Son is in 11th grade currently. Truly excellent trumpeter, both classical and jazz. First chair in Regionals in 9th grade, made All-State as a 9th grader (don’t know what chair he would have had, but couldn’t participate because his school band was touring in Europe during All-State.)
Had mostly very good grades in honors courses in a competitive high school for 9th and 10th grades in the US, had great PSATs in 10th ( but they don’t count for National Merit). Then left for boarding school outside the US - grades there uneven due to language barrier, culture shock, and frank adolescent laziness. Now is talking about coming back to the US for college. Should do very well on SATs. Plays with a national boarding school orchestra abroad.
We are looking for a very economical option for college for him. He will likely not become a professional musician, although cannot rule that out. He would certainly be a great addition to any college band program. He might double major in performance music and an academic subject, possibly a science, or just play in the band without being a music major.
Parents reside in CT, so of course UConn is on his list. He could go anywhere in the US. But he is also looking for the most funding he can get. We can fly him back in mid to late September for a couple of weeks, and also in early to mid December for a couple of weeks, to do some auditioning. But I have no idea how this process works - what the timing is - how to get the attention of the music department at various schools and get him auditions so that they will tell the administration that they want this kid for the band, and that they want to offer him a scholarship.
I think that his two high school band teachers from the US, who are both well-known jazz music educators, would give him excellent recommendations. He also could get a recommendation from the conductor of the top wind ensemble in the state, where he played while he was in middle school.
Any advice is welcome, on schools to shoot for, scheduling auditions, etc.