<p>This thread was started in 2008 by Cosmos, who is no longer posting here, and historically people have reported when they heard from festivals, IIRC.</p>
<p>My mistake then. I was looking for some festival info and did not realize it had morphed. </p>
<p>My son just heard (positively) from Bowdoin last weekâheâs a graduate student in composition. He had assumed he was rejected, since he had heard from other places many weeks ago.</p>
<p>Somebody asked about BUTI for composition. My son went there between junior and senior year of high school and it was excellent. The main teacher was Martin Amlin, who my son liked very much. The only bad thing was the food.</p>
<p>My son got an acceptance today for Norfolk Music Festival. (Quite the surprise as their results were not supposed to come out until 3/31). </p>
<p>Fantastic news! Congrats, Clarimom.</p>
<p>Great news, Clarimom!!</p>
<p>My HS junior son was just accepted for Solo Piano at Aspen. He was wait listed at Bowdoin and accepted at Interlochen for another year. I think weâre going to accept Aspen but would appreciate any insights. He doesnât want to go back to the Interlochen cabins (understandably). Aspen to us seems like a better program and festival than Bowdoin. One thing is we never got a sense of how competitive any of these places are. I mean it says Aspen is âvery selectiveâ but not sure what that means.</p>
<p>At this level itâs difficult to talk in such stark terms as which festival is âbetter.â Both are well-respected. Much would depend on the teacher and your sonâs fit with that teacher. Aspen is more glamorous and bigger, and better-known, but your individual circumstance could mitigate those not-crucial factors. If Iâm reading correctly, he is still wait-listed at Bowdoin, so in that sense, Aspen may be the only/better choice. </p>
<p>RPianoDad, Congratulations to your son on Aspen. Can I ask when and how you heard from Bowdoin?
College son-string player still waiting to hear. Thanks. </p>
<p>We heard from Bowdoin around March 1st. You should probably call them.</p>
<p>Aspen is extremely competitive and such a glorious place to study. I believe if the student is under 18 the parent has to stay with them.</p>
<p>ABlestMom, Aspen has dorms for under-18s</p>
<p>Yes they have dorms but thereâs an 11 p.m. curfew for 15-17 year olds and they go around and do bed checks - which actually makes me feel a lot better as a parent. Also strict no drinking/drug use (legal or not!). So we are going with Aspen. I think itâs hitting us how incredibly lucky we are to be going.</p>
<p>I guess my daughter assumed that to be the case because there were parents living there. </p>
<p>He will have a wonderful time! And you will have a wonderful experience visiting and being surrounded by incredible music.</p>
<p>I do know families who go there and stay with their kidsâusually they are for kids 14 and under, but sometimes parents of older kids go. </p>
<p>Has anyone heard from Brevard yet? </p>
<p>Did anyone apply to Torggler Summer Vocal Institute? I know the deadline just passed, but Iâm wondering if anyone has any intel?</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted into both Meadowmount and Heifitz Institute. I know Meadowmount has a long term reputation, but she will not be with Hans Jensen. Anyone with knowledge of Heifitz? Need to let them know by Friday!!</p>
<p>My daughter went to Heifetz a few years ago (when it was in NH) and has visited the new campus. It was an excellent program. I donât know about cello studios, but in some studios you get a sort of smorgasbord of teachers, so that each lesson is with someone different. My daughter had lessons with the same faculty member all six weeks. Lots of performance opportunities and a nice emphasis (I thought) on developing stage presence. I could never convince her to go to MM, but my cello friends who have gone there rave about the cello faculty, so I donât think you can go wrong either way. MM is a âpractice campââmuch stricter with the under-18s and fewer performance opportunities. I think Heifetz would be a little more fun, but that is not to say it is not a serious place with top-level students. </p>
<p>Edit: I looked up MMâs cello faculty and donât see Melissa Kraut this year. Sheâs been there in past years and students rave about her. </p>
<p>Torggler is a mixed bag, musical theatre, opera⊠and there is a large age span among the students which can mean a big difference in abilities (no way that a 16 year old sounds like a 22 year old, nor should she/he). The permanent faculty is so-so which indicates that the total experience is very dependent upon which guest faculty actually shows up and which workshops you get assigned to. If you have the money to spend and understand that two weeks isnât going to make a big, positive difference in your daughterâs vocal training then by all means, do look into it. Attendance is down at pay-to-sings, so many are taking late applications.</p>