but omit this if the nature of the item is self-explanatory. Your entries should be in reverse chronological order; i.e., the most recent first. You can also list the most important entries first, but this often makes it difficult to read the resume. You can also use bold type to highlight important entries, but only use this if there are only one or two items you want to highlight.</p>

<p>I suggest you prepare a master resume. Include everything you can think of that might be of interest. Then when you need a resume for a specific purpose you can select only those items which are of interest. When you prepare a final resume, spend as much time as needed to make the resume easy to read. There is always a debate about the length of a resume and the number of items to include. There is not magic formula, just avoid adding items of little importance. Experiment with fonts, indentation, and bullet points. You can find templates which will help but I think that there is no one template that is best and the template needs to be varied to fit the specific information.</p>

3

<p>Many music schools, and I suspect Tanglewood, want only music on the resumes. </p>

<p>My kids' resumes are headed with their name, and the words "music resume" to make it clear that it is not a full resume. There is no contact info because that is elsewhere in the application. Limiting the resume to one page is important, IMO, so we try to focus on most important stuff. My D and S have a master resume on the computer that they tailor to the specific program, just as edad suggests. For instance, my S had to submit one for an orchestral audition where he focused on orchestra experience only. </p>

<p>I've pulled up my D's to give you an idea of what she submitted to colleges:</p>

<p>She starts out with a brief section titled "education" that lists the name of her high school, and any music activities or awards there. </p>

<p>Next section is "Private Study" and lists her teachers, most recent first. Name, any pertinent identifying info (eg "first violin, ASO" or "Suzuki"), and years of study with them.</p>

<p>Then "Solo Recitals and Performances" with dates (year) of most recent (she limited it to HS, with a note at the end that she'd had annual or semi-annual recitals since first grade.) She included the name of the piece she performed.</p>

<p>The recent orchestral experience (outside of school, but if you wanted, you could include school info here, and omit the education section at the top.)</p>

<p>Then "Gigs and Other Ensemble Experience" to include random stuff that didn't fit elsewhere. You can title it to whatever fits your experience best -- such as "Summer Programs" or "Awards and Honors". Since she attended school year round, she didn't have summer programs.</p>

<p>At the end she has "Other Musical Activities" which included her piano lessons and musical theater. On my son's resume, since he plays an instrument and composes, he often separates these two activities into separate headings (depending upon what he is applying for.)</p>

<p>Basically, there's no one right way. List all your activities, honors, etc; look at what you think is most impressive on there, and arrange into categories. The most important thing is to choose things that say you're "good" in an objective way. Listing activities doesn't tell a whole lot, so picking the best activities and listing the awards, honors, scholarships, principal positions, or whatever, is better. "High School Orchestra" is duh. "High School Honors Orchestra, grades 9-11, first chair" is better.</p>

4

<p>The only thing I would add is that I think you should always include the contact information on the music resume, even if that information is provided separately on an application. Networking is a way of life in the arts and the contact info can be put on a single line like so:</p>

<p>John Doe, 123 Main Street, Anywhere PA 19122, (215)555-1212, <a href="mailto:jdoe27@gmail.com">jdoe27@gmail.com</a></p>

<p>That way, if the resume and application ever get separated, it is easy for anyone who shows an interest in the resume to contact you even if it is for something completely unrelated to the program to which you applied.</p>

<p>Another tip is to always have a few copies of your resume and some business cards tucked away in the back of a music folder or inside your instrument case somewhere. You want to be a little careful about handing them out to just anybody, but you also want to be prepared if a legitimate opportunity materializes at a gig, festival or some other program.</p>

5

<p>S had two documents, one a resume with the following categories: education (schools, year in school, dates); instrument studies (teachers, dates); other musical instruction (piano, theory, etc.); summer music experiences; orchestras (regular extended participation, at school, etc.); other orchestras (honors orchestras, all-state, etc.); chamber ensembles. The other document was an ongoing repertory list with categories of solo works, chamber works, and orchestral works (include a designation of performance versus studied). </p>

<p>All experiences should be in reverse order, most recent first in each category. Repertory should be alphabetical by composer. </p>

<p>We kept these documents on two computers, so they could be updated easily, and copies could be printed from home or school. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

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<p>Yes, they want only MUSIC activities. They really aren't interested in your involvement in other activities. A music resume should include music related activities only.</p>

<p>And I agree with Bassdad...contact info should be on your resume. In fact, your name should be on EVERY page of every piece of information you send anywhere.</p>

7

<p>Not wanting to go OT, but this seems like a good place to ask...when a scholarship committee asks for a "biography", does that signal they are looking for a written-in-paragraph-form overview of one's experience, similar to what one would read in a program?</p>

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<p>I would think that the word biography implies a prose paragraph. Chances are they would use it in an announcement blurb. Lorelei</p>

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<p>Mezzomom, that's what we did - don't know if it was what they wanted, but no complaints (or any other kind of feedback!) My S has had to write a few after a scholarship was awarded (and I think one for a college application), that the school was to give to the donors. He had a hard time with it - hard to write about yourself, especially in 3rd person. I ended up writing it for him, trying to keep it objective as possible, with him coming behind to edit it to something he was comfortable with.</p>

<p>However, if this is something where you could call and ask for guidance, it might be nice. Do they want a page, or a paragraph? First or third person?</p>

10

<p>Any suggestions on whether or not to incorporate performance feedback or critiques in resume?</p>

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<p>Do not incorporate feedback on resumes. If someone gave you terrific feedback, ask if they can be used as a reference. Your resume should be written by YOU...and should not, therefore, contain information written by or told to you by others.</p>

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<p>I agree with Thumper. However, if you are asked for a biography, it's okay to quote a sentence or phrase of a real review, just as performer's bios often do. </p>

<p>Another thing I've seen done is to include a photocopy of a review if it seems appropriate. Neither of my kids has done this, but if a program or school asks for a copy of a program, for example, I think it would be appropriate to clip a review to the copy. (Only if it is specific about the person, like for a concerto or recital; not a general orchestra review.) Only a professional review would work this way - not, say, solo and ensemble comments.</p>

13

<p>my son has a music resume similar to the one mentioned in lorelei - breaking his experiences into categories - school, paid gigs, instruction, additional musical experiences; then he has a second sheet listing the ongoing repretoire; but he also has an Activity Grid. I found this in the back of a very small (80pg) book on helping your senior get thru 12th grade --it is a good way to show the activities - -i listed each grade across the top and then the different activities down the side, this way you can easily see jazz band 4yrs, marching band 3 yrs., jazz choir 4 yrs, etc.</p>

14

<p>Lots of useful information on the Interlochen Academy website, including sample resumes and repertoire lists:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.interlochen.org/academy/academic_college_counseling_1/college_information%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.interlochen.org/academy/academic_college_counseling_1/college_information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>