<p>I am a highschool jazz drumset player and percussionist who is planning on majoring in jazz studies in college. I will be auditioning for the MSM Precollege and should I get in, is there anyone who has done this precollege for jazz specifically? And if so could you tell me about your experience, pros and cons?</p>
<p>bump! If anyone knows I’d appreciate it!</p>
<p>I can’t talk about having been in the program or having a kid in there, but I have some knowledge of the program, I have seen groups from the pre college program play and also have met families with kids in the program, and it from everything I can see is top notch, the kids seem to love it and being in NYC, the kids have a lot of interaction with working Jazz musicians, they do a lot of mentoring and such from what I have heard. My impression is that it is one of the best in the country at this point.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response! I have heard that it is the best precollege jazz program in the US. My main problem is that I live 4 hours away from NYC (Washington DC) and I don’t know if it would be worth it to drive 8+ hours every weekend. Do you know of other precollege jazz programs on the East Coast? I heard that Peabody has one but it seems pretty small in comparison.</p>
<p>I have heard the same thing about MSM, that it if not the best is one of the best. Juilliard doesn’t have Jazz pre college, I believe Mannes does and while well regarded it is not from what I know as good as MSM’s. It may be worth checking out Peabody’s program, try to find out more about it, since it would be a lot more convenient for you to get to.</p>
<p>From personal experience, though, to get high level pre college educations a lot of kids travel long distances, kids drive from your neck of the woods or farther south to go to Juilliard’s pre college program and I have heard the same thing about program like CIM’s pre college program, people driving as far as 9 hours (one way!), people literally flying cross country each Saturday, you name it…so you wouldn’t be the one person doing that, believe me, what some people do is just mind boggling. </p>
<p>We talked about that with our S, and if we would drive that much to get him to a program, and if we felt that was the only place to get him what he needed, we would have. Again, my advice would be to check out peabody or any other programs people suggest, then weigh out if going to MSM is so much better that is makes sense to make the haul. I am no expert on young musicians jazz programs, but from what I know there aren’t a lot of them, and MSM could turn out to be your best option.</p>
<p>Just an idea - check the airfare from DC to NYC. We caught a $59 flight a while back - just thinking of the drive, gas, wear and tear on tires, oil changes et.</p>
<p>@JazzDrummer</p>
<p>My Jazz D is a current undergrad at Peabody and was a precollege student at NEC. </p>
<p>Peabody does have preparatory jazz and a specific instructor for Jazz Percussion. There is also the opportunity to earn a music certificate by taking classes & private lessons and playing in ensembles & recitals. You also have to pass a certification exam for the certificate. </p>
<p>The program looks pretty good to me given our prior experience with the NEC program. It is definitely worth contacting the school for more information and speaking directly to the percussion instructor.</p>
<p>When DD was auditioning for conservatory programs we ran into one young man who attended Peabody’s precollege program for jazz. His mother and I traded some notes on the NEC & Peabody programs and she had nothing but praise for Peabody’s program and staff. My understanding is that her S ended up attending MSM, for whatever its worth.</p>
<p>LGSMom that is great to hear about Peabody’s program! It is only 30-45 minutes from where I live when traffic’s good. </p>
<p>Do you think it would be possible to take lessons with the actual jazz drumset professor as opposed to the prep programs professor? Does this ever happen in other school’s precollege programs for any instruments?</p>
<p>Of course you’ll have to ask them to find out but my guess would be that you would take private lessons with the preparatory staff. At NEC, the conservatory jazz professors did not teach at the preparatory but we did see them at the conservatory buildings occasionally. I think you would come in contact with the conservatory faculty (like we did at NEC) and you could ask to meet the drumset professor, Nasar Abadey. Even better, you could request a sample lesson/evaluation and attend some of the jazz performances.</p>