I would like to help my daughter prepare for music composition interviews. I wonder if anyone can share their experiences. What questions were asked? How long was the interview? Was it friendly and casual or more formal?
They will all be different. It depends on the school. Have her be prepared to speak about why she composes, and what she’s trying to do. And about music in general. Questions can be all over the place. Some conservatories have actual overnight assignments, and trick questions. Other interviews will be completely low-key. If she understands why she wants to be a composer, and what she’s hoping to get out of studying composition at the college level, and what she likes, or doesn’t like, about music, she’ll be fine. If she can speak knowledgeably about current music and composers, that will be helpful, as well. It might also be helpful if she has questions herself for the interviewers.
Just to affirm what Spirit Manager said, some schools have a nice chat, some have overnight projects, some have grueling interviews with questions on theory, music history and your process of composing. At least one we ran into had a panel, one had interviews with 4 different teachers, some had easy conversations in the office of the chair. Often the interviewer and student look at scores together and the interviewer will ask “What were you thinking about here?”
One interesting question: “What would you do if a teacher suggests a change that you don’t agree with?”
It is fine to prepare a little but I do not think anyone should stress too much about this. Theory and history can be learned and there are exams for placement.
It is wonderful for a high schooler to know a lot about music history and also the contemporary field of composition. It is wonderful to have a resume already started, through conservatory prep or whatever. But honestly I think raw talent is the most important thing, and it doesn’t have to be polished.
So prepare reasonably (if at all), try to relax and enjoy the process.
Above all, be true to yourself- and to your music- and you will land in the right place.
PM’ing you.
@compmom “One interesting question: “What would you do if a teacher suggests a change that you don’t agree with?””
this is very interesting indeed and I think can be applicable to instrumental and voice auditions as well. A variant of the same thought emerged in my D’s trial lessons. Each one of the teachers she worked with gave her some thought provoking ideas on how she could improve her audition pieces. Not all ideas were aligned and some would require substantial change in technique / approach to the instrument.
Question then became, how much would a given teacher foster and groom individuality or try to suppress it to develop students in his/her image. Very interesting dilemma for my D right now in her quest to choose the teacher who will shape who she will be as a musician 5 years down the road…
This was something that S either correctly or mistakenly identified in some professors - this one will try to make me a Ray Brown; whereas, this one could do that but seems able to coach people in the direction they want to go, Ray Brown or otherwise.
Yes, this applies to instrument and voice as well, I can see that. For composition, one of our main criteria for undergrad was diversity in student works at the concerts we were able to attend. That seemed to be a sign that “individual voice” was truly honored and developed.
I like to attend master classes at a nearby music organization/festival. I am always amazed at how a piece is transformed during the class. These players are high level, usually grad students, and have wonderful technique. But the artistry and approach change with that particular teacher. I don’t know enough really but I imagine that a different teacher would emphasize something else.
The other thing I notice as an audience member, which may not be relevant but I’ll mention it, is that it isn’t the technical prize winner who moves me, it is the one with the musicality. I’ll even take some mistakes in exchange for being affected by the performance.
I am a homeschooler, and I am having my daughter do a half credit in modern music and a half credit in career exploration. Perhaps these will help. I have been thinking of putting questions on index cards and making a game of answering them at supper. If we do some non-music questions we could all answer and make a fun, family time of it. My daughter composes (and lives) very intuitively, so she may benefit from practice putting her intuitive choices in words.
“Modern music” is different from contemporary classical, which is now termed “new music”, just in terms of the time period.I am really curious what the course covers and where you found it! I recommend Alex Ross’ book “The Rest is Noise.” Ross recently reviewed another book entitled “After the Fall” which is also about late 20th and 21st century composers. Best thing is to listen!!!
Maybe I should rename the course then. We will listen to the Twentieth Century music lecture series on the Great Courses and then listen to the pieces the lecturer (Greenberg) discusses. I don’t think we will manage Ross’ book, unless listening to it in audiobook format in the car works out. Maybe we can look into After the Fall too. Basically we construct our homeschool courses by picking a topic and using whatever resources we can find.
I looked at the curriculum for that course and it looks pretty good. I remember Great Courses for music and they generally play snippets which can be frustrating but most survey classes do that.
That particular course is said to not play snippets due to copyright issues. So, we will hunt down what we need elsewhere. Greenberg is fun to listen to. He has fun not just with the music and content of the course but how he presents it. He uses vivid words, metaphors, expressions.