<p>My D is thinking about participating in a summer music program next year, and I was wondering how competitive to be in a prestigious summer music festivals/camps like Aspen(not fellowship) or Tanglewood. She is a co-pincipal cellist in a local youth orchestra, but does not have many awards or solo experiences.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it can take more than ability especially for Aspen. It seems that a very large number of admitted students have connections. Many admitted students are regular students of the faculty members. At least my D has made her "connections" and was admitted last year and expects an admission and fellowship for this coming summer.</p>
<p>Illinois Wesleyan and University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) both have excellent summer cello programs that your daughter should consider. I think these would be more appropriate for her age and skill level than something like Aspen. Illinois also has a chamber camp that she would enjoy. The director is a cellist and they have a strong cello faculty there. UMKC has Carter Enyeart who is also an excellent cellist and teacher. There are so many programs out there - it is hard to decide, but if she wants to focus on her cello playing and technique, I would definitely recommend these programs. Good luck.</p>
<p>northwestern, I posted a short reply here to your query in another thread <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061686085-post64.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061686085-post64.html</a></p>
<p>There's no harm in applying -- not all students who are accepted to Aspen, which is a very large program -- over 700 students -- have connections (though certainly some are current students of the faculty); there are also high quality programs geared more for high school, including Eastern Music Festival, Kinhaven, Greenwood, Jr. Yellow Barn.</p>
<p>My son, a cellist, had two wonderful summers at PointCounterPoint Chamber Music Camp in Vermont</p>
<p>northwestern,</p>
<p>The competition and relative ease/difficulty of acceptance at summer festivals/camps is always a valid question - just as it is when looking for colleges/conservatories!</p>
<p>At the risk of seeming incredibly simplistic and insulting you, since you indicated that you are looking for next year, you might take this next year to consider with your D's teacher, the type of program that would best benefit her both as a cellist and as a young person. For example, some of the considerations could be broken down as:</p>
<p>Primarily orchestra program (BUTI Tanglewood, Brevard, Eastern, etc.)
Primarily Chamber (Bowdoin, Kinhaven, etc.)
Primarily "Practice/study" camp (Heifetz, Meadowmount)</p>
<p>There are cross-overs in the above with (for example) a mixture of private lessons and chamber music available along with orchestra experiences, but you'll find that different festivals do have different emphasis. Your D's teacher may feel that one type of program is better for her development than others at this point in time.</p>
<p>Another consideration would be the advantages or disadvantages of being in a strictly high school or a mixed high school and college age program - for example, an Interlochen experience vs. Aspen.</p>
<p>I apologize if the above is obvious to you, but my thought ( since you're starting in such good time to research!) is that if you haven't already identified Tanglewood and Aspen as the best for your D, doing some more "general" research could help you identify great programs specifically meeting your D's needs. In my experience, knowing where I hoped my kids could be for the summer made the questions of can (s)he get in, how many programs do we need to apply to, etc. much easier to answer - and, frankly, eliminated from consideration some notably "prestigious" programs that (although they would have stood a good chance of being admitted to) would not have met their developmental needs! </p>
<p>Good luck to you both!</p>
<p>I haven't had particularly good experiences with Aspen so that's probably going to taint my response, but: </p>
<p>I think that, while it depends on the instrument, teacher, audition pool, etc., a lot of times it really helps you A LOT of you study with a teacher at Aspen. With the exception of one person, everyone I know who went to Aspen last year studies with a teacher there. Everyone... that's kind of egregious. A teacher of mine told me that you shouldn't even bother applying for 2 of the 4 teachers in my instrument unless you study with them because there's no way they'd take you unless you're in their studio at home, and the other 2 teachers are also pretty difficult to get accepted by at Aspen but not quite as difficult. </p>
<p>I don't know... it's kind of overly political and I think that if you can get in, great, but if not, there are a lot of other programs that you can get a terrific experience at and not have to worry about all this nonsense.</p>
<p>Northwestern,
I happen to agree with Fiddlestix's breakdown of the programs and the related questions for colleges. You should take that recommendation to heart.</p>
<p>Also, if you are thinking about summer programs NOW, you have just entered at the wrong end of timeliness. Tanglewood auditions have begun, and all auditions and applications for BUTI must be completed in the next 2-3 weeks. SMI deadline was 1/19. I'm not sure of the exact deadlines for each of the programs you are considering, but I would think that many of them are fast approaching. You should consider whether it might be worth putting a quick plan together and going for it, rather than looking into it for a few weeks and then coming up with a plan. </p>
<p>If you decide to hold off and explore the spectrum, you may find that there are some places still available that are a bit less competitive. That would not be a bad jumping off point, if this is her first foray into this environment. There are lists galore on this web-site with suggestions.</p>
<p>I don't think Aspen is particularly "political" -- but it's a matter of applying to a studio that takes a fair number of non-students and sending in a strong CD. I've known many high-school age students who attended Aspen and studied with teachers they did not study with during the year -- and who had a great experience there; the free concerts alone make it a stand-out program. Not to mention the great weather -- no humidity.</p>
<p>It is my experience that summer cello studios tend to be more open than violin. In other words, students attending high level summer festivals for cello often work with teachers other than the teacher they study with all year. That is not true for all of them, but quite a few take students other than their own.</p>
<p>I did not mean to imply that it is impossible to get into Aspen without being a regular student of a faculty member. In fact my daughter made it on her second try. I would also expect that the odds of an unconnected student being accepted vary by instrument and faculty member. It is clearly the case that many faculty members bring their own students and this greatly decreases the opportunities for other applicants. We may not see this as fair, but it is certainly not unusual. In any field, there is nothing unusual about "connections" and networking. The music world is pretty small and gets really small at the top.</p>
<p>I believe it depends on if the program Grandfathers, which has an effect on how many spots are open. I also think that it depends on who will be teaching at the program for the summer. An amazing cellist will draw a larger number of cello students. And, as always, if you have an incredibly competitive instrument like voice, violin, flute, clarinet (ect).....there will always be a large number auditioning for a few chosen spots.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advices and sharing your thoughts. She has applied another camp for this summer and I am looking one for next year. I will do some more research to find one that fits her needs. Thanks again.</p>
<p>The Strings magazine summer study guide is in the current issue (son got his yesterday). I don't know if the online database has been updated to include any additions or deletions.</p>