<p>I'm a serious trumpeter interested in Princeton. However, I heard about the Harvard and New England Conservatory joint program. I'm worried that if I go to Princeton, my level as a trumpeter will go down because I will be so involved in other classes and not have the time I want to practice. I also really want to play in very good Conservatory-level orchestras and wind ensembles. My questions basically are How good are Princeton's Wind Ensemble/Orchestra & Will I have enough time to practice my trumpet at Princeton or does academic work take up 95% of the time that I'd be awake?</p>
<p>I've heard that PSO has a pretty good reputation and has a rather demanding repertoire. I've run across people online who seem to be managing juggling there musical endeavors with schoolwork, so it's not impossible. If I get in, I hope to start French horn lessons, join the marching band, and eventually be part of either the Wind Ensemble or PSO. I've heard the WE isn't all that great because it takes in all levels of musicians, but PSO, like I said before, is pretty good.</p>
<p>I know the jazz bands are really good if that means anything to you. In fact that's the main reason I applied ED. I was having a similar dilemma for a while, but I heard one of the jazz band's cd's and was blown away.</p>
<p>umm i play violin and princeton has a pretty good orchestra and its music program is ok. but its nothing compared to the Columbia/Juilliard and the Harvard/NEC joint programs. NEC and Juilliard are renowned in the music world. by choosing princeton over one of those 2 joint programs u basically KNOW that u will be making a switch....academics take a much higher priority than music. no academic work does not take up 95% of the time that ur awake but if u are use to practicing 2-3 hours a day....i dont think that will be happening too often at princeton. honestly i dont think u will have the time and u probably wont have the energy either, unless u make it work. u will prolly have to tone it down to 1-2 hours a day. </p>
<p>ive hard the new Harvard/NEC is amazing and so if u are very concerved about both academics AND music equally i would suggest that over princeton...except that program is EXTREMELY difficult to get into</p>