<p>What happens to the students in a professor's studio if that professor retires/leaves/dies?</p>
<p>I have been wondering about this and figured someone on this board would know. :)</p>
<p>If a teacher moves students may move with him/her. Otherwise, as with retirement/illness/death/etc, students have the option of doing sample lessons with other teachers at the school to find another studio or transferring. </p>
<p>From what I have heard of this process teachers that are leaving/retiring seem to make an effort to help their students find another studio, usually based on their own perceptions of the students needs, but there is no guarantee they will do this, either.</p>
<p>I had thought I had read that it was very difficult for music majors to transfer because of the sequencing of theory classes, but maybe I am not remembering that correctly.</p>
<p>Seems like losing a teacher could be really tough if there were only instructor on that particular instrument. Even if there were several instructors that seems tough. </p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>Ideally, a teacher does give advance notice and will “teach out” the upper classes and try to facilitate transferring for the underclassmen that choose to move to the new school. But, teachers are human and sometimes things happen that are not ideal. My D found herself in that position in this, her senior year, when her studio teacher left the school- the kids were told late in the fall of 2011 that this would be happening. The ones who were then juniors were the ones who were most impacted as none of them were able to ready themselves to transfer. A new teacher was brought in- which of course, resulted in students at that teacher’s former school being “stranded” also. Former teacher did write letters of recommendation because the new one doesn’t know them well enough to say anything and is unwilling to offer any help or suggestions for graduate study. It’s definitely not what D had planned for. There will always be the emphasis of “going for the teacher rather than the school”, but as we’ve learned, you can’t plan for everything and you are your own best advocate. It’s up to you to keep your rep list and resume current and to know whom to ask for recommendations.
At the present time, I know of one major conservatory and one university-based program who have not yet filled vacancies left by two teachers who gave them plenty of notice.This means that grad students considering applying to either place are confused and, should those positions be filled with teachers who are currently employed, yet more students are going to be left in the cold.
Sometimes, other studios in a school are full or the remaining teachers aren’t a good fit. Transferring isn’t always an option for many reasons such as year in school, course sequence, location, financial or it just may be that the teacher, either because of illness, death or design, will not be in the business any more. It’s rough, but luckily, it doesn’t happen that often.
Bottom line= you can’t plan for every eventuality and some schools handle things a lot better than others.</p>
<p>When a star teacher transfers to a new school, often the new school happily accepts the teacher’s star students from the previous school and bends rules on course requirements to facilitate a transfer. </p>
<p>We thought we had found a teacher that would be around for a long time, but my son’s teacher left his school after my son’s first year. During my son’s second year, the teacher came back weekly to give lessons to a reduced studio. A replacement with more name recognition was hired for this year. The former teacher spent much of the transition year facilitating the finding of appropriate teachers.</p>
<p>The teacher change is never easy, but learning to adapt and adjust are very important skills for any musician.</p>
<p>From what I know of music theory every schools sequencing is different, they teach things at different times and so forth. That said, I suspect it is not a deal breaker, it might mean needing some time to catch up, but that can be handled.</p>
<p>I know many students to whom this has happened and it’s very disruptive at best. One of the cello teachers left my daughter’s school last year (retired) not long after another teacher died. The students in her studio had to scramble for new teachers, and felt that they had to reaudition (for studios, not the school), but in effect competing with incoming freshmen and incoming grad students for spots. Really tough.</p>
<p>Good point, glassharmonica. Students audition for and are accepted into, a particular teacher’s studio and when that teacher leaves, those kids are at a disadvantage (in one way or another) when trying to transfer to another teacher’s studio. It’s not only about teaching style, but at least when it comes to VP, the teachers have been putting their own students forward for roles and performance opps and are not nearly as willing to do so for kids they consider “trained” by others. Singers don’t begin intensive study as early as instrumentalists so this could be the reason for the “proprietary” feelings, and it takes longer for a voice teacher to understand what they’re dealing with, but it doesn’t make the situation any easier.</p>
<p>There are also NASM regulations about scholarship offers to transfer students, when they can be offered, what kind of releases are required from current school, etc. Think NCAA type regulations. Music schools are just as territorial about their students as Division I schools are of their athletes, though there is no “sitting out” clause for making music (though there may be scholarship issues). Officially, students go to the school, not the teacher. </p>
<p>Music theory sequences are a very difficult issue. No two schools structure their curricula the same, and any transfer student will be missing key instructional units. I strongly recommend that no student transfer until the two core theory years are completed, unless the student is willing to start at the beginning of the theory sequences. Additionally, each new school will require placement exams in music theory and history. It rapidly becomes an expensive, delaying mess. </p>
<p>The moral of the story is that music students should pick a strong program and department as well as individual teacher. The best situations have departments where the faculty honor and appreciate each other, with open and collaborative studios.</p>