<p>Everyone should “bomb” auditions like that!
I’m sure he made the right decision.</p>
<p>Librarian 377, I agree. There have been times when I walk out of an audition head held high to the sky, and put in the middle of a section. There have also been times when I walk out wanting to shoot myself for the myriad of mistakes I made, and I ended up co-section leader. It’s a pretty weird paradox in the arts field. Performers are always their worst critics, always always always.</p>
<p>My sister was impressed with Chapman. She visited the conservatory and attended a conducting class, a master’s class, a private lesson and an opera class. She said the opera program is awesome and one of the soloists in an upcoming opera is one of the Freshmen. The conservatory is small, but a lot of stars send their kids to Chapman, particularly to the film school there.</p>
<p>Hi Running the Basses,</p>
<pre><code> We were interested to read your post re: Drake. Our son is interested in trombone performance and we were wondering if you have any thoughts re: their orchestra, concert band, wind/brass ensembles, jazz program, etc., or any other thoughts re: the school since your initial post. Thanks in advance!
</code></pre>
<p>We made a brief visit this week. We met with both the head of opera and the head of voice/choirs. We observed a music coaching (a sophomore soprano, who had sung one of the leads in the opera was preparing for her jury). We also observed a master class in conducting. We were very impressed with the faculty, and the voice faculty in particular is excellent. Prospective students are encouraged to “shop” for their voice teacher, then request that person. The school is very well-endowed. The gift that created the conservatory is large enough to eventually have all students on full scholarship, including living expenses. Most students now are currently on scholarship. They focus on undergraduates, with a musical and an opera performed every year. Yes, they encourage singing in many styles. They have at least 7 choral groups, including award-winning jazz choirs. The choirs tour internationally every year. The facilities were fine, not great, though some of the theaters are really nice. The school is mostly a commuter school, and it was nice to find that parking spaces were easily available. All in all, my D and I were very impressed, and the school is now on the will-apply list. For us, it’s in state, so very cheap, though even sopranos can get scholarships. D had a classmate (soprano) who was offered full-ride last year. They have an excellent jazz program as well as voice/opera. This is an up and coming program, and I emphasize that they have LOTS of money. We also went down to the nearby beach area, Belmont Shores, where many students live in cute houses/apts by the beach, with lovely shops and restaurants on 2nd street. It’s a really nice walking area, and the buses to the university are free for students. Really, we loved it, found it to be a very positive, happy place, with good quality musicians.</p>
<p>Do you know much about academic admission standard (other than what is on the website)? Is it somewhat more lenient for music majors?
Also, back in the fall, there was some discussion about applications closing by the end of November.</p>
<p>oldviola: A person will be admitted to the Bob Cole Conservatory if they pass the music audition and are academically admissable to CSU. So, you’d only need at C average, submit SAT or ACT (not sure of the required score, but CSU Mentor website should have it). You also need specific required courses.
[CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - Freshman Admission Requirements Overview](<a href=“http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/]CSUMentor”>http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/)
You have to apply between Oct 1 and November 30th. So, yes it’s much more lenient for music majors, academically.</p>
<p>( Re the Cal State system.) With all the cutbacks and upheaval, I think it is imperative that you submit your application to the school on the first week that the applications become available.</p>
<p>Boston University</p>
<p>Dodged through the rain for a quick visit this week. We also enjoyed an unexpected tour of the surrounding area, thanks to mapquest. Fenway is definitely accessible from campus! (Note to self: acquire GPS before visiting more schools.) Also, acquire quarters before visiting campus - we were told by several people that the police are very vigilant about ticketing expired parking meters.</p>
<p>BU is not my dream vision of a school, but D liked it. The tour took us along Commonwealth Avenue and our guide shared the usual facts and info along with perky anecdotes about friends who majored in this or that and studied abroad etc. We only went into the admissions building lobby, the auditorium where the info session was held, the lobby of the student union, a library under construction, and a sample dorm room, so presumably the actual student experience involves less traffic noise and sidewalk congestion. The buildings were fine, and I must admit that the “beach” provided a nice green space near the river and the Bay State buildings were lovely. There appears to be adequate security (blue light phones, card swipes) but it’s definitely an urban campus.</p>
<p>The point of the visit was, of course, to visit the music building and get more details, so we had scheduled a specialized music tour, which consisted of D (strings) and a vocalist. Our tour guide was a grad student who gave us the inside scoop about performance spaces and classes as well as recommendations for dorms and student life in general. The tour was followed up with a semi-interview for both students with Q&A about auditions and admissions.</p>
<p>We had seen the building a couple of years ago when D had a BUTI audition there, and had written BU off because of the practice rooms at that time. While she was warming up down there in the basement, she kept having visions of horror movies - it used to be pretty grim. The renovated practice rooms, which should be online for this fall semester, are absolutely gorgeous! It’s like an entirely different building. They’re open 7AM-midnight, with good security, large, acoustically well-designed, and the doors have windows that go down pretty much the whole length of the door. (The last is important if you are petite.) In one room - not sure if these are in all of them - there was a recording device embedded in the wall, so you could record your practice session and even download it to your laptop.</p>
<p>The rest of the building still retains its “historic” atmosphere, although there are scheduled renovations taking place over the next couple of years, including a bridge to the building next door and a new recital hall, and a facelift for the front of the building to bring in more natural light.</p>
<p>D really liked BU, so I guess we’ll have the chance to go back and see the place when it’s swarming with students.</p>
<p>My son is looking at Indiana U for percussion performance and we have visited. The campus is beautiful and the Jacobs School of Music is renowned. I am afraid he won’t make it though unless he does an impressive job in the audition. I want a fall back school with a good percussion department. We are looking at Northern Illinois U, Millikin, and U of Southern Cal. Anybody have a percussionist out there?</p>
<p>My D is a percussionist and is heading to the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam this fall. We have met and are impressed with all of the percussion faculty and also know a number of percussionists that have studied under them in other locations. My D is taking a double major (Music Ed and Music Performance). The audition process for a percussionist is rather nerve racking I would say. Having to play equally well on Snare, Timps, Mallets, Drumset and because we come from Canada she has also had to have Grade 6 Royal Conservatory of Music Piano performance. Our D’s private teachers (3 of them) got together and told her to go into all of her auditions with attitude that it was hers to lose not win. They told her not to be cocky or arrogant (which she never is anyway) but to truly believe that she was good enough. It worked because she got accepted everywhere she tried. Good luck to your son and I hope everything works out for him.</p>
<p>We just returned from a trip to Montreal to see McGill University and the Schulich school of Music. My DD loved the school and the city and has now placed this school as a tentative 3rd on her list. We had toured BU in April and she was less than impressed, so this was a pleasant surprise.</p>
<p>We started with the academic tour of McGill. We saw the McGill gates and were shown around the campus. McGill feels much smaller than the number of students that attend. It does not feel big and sprawling like Penn State or suburban busy like BU. It is mostly contained in a campus with grass and trees. We saw the biggest lecture room (600 students) and were told that not many classes are that big. There was construction all over the campus…I guess they have to get it done quickly in the summer. The guide was knowledgeable but we tuned out some of the stuff on engineering and pre-med. Although she did say that they had a cadaver class that was open to any who wanted to take it, not just the pre-med kids! I asked about security and her answer was interesting. They have a program where if you feel uncomfortable you can call and they will send a team of 1 boy and 1 girl to your location to walk you home. This is nice, but I got the impression that it wasn’t used much because it just isn’t that necessary. Everywhere around the campus feels very safe. She also talked about tunnels from building to building during the winter to stay warm (didn’t see them).</p>
<p>On to the music school tour. The music school consists of two buildings located right on Sherbrooke by the welcome center and the main gates. One building is brand new (2005?) and the other is older but with a lot of charm. Our tour guide was a vocal performance major and very knowledgeable. We did not get to see the big concert hall because of an organ camp(?) that was in session. We were really really impressed by the music library. It has 3 or 4 floors and is brand new. There were recordings on vinyl, dvd …and 8 tracks. There were scores and research books. There were tons of computers and recording rooms. I am not doing it justice, but it really was lovely. </p>
<p>They have a state of the art black box that is suspended and completely acoustically protected from out side noise. They are in the process of getting lots of bids for hollywood recordings (and others). The interesting thing is that part of the contract to rent the space requires involvement from McGill students. Not sure how that will work out but could be interesting.</p>
<p>Then, we went to see the practice rooms. They were in the old part of the other music building. They were very nice and big. Every room had a window and sound insulation to block the sound from coming in from next door. Each room could easily accommodate a large instrument or even two. And most could have a quartet of small instruments. Compared to the small rooms at BU, or even the rooms at UMd they gave the feeling that a large instrument player would feel comfortable instead of cramped. It helped that the windows gave a sense of spaciousness also. There were (I think) 4 floors of practice rooms. The guide indicated that there were more rooms across the street, but we did not see them.</p>
<p>We then met with the teacher that my DD is interested in and saw some more of the old building…classsrooms etc. He said that the practice rooms were very warm during the winter. So much so that he often cracked a window while he was teaching or practicing. This pleased my DD as she likes to practice in a cami or tank (no long sleeves for her!).</p>
<p>We spent the rest of the next two days checking out Montreal. We loved the city and the people. The Montreal jazz fest was in full swing and we saw a great concert by Renaud Garcia-Fons. We toured old Montreal and the downtown area. Every where felt safe and clean.</p>
<p>If you have any questions I will try to answer them. I am not a great writer (math major!).</p>
<p>The topic of parental involvement has again become part of the discussion I thought I would throw this out there for your consideration.</p>
<p>Parents should</p>
<p>be supportive</p>
<p>help to organize the college visits</p>
<p>go along on college visits, but use the time to speak with financial aid officers and placement or career counseling offices.</p>
<p>sumbit all financial aid documents promptly</p>
<p>help set up any practice auditions that your child may decide to do at home or in local church or auditorium.</p>
<p>arrange to videotape practice auditions</p>
<p>rent, buy, or borrow the best instrument within your means for your child to play</p>
<p>understand if a child’s performing schedule conflict wtih family obligations</p>
<p>help a child deal with the tensions and frustration of trying to excel in both academic and artistic endeavors.</p>
<p>That is from Carole J. Everett former Director of admissions, The Julliard School</p>
<p>in her book Performing Arts Major’s college guide.</p>
<p>Parents should not</p>
<p>call or write an admissions office for the child</p>
<p>fill out the application</p>
<p>write or overly edit the essay</p>
<p>nag about deadlines</p>
<p>dictate college choices</p>
<p>ask too may questions during the campus tour(let your child take the lead)</p>
<p>delay filing financial aid information</p>
<p>attend the interview</p>
<p>sit in on the audition</p>
<p>serve as the accompanist at the audition</p>
<p>offer too much advice about training</p>
<p>try to bribe or otherwise influence an admissions officer or teacher</p>
<p>same source.</p>
<p>I have heard of a parent being the accompanist, certainly been on tours where parents ask most the questions(not sure that is much of a crime), and rumors of people trying to pay their child’s way in.</p>
<p>And these lists probably could use a few additions. But when I saw the list I figured it was worth posting here.</p>
<p>Especially that you should go on audition trips and should help with organization and information gathering which seems obvious but some seem to disagree with.</p>
<p>For information purposes, linking a couple of visit reports by TrumpetDad</p>
<p>[Gettysburg</a> College Visit - TrumpetDad](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/gettysburg-college/5537443.html]Gettysburg”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/gettysburg-college/5537443.html)
[The</a> University of the Arts Visit - TrumpetDad](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/the-university-of-the-arts/4544511.html]The”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/the-university-of-the-arts/4544511.html)</p>
<p>Thanks…</p>
<p>[Ithaca</a> College Visit - TrumpetDad](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/ithaca-college/7386983.html]Ithaca”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/ithaca-college/7386983.html)</p>
<p>Question…thought I’d post this on this thread, looked like the right place:</p>
<p>I’m a pianist and I’m in the process of preparing for auditions for conservatories in piano performance; does anyone know if it would be a problem to contact multiple teachers from the same school for prospective lessons? Specifically, I’m planning on visiting one school that I am EXTREMELY interested in November and it is rather far from where I live, so naturally, I don’t get many opportunities to get up there; I’ll be there in that city for a little over a week and I wanted to get the most out of the visit as possible. I’ve already been in contact with one teacher there and I am scheduled to meet him during my trip there - however, other people that I have worked with (ie. at tanglewood this summer) have given me several other names of fantastic teachers from the same school - I would love to contact and meet all of these people for prospective lessons, etc. (total of 3 names from the same school - specifically, the school is NEC). However, I don’t want to offend anyone or look like I am “teacher-shopping.” Is this the norm and not frowned upon? I know plenty of other students that HAVE taken prospective lessons from multiple teachers in the same school - however, it seems like the dynamic of every instrument field is slightly different. Does anyone think that this would be okay in piano?</p>
<p>SugarIncarnate: Hope I’m not too late to be useful. My experience is with my daughter, a voice performance major. At first we had the same qualms about contacting multiple teachers but got over them very quickly. We systematically emailed each faculty member whose name appeared on the faculty listing, requesting a practice lesson. With a little nudging my daughter frequently ended up with three or four practice lesson appointments. The range of personalities and teaching styles was so diverse – this made the exercise very worthwhile. She also sat in on studio classes and student lessons – also very interesting and useful. Good luck to you.</p>