Some of you may have read my earlier posts. My son is a guitarist who just started playing jazz a little less than two years ago and had only a little involvement in his school’s jazz band (at his school, it only meets in the spring semester–they’re not exactly huge on the arts there!), etc. He did, however, apply to and get accepted by the New School for Performance, and he’s also waitlisted for SUNY Purchase. We are, of course, thrilled–he found his passion and worked his butt off at it, and now he’ll really get to pursue it with a minimum of distraction.
But when I read through posts here, I realize how much we don’t know. For example, what are the festivals that people talk about applying to? How does one find out about them? Also, I read a lot about studio assignments, and I don’t even know what that is.
My son is incredibly (sometimes too?) laid back about just about everything except his playing, and he doesn’t get to hang out with a lot of musicians in his school (at least not musicians who will be pursuing music as a major–he may have been the first student, or at least one of the first, at the school to apply to conservatories–it was all very new to his college counselor, although she was really nice about it). I just feel that we’re going into all this somewhat cluelessly, and I would really appreciate any information or advice people have about festivals, the jazz programs themselves, or anything else that might be relevant. Thanks!
I did not know about this site until a little over a year ago. I once wrote a humorous overview of our efforts at choosing schools for UG. My D only auditioned for 3 VP schools (but some MT programs too). She never did a summer program. And I never knew about summer “festivals” until sophomore year of college.
For VP you can start late - and maybe jazz is the same. Others can comment on that. And when he gets to college…don’t worry…he’ll find and be accepted to expensive summer programs/festivals too.
As for studio assignments, my D got an offer, we thought great! Never did a lesson with her. I never understood you were suppose to research it.
Hopefully others can clue you into the jazz world. You are asking good questions. But really your son is fine. Not everyone knows all of this “stuff” - I certainly did not!
BTW - a studio is run by your private lesson teacher. It usually meets once a week and students perform for each other and critique each other. All the students have the same teacher for private lessons weekly. So the studio typically becomes tight. Generally there are different age groups in the studio. So whomever his private teacher is, that will be the studio head. Of course jazz teachers may run studios differently but this is the general idea. He may want to contact the school to ask about how he would get a teacher (or studio assignment ) if that has not been done yet. Schools do this differently.
New School’s studio teacher system is quite different from the other conservatories. During orientation students are evaluated on a set of minimum instrumental proficiency skills required for graduation, then either be placed “in proficiency” where he will be assigned a studio teacher based on his individual playing ability and needs, or he’ll test out. If he “tests out” of proficiency, he can choose from one of many, (20 or more), private teachers that are gigging musicians and teachers in the area that work more like private contractors than regular faculty. If I understand correctly, the student is responsible for setting up the lessons and scheduling with the chosen instructor once they have tested out of proficiency. After the first semester, students can split their lessons between different teachers on different instruments, genres etc. They can shake it up or keep the same instructor.
As for the other schools we looked at, some asked for a ranking of preferred teachers, some did not, and some only had one bass instructor so it didn’t really make any difference. In those schools, the assumption is that you’ll be with one teacher all 4 years, unless otherwise requested or some different arrangement is worked out at a later date.
If your S chooses New School, I’m sure they’ll help him through the studio selection or assignment process. At another school, he’ll probably be assigned to a studio that they feel will best suit his needs. I’m sure it will work out just fine in either case!
Thank you both so much, @bridgenail and @indeestudios , for the helpful and specific information! I tend to be the kind of person who “plays it by ear” (so to speak, as I have no musical ability whatsoever 
), but it just started occurring to me that my son really should have some idea of what to expect when he gets to wherever he ends up. I don’t want his happiness at being able to attend a jazz program to be spoiled by the feeling that he’s out of his league–at least in terms of knowing the ropes a bit–so I thought I’d better ask.
But you’re both right–it should work out just fine. If he made it through high school he can make it through anything, especially in a placed where he’s appreciated for doing what he loves.
Another great source of information for Jazz schools, festivals and programs is Downbeat Magazine. They archive the past issues online. It has a ton of great information for Jazz students. The May issue they just put up is about festivals.
http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/archive.html
AsMother, welcome to the world of parenting a Jazz musician. I know how you feel. My son is just about to graduate from conservatory and it still can feel overwhelming at times. Looking at my son and his peers (he knows students at a wide range of conservatories) the key is to quote Don Braden, who runs the Litchfield Jazz Camp, “To play with as many different musicians” as possible. Find your scene and embrace it. My own son is the type to say, “Yes” when asked. That saying “yes” often put him in situations over his head but by doing that he gained a lot of experience and knowledge.
The big festivals that my son has applied to (and not been excepted to) are Banff and Stanford. They are quite hard to get into. What did our son do in the summer? He has taught (Litchfield and NEC and privately), gigged (lots of wedding gigs) and attempted to work at Starbucks…he quit after he realized that he could earn with one gig or teaching job with what he was earning working 4-8 hours. The first summer he attended the Keep and Eye on Jazz Foundation on full scholarship but he had to pay for his travel expenses. He turned that into a European trip to visit another friend he had met at school.
One other bit of advice I would give your son. Make sure that he spends time and effort when in school on his liberal arts classes and LEARNS TO WRITE!!! The reality of the art world is that these guys will graduate and they will have to write grants, applications for residencies, proposals, etc… If you can write well that can give you a big leg up in the real world. I have seen how one my son’s close friends, who is ridiculously talented as a musician but probably also has some untreated learning disabilities, has been held back by his lack of academic prowess. It is a shame because this young man is so talented and I suspect with the right tutoring he could indeed overcome some of his challenges. But I suspect his family’s culture doesn’t embrace the notion of learning disabilities and getting specific remediation.
Thank you very much, @StacJip ! That’s all very helpful, and I’m very sure that the willingness to say “Yes” is worth a lot in the music world!
What?!! Your son prefers playing and teaching music to putting expensive coffee drinks together for picky people?! That’s crazy talk! I’ve actually told him that he’ll have a MUCH better time if he can figure out how to go out and do some gigs during the summer, rather than flipping burgers (or lattes).
Fortunately, he’s already a very good writer (point of pride with me, as I’m a writer!), so we’re good there.
Right now he’s just really, unexpectedly nervous about the changes entailed in going off to his new life. I’m ashamed to say that it took me by surprise; I thought he’d be nothing but thrilled when he got his acceptance to the New School, but that was a little dense of me. I know he’ll be fine, but it’s a reminder that things are never quite as simple as they seem to be.
Your son sounds as if he’s been doing amazing things!
Expensive coffee drinks for picky people? I resemble that comment.
After my D went to UG I made it a point to tell future graduating students (and I’m sure I made a huge impression on them- lol) “This will only be the best 4 years of your life in retrospect. It will also be the worst and the best of times - sometimes in the same week or day.” College can be really hard and scary. That’s normal. But in the end, it’s a great ride.
@bridgenail , I’m definitely one of those picky people! Starbuck’s is thriving pretty much because of me.
I must be weird (or I must have really hated where I was when I was in h.s.)–I loved college from Day 1. Of course, there definitely WERE some difficult periods along the way, but I was SO glad to be there. That, I guess, is what blinded me to my son’s anxiety (and I feel really stupid about that now). I actually told him–once I figured out what was going on–that no one is requiring him to go to college. He gets to start making his own decisions now. He’s coming from a school where he’s kind of been told what to think a lot (I kept trying to counteract that), so relative autonomy is going to take some getting used to. I know that beneath his current fears he’s really happy (and maybe a little surprised?) that he was accepted and that he can now pursue what he loves and what he’s good at. But right now I’m TRYING to give him a little breathing-room about it. Trying…
The transition to college is difficult for many kids. And the summer before they go away to college can be especially challenging for parents. But also keep in mind that nerves can occur for a lot of reasons, including second guessing about career and dreams and fears and more. As parents we have to be prepared to listen and be prepared for things to change. Life has a way of throwing curve balls. And there are going to be times when your son is unsure about his future or his career choice or even his passion. And that is OK if it happens. Kid’s change. One of my son’s friends from HS went off to NEC and decided he did not want to be a performer. He has focused on doing research about music education (even co-published a bunch of papers) and is going to continue that research into next year at Harvard Graduate School of Education. My own daughter went off to NYU for acting. But left when she decided she really did not want to spend the next four years of her life focused on body movement and voice. She is now a nurse practitioner and I have to tell you those acting skills certainly come in handy especially when she has a difficult patient.
One of my biggest regrets in my D going off to college was assuming her experience would be just like mine. It wasn’t. I also wish I had talked with her about how much she wanted to communicate. I just assumed once or twice a week. She needed more. And still she became independent. Transitions are hard for her ( but that doesn’t stop her). It helps here if I’m available as an outlet to her concerns during a transition. I never say (anymore) it’s no big deal. I just understand she needs a close connection when in transition. Then once she settles in she’s fine.
Most people talk about how they drop their kid off and a few hours later they leave. Nope. Not mine. We were there for a few days. Don’t think your kid has to behave a certain way. Just be there for him. And let him know he’s not an adult yet. You’ll still be helping him with decisions. You’ll still be parenting him. Because you will. Until he decides you won’t.
@StacJip , I’ve always told him that, as long as he’s happy and safe (that’s kind of become my mantra for him), I’LL be happy with whatever he does (with the exception of becoming a neo-Nazi or something of that ilk!). He knows that very well. He’s probably sick of hearing it from me!
@bridgenail , yes. But he had a difficult transition when we moved from north to south, and from a very fuzzy, warm, nurturing school environment to a much more conservative one–and his first experiences of being bullied (he may still be making that connection when thinking about another school transition, although I’ve assured him that it will be a very different experience now). And he’s gone through some really rough times over the years, and I know that he still feels a strong connection to NYC and the surrounding area where we used to live. So I guess I was thinking that he’d be happy to get out of H.S. and get back to where he seemed to feel, in many ways, he still belonged (not to mention his saying how much he wants to be in an environment in which he can learn to play his music as well as he can without being “distracted” by much else). I just underestimated his connection to the friends he’s made here, etc. His analogy was, “It’s like giving a homeless person a new apartment. It’s a lot nicer than where he’s been, but he still ends up setting up a box to live in inside the apartment because it’s what he’s used to.” He’s said that he knows that the new school will be a better place for him, but that it might take some getting used to.
That line between being a “smother-mother” (especially for a single mother with an only son) and keeping TOO much of a distance can be tricky to negotiate. I’ve been trying to give him his space over the past few years, even when I’m tempted to do otherwise! And I have told him that he’s not being drop-kicked into the world–that he will ALWAYS have a home wherever I am (and also wherever his father is), and then if he ever needs me I will be there in a second.
Anyway, he seems to have gotten over (at least for now) the rough patch of anxiety he was going through. Yesterday he was talking about how many of his old and newer friends will be going to schools very close to where he’s going, and that seemed to make him happy.