Has anyone been able to contact music professors at Northwestern to set up a lesson on an audition weekend? We have tried several times but have not gotten a response. Any ideas? Are sample lessons not common there?
When my S auditioned there, 2011, so quite a long time ago, we were not able to get a lesson there. The professor was too busy. Another cellist we knew from the year before had been able to have a lesson while she was there for her audition so it is possible. Just depends how busy he/they? are. We were able to sit in on a studio class and that was helpful. Good luck!
My D successfully set up a lesson on an audition weekend at Northwestern - this was a couple of years ago. The lesson was after a long day of auditions. A real test of the professor’s stamina. It’s probably better to get a lesson on a non-audition day if possible!
My D had a tough time getting a response from a Northwestern prof regarding a lesson her junior year. Her friends had mixed results - seemed dependent on the particular professor. In my D’s case she wasn’t trying for audition week, so she politely followed up a few times and eventually got her lesson.
If you can’t get a lesson before audition day and get accepted, I would strongly advise getting in a lesson before choosing the school. I know this seems a little obvious, but I would never just go to a place based on a teacher’s reputation. The new facilities look stunning, but the teacher and how he or she connects with your student is much more important.
I took a lesson there and didn’t have trouble contacting the professor, but it was not on an audition day. It was still hard to schedule though, because of travel distance and our schedules just seemed to clash.
Many professors (understandably) don’t want to spend time on trial lessons before admissions results. My daughter did grad school auditions last year and it was a scramble at the last minute (because grad decisions are earlier than undergrads) to schedule lessons. Although it’s not necessary to have a trial lesson before the audition, I concur with jb1966 that you should definitely take a lesson with prospective teacher before committing to a program.
Somehow, my son has managed to get a lesson at each school he’s auditioning at. They are busy, but for those of us traveling long distance, it’s really important to get the lesson in now and reserve a second lesson after admission decisions if unsure where to go. I only wish we had insisted on paying for a lesson for a few because he gets so much out of it. 30 minutes doesn’t tell him much. Lalo, the cello teacher is pretty well known at northwestern. I’d search for any you tube videos of master classes.
I actually had one teacher tell me that we could have an “interview” in which we would just talk to the teacher or we could pay for a lesson. I’m thinking “what, we are going to travel 1200 miles to the school and NOT take a lesson?” .Like $150 is going to be the deal breaker on a trip that costs a small fortune and takes up the only school break in the spring. Got me thinking about the school in the larger picture. I might be wrong, but I assumed whatever feeling I had about the school based on getting a lesson and actually looking at the school might be carried forward if my child had chosen the school. We had nothing but positive experiences with school we chose, right from the get go. Trust your instinct.