<p>Okay, all, here’s a question about timing. We’ll be near some schools over the Christmas break and a long weekend in February. Is it good/bad timing to do this with a junior, when it’s the middle of audition season for seniors? We know that schools are on break during the Christmas/NYears break, but some profs may be around.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Suggestions?</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt to ask. If a professor is willing to see your daughter then you can assume it’s okay. Many may be too busy. </p>
<p>When contacting professors to set up a visit is it at all helpful for the student to include their resume? Or would that be considered arrogant? Or … by the time you get to this level do the resumes all look alike anyway?</p>
<p>Thanks, @glassharmonica – that’s sort of what I was thinking. I’ll have d email when she gets in. </p>
<p>@DesignDad - others will likely be more familiar with the nuts and bolts, but I’d think that, at this introductory stage, a music resume would be a bit of putting the cart before the horse. The purpose of this private visit/lesson is for the student and teacher to meet and see if there is some compatibility. It’s not an application. The music resume is part of the application process. I should think that the student and teacher could simply have a bit of a discussion about current repertoire, recent experience, etc. </p>
<p>That said, I look forward to hearing from others who’ve already been through this process.</p>
<p>D (veteran of many sample lessons) never sent her resume first, and no one ever requested it. Sometimes the professor would want to know a little more via email, and she would answer those questions then.</p>
<p>Thanks @listenmissy and @lastbird. That’s what I figured. I just didn’t know if professors ever get so overloaded with requests for sample lessons that they ever needed anything to help them figure out which kids to actually see.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>We did have one professor ask us to send a dvd of my S playing before he would set up a sample lesson.</p>
<p>Interesting, @cellomom2. And, fair enough, I suppose. We have plenty of fairly recent vids on Vimeo if it comes to that. Good to know, just in case.</p>
<p>Most teachers would use a recording rather than a resume to decide whether or not to see the student. They may also trust the recommendation of a trusted colleague. When my daughter was doing the sample lesson rounds her teacher contacted a few colleagues on her behalf. It helps the prospective teacher to know that the student has been vetted by someone they trust. </p>
<p>@glassharmonica makes a good point, @DesignDad. Since our d is a junior and has started working on audition repertoire, one of the things we did was put together a document with the requirements of all the schools under (current) consideration. While we were at it, we listed the violin staff, d’s teacher made a note of who she knew at various schools. </p>
<p>As we progress, d’s teacher will contact the various profs she knows, when we are ready to reach out. It definitely helps both with vetting and ice-breaking—at least there is a little point of commonality when the student first meets the instructor, which can help reduce first-meeting jitters. </p>
<p>Forget the résumés, the teacher will ask what the child has been up to. However, I did find it helpful later, when I appealed the scholarship from the conservatory. Professors didn’t seem to care about the résumé but did care about the teacher our child had been studying with. The students of certain well known teachers will always get respect and a closer listen to. </p>
<p><quote>The students of certain well known teachers will always get respect and a closer listen to.</quote></p>
<p>Unfortunately, many of us in the hinterlands have students of lesser known, or less widely known, teachers. So for our purposes, it helped to identify where the teacher had contacts. Our d has had offers from teachers in summer programs as well, to make introductions when the time comes. Some of them are better known in places where d’s regular teacher is not. </p>
<p>As for the resume, while it may not be something the profs are interested in, it is an application requirement (along with a detailed repertoire list) for all of the BM programs d is looking at. BA programs are a different matter, as one doesn’t have to declare upon entry.</p>
<p>PSA: You need to put square brackets00 [ ] , not html-style brackets < >, around tags in BBcode. :D</p>
Thank you!!
Regardless of the teacher, it seems to matter more what comes out of your kid’s instrument when they start playing. That does take location of education, the teacher and other factors out of the equation.
@jb1966, I’m not sure I understand your point…could you clarify?
My D has taken lessons with teachers all over the US…by Skype! She has only done so for voice lessons (as that is her primary instrument). Her last voice teacher and the one she will likely be working with this summer both have students from all over the world that they teach via Skype. Just thought I’d throw it out there as an option worth looking into for people who are unable to travel more than once to every school they are applying. Maybe that’s not as common for instrumentalists? I don’t know.
Thanks, @dbandmom – interesting. I know d’s teacher doesn’t like Skype lessons but there are those that do. I think d wants to at least meet teachers in person where she can. I haven’t heard of any violinists doing Skype lessons for introduction. Is anyone out in the CC space familiar with this option? It would seem a hard way to “get to know” someone, even on a superficial level…
@listenmissy What I was saying was that no matter what the circumstances; teachers, location, awards, etc. that when the kid in question puts the instrument under their chin, or sits at the bench or gets their breath and starts to play, that most things are determined by what comes out. With the politics and financial considerations and all, I’m still convinced that what your kid is saying when they play matters the most. Do they have a voice? Does what they are expressing have real musical value. Is all the work, sacrifice, money and love put into learning an instrument going to pay off in the end? We are talking about helping create artists in this forum- isn’t that the end product of all this?