Music School Visits

violadad · January 29, 2010, 8:42am

Adding the link of 2010 audition experiences, which may prove helpful <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/850837-fall-cycle-2010-audition-experiences.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/850837-fall-cycle-2010-audition-experiences.html</a>

Matt87 · February 27, 2010, 10:53am

Hi SugarIncarnate, i would suggest you email the respective piano teachers and ask them whether you could have a sample lesson with them. My teacher told me that there is a difference between “whether you could have a sample lesson” or “could you give me a sample lesson” when you write an email to a teacher that you would like to study with. Writing it in a polite manner also gives the teacher a better impression of you that you are not teacher shopping in that case.

Do let me know of your results ok.

Cheers

ilkster · March 3, 2010, 3:14pm

Heidi is a junior (vocal), so we aren’t in “full visit” mode yet, but we did take early visits to Oberlin and CCM. We liked the small-town feeling of Oberlin, which reminded me of my own alma mater, Denison. Heidi sat in on a class, and we were also allowed to sit in on a final “opera scenes” rehearsal, which was really wonderful. We returned to see an excellent production of Cosi Fan Tutte there a week later.

CCM, being a state school, costs roughly one-fourth what Oberlin does…not our #1 concern, but I’d have to admit that’s potentially important. There is a “conservatory village” there which Heidi found very appealing. She had to check in at King’s Island with the All-State Chorus by 1PM, so she wasn’t able to sit in on any classes, but she was clearly impressed.

She just participated in the Classical Singer - High School Competition (see other thread) at CIM, so we got a look around there as well, and were given free passes to the evening’s performance of Ariadne auf Naxos. Another strong production.

We’re open to her going out of state, but it’s also good to know Ohio has some very fine vocal schools.

elliethecat · March 20, 2010, 4:30pm

Thanks for all the advices, both my d and I had enjoyed our first school visit very much.
We stayed at La Quinta Inn near by Cleveland airport during the visit and rented a car.
(This is reasonable price and clean hotel, just internet is not that stable :-))

Some of the tips for the visit in Cleveland:

Get to CIM/Case Western might get some traffic in the morning or evening.
Drivers at Cleveland seem to be aggressive as Boston drivers… in my opinion
Driving towards Oberlin is total different… nice and smooth and everybody’s so polite.
Both my d and I found cakes at Coffee house in front of CIM were soo good and cheap.
We tried Tiramisu and keylime tart. They were so good and very comfortable (I had to wait for my d for 2 hours there). Internet is fast and stable :-)

We parked at Case Western’s admission parking, which we were told to use in the letter, but, nobody’s there thus we were told to “honk” until somebody appeared! It worked and
I could park our car while we were visiting both Case Western and CIM.
I found out street parking in front of CIM entrance is easy to find spot later.

My d had a trial lesson as well as sit-in for the studio class at CIM. She felt so comfortable, and also impressed at the studio class (mixed with undergrad and grad), she did not want to leave!
At Oberlin, because of some scheduling conflict, she could only have a trial lesson, not studio class. But, she liked the teacher very much and clicked with him very well.
She tried out practice room after 8PM and liked it and felt at home there as well.

So far, it was a wonderful visits and she learned a lot, and got motivated and now really start imagining/looking forward her college life! I just hope somehow, the money fall from the sky :-)

Thanks for all the useful advices/suggestions! I was amazed how this travel went so well and everything as planned!
We ate breakfast at Black River Cafe (good omelette), ate lunch at the back of Grindel’s parking lot.

I am getting prepared and trying to plan a few more trips!

FluteTooterMom · April 5, 2010, 9:55am

About sample lessons … my daughter will be making her first requests soon. Exactly what do you say when you call or email? I’m interested in a sample lesson … what else?

And, how much lead time should we allow? Two weeks, a month? I know that may vary but just wondering what every one experienced. Are they pretty open to doing these during weekends or only weekdays/evenings?

Thanks

violindad · April 5, 2010, 12:08pm

FluteTooterMom: One of the other dad’s will probably soon provide you with a link to very useful threads with info about sample lessons, but in the meantime I will share our experience.

I think that about two weeks’ lead time is probably appropriate for most of the academic year (although there is nothing wrong with asking a month of more in advance). If you want to arrange anything during the summer, you may want to inquire soon in order to find out if and when particular teachers are around.

A couple of teachers were not able to pin down a lesson time until the day prior to the lesson, but I still think that asking a couple of weeks in advance was appropriate and appreciated. These teachers were not playing hard-to-get or being difficult or disorganized; they just have busy unpredictable lives.

S did contact one teacher very last minute: a Saturday evening email sent asking for a Tuesday or Wednesday lesson when the teacher was doing auditions fulltime from Sunday to Tuesday. The teacher got back to S within minutes (crackberry addict!) with 5 different possible hours each of which involved the teacher either coming in early or missing a meal. We certainly didn’t expect such accommodation. This teacher is very much in demand and has an excellent studio, so there was no need for him to be so generous with his time.

Some of S’s email requests were never responded to. Perhaps these teachers have an email account at their schools but never use it, or perhaps they just do not give sample lessons. It would have been nice if they had a boilerplate response to give to the requests that told us they would be unable to give a sample lesson.

Weekend vs. weekday time: I’m sure it varies considerably between teachers. S always mentioned which days he would be in town for and usually these days included both one weekend day and a couple of weekdays. I would not expect a weekend lesson, but I’m sure some teachers offer them and maybe even prefer them, especially when they have very full weekdays. S did have one teacher that initially offered a Sunday afternoon time slot for a lesson when S said he was available from late Sunday afternoon until Wednesday noon. The teacher ended up scheduling the lesson on late Monday afternoon.

What to include in the request: S kept our requests very brief. Many of the in-demand teachers receive countless requests. S mentioned:
a) that he had applied to the teacher’s school (in your case, you could mention that you intend to apply or are considering applying and mention the intended year of application, so that the teacher has an idea as to age);
b) the dates/times that S was available;
c) in some cases, that he had attached a brief resume (I really don’t have a clue as to whether anyone looked at this, but I don’t think it would hurt: teachers that were interested could look at it and others could easily ignore it).
d) a “Thank you for considering my request for a lesson.”

It might not hurt to mention in a single sentence any connection you have with a teacher or why you have singled them out for a sample lesson (e.g. “My teacher, Susie Smith, has highly recommended you as a flute teacher.”). We didn’t do this because we had no connections!

violadad · April 5, 2010, 8:33pm

FluteTooterMom, welcome. There’s a number of sample lessons threads linked in the thread here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/889777-sample-lessons-help-make-final-decision.html?highlight=lessons[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/889777-sample-lessons-help-make-final-decision.html?highlight=lessons</a>

As for lead time, initiate contact as early as possible. Some faculty may be hard to get a hold of for any number of reasons.

violadad · July 23, 2010, 10:32am

From a stand alone thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/966101-been-touring-music-schools-all-summer.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/966101-been-touring-music-schools-all-summer.html</a>

suzukimom · November 1, 2010, 7:28pm

Westminster Choir College - Organ Perf. major

Just had a spectacular autumn day visiting Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. This was my daughter’s first “cold” campus visit: we didn’t know anyone here and had never met the organ chairperson, Ken Cowan, before. It felt like both of our college visits debut!

I had set up a lesson with Mr. Cowan ahead of time, and then contacted the admissions people about sitting in on a class and a campus tour. We arrived Sunday night in NJ, and stopped by the college at sunset - a gorgeous time - and a sparkling and lovely freshman kindly helped us find a practice organ. Our hotel was out on Rt. 1, very close to campus but very reasonably priced. Had a quiet evening, and then today visited campus for tour, class, and sample lesson.

Princeton, with homes in the million $ and up range, is a lovely town. Westminster Choir College is 5 blocks from the Ivy league Princeton, and has a colonial feel to it. It’s a small campus, with only 500 students, and everyone is a vocal, piano or organ major on M.Ed. concentration. For those of you in those fields, you know that at typical conservatories, vocalists and pianists and organists are almost side fields, and orchestral musicians reign. Not here. It was really delightful to meet an entire campus who kindly answered questions about organ as a major and to meet every student, who no matter their major, at least knew other organ students. Both my daughter and I were surprised to see an entire conservatory arranged around the needs of those 3 majors. Very refreshing.

And pianists note: the VP majors were very clear with us that pianists for accompaniment were in demand and that dd could earn money at school. Since piano is really important to her, dd was delighted. She already loves collaborative piano ops, so this was good news.

Every single student at Westminster is assigned to a choir that not only performs but travels. Another refreshing change! So dd sat in on a choir rehearsal, and enjoyed it very much. The tour was lovely, and the campus is really small and friendly. Everyone is smiling. Everywhere you go students are singing. Practice rooms are in the dorms proper, with 21 organs on campus for the organ and Sacred Music kids. Dd got to practice again and then had an hour and a half with Mr. Cowan, who was delightful and gave her wonderful pointers on her playing. She learned so much.

Currently dd is a junior, so we have time with decisions. However, we found Westminster Choir College a real surprise and it is going high on our list for next year’s schools. I highly recommend visiting if you are one of the three concentrations; this place is a vocalist/pianist/organist dream.

jazzkat · November 7, 2010, 11:07pm

We recently had an excellent visit to U. Cincinnati CCM. S (HS junior) is looking into jazz studies programs. Arrived late in the afternoon, and toured around the campus with an acquaintance of mine who is a CCM graduate. The campus is extremely interesting and attractive with a lot of character urban, blend of old and modern, compact, and pedestrian traffic only, with no public streets running through the campus. All of the buildings are close together, and everything is built around the football stadium, which is in the center of campus. There are some grassy areas, but most spaces are brick or paving stone walkways and plazas. The campus has been named one of the most beautiful campuses in the world by Forbes magazine I wouldnt have called it beautiful, but is quite attractive and very well done.

The next morning, we had a CCM admissions appointment, which was a group session of about 4-5 prospective students and the director of admissions. He went over the admissions process, talked about the school and otherwise directed the conversation toward the students areas of interest. He emphasized that the jazz program is small and very competitive. Afterwards, we had about an hour long tour of the music facilities led by a very well spoken young man who left us with a very positive impression. The facilities are beautiful, and everything is up to date, with quite a few performance spaces. The practice rooms are in a charming former old dormitory that has been refitted for practice space. He mentioned that in one of the (freshman) dorms next to the music school, certain floors are reserved every year just for music students who want to live there.

S had a lesson with the jazz trombone professor, whom he liked (S had a check ready, but there was no charge). While waiting, H and I sat in the hallway and observed that there seemed to be a lot of friendly interaction between the students. S also sat in on two jazz big band rehearsals, and then we all three met with the head of the jazz studies dept., who is in his first year there. He, too, emphasized that the jazz studies dept. is very competitive. They have about 30 undergrads and 15 graduate students. He said that there is no money for undergraduate scholarships, but that money for graduate students is plentiful. This was inconsistent with what the admissions person told us, as he detailed the potential sources for scholarships and aid, and did not at all give the impression that it was unlikely to receive scholarship money. Were not sure where the differing perspectives on the money issue leaves us as were out of state, and scholarship money is an important part of the picture. Nevertheless, we left feeling very impressed, and I think CCM will be high on S’s list.

TrumpetDad · November 8, 2010, 10:08am

Thanks, jazzkat. Good stuff.

jazzmom2553 · January 5, 2011, 9:40am

Hi,

S in now in audition stage. He is planning on a performance degree in Jazz Studies on alto sax. Advice from college confidential parents and from our band director: get sample lessons while visiting campuses. Last year we visited colleges and arranged private lessons. This did work, we crossed off some schools on the list and put a star next to others.

But, since then some of the faculty we met have retired or changed jobs! Now basing the decision to apply to that school on the sample lesson, does not seem like a wise decision. Life is full of change and this process is no exception.

In hindsight, I would say that the overall committment of the school/university to the Jazz Studies program is very important. Who will they hire to replace the person who retired or moved on? UNT had their longtime sax prof retire a couple of years ago and we know some families in the search phase that decided to cross off UNT at that time. My S went to the Jazz Camp there this summer and had a great experience. Met the FACULTY not just the sax prof. The depth of faculty there is amazing and so is the ‘new’ sax prof, Brad Leali. A student will be learning improv, theory etc from various professors and their ensemble or small combo will probably be lead by some other faculty. UNT takes pride in the Jazz Studies program and they will work hard at securing great new faculty. In contrast, one of the other universities replaced the professor with an instructor. While this instructor could be good, he is also teaching high school and is therefore divided in his committments.

Hope this will help others making decisions on where to apply.

If this is not in the right location, please move it to the right thread. Thanks.

And good luck to all in the search process. Even now at the audition stage we are going a day early to sit in on classes etc to learn more about the programs and when the offers come in, we will make better decisions. Also whenever possible we go to performances to hear the bands.

JazzTromboneMom · January 9, 2011, 1:00am

Thanks for your post, jazzmom2553.

I’m finding it very pertinent and helpful in our situation since son is having his audtition at UNT end of this month. We’ve never visited there, son applied based on their reputation. So I’m trying to get the ducks lined up to get the most complete look at the school possible in one visit in order to make a decision, should he get accepted.

We are getting there a day early so will sign up for the general campus tour and hopefully get to sit in on classes, and get a lesson. One thing I’ve heard about UNT though is that undergrads don’t get into a faculty studio immediately…they study with a teaching fellow, and need to compete to get to study with a professor. Anybody have any thoughts on this? I am going to email a couple of the trombone professors who from their bios highlight jazz experience, and just see what they say about a lesson, and if they don’t have time, see if a TF could do it. It seems that that might be more representative of what son’s experience will be there as a freshman anyway.

Can’t believe audition season is finally here! First one is MSU, followed by UNT, U of M, Western Mich and lastly, IU. Good luck to everyone else who is having auditions! I’ll be reporting back on how my son’s audition days went :-)

27dreams · January 24, 2011, 3:05am

Thank you so much for posting that excerpt, Trumpet57. I’m sure it will help many parents, as well as students having to cope with their parents who may not be familiar or helpful with college or audition processes at all!

I’d just like to post some of my experiences.

My college visit choices Sophomore and Junior years were highly influenced by my classical-elitist choir director. Let me tell you that I appreciate the artistry present in classical music but I certainly do not want to become an opera singer! My specialties are rock, blues, musical theatre, choral world/folk music, and more recently, jazz. Needless to say, I wasn’t very interested in many of the schools I was visiting earlier on. FIND YOUR PREFERRED PROGRAMS BEFORE VISITING SCHOOLS! I can’t stress this enough. While I didn’t get a whole lot out of my visits for my own use, I can give some quick impressions of several schools:

New England Conservatory (Boston) - appallingly shabby building, but wonderful classical studies. The students sounded great, & a friend of mine just applied as a grad student for opera.

Boston University - The overall school seemed to be very happy with their prestige, almost to an uppity extent. I went on a general tour and information session (both too long and boring). They offer a lot of great non-music majors as well, and their music school seems very professional. Great for a classically-based career, but the gut impression was that of astuteness.

Boston Conservatory - Shabby facilities, very skilled students, humble and friendly admissions people and tour guides.

Berklee College of Music (Boston)- fairly laid-back but still driven students, VERY contemporary. Go here for everything except classical and opera, and you’re golden. Very high tech, Mac lab, nice shiny conservatory experience. A lot of students double-major in performance and something else like songwriting or production. Diverse student population. Very limited housing. I’ve applied and my audition is next month.

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) - less than welcoming rehearsal space, nothing special about the building, nice admissions officers and faculty. They’re willing to help their students.

University of Cincinnati (CCM) - Numerous, BEAUTIFUL performance spaces, nice faculty, wonderful but HUGE campus, school pride.

Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland) - PERFECT campus in my opinion. All of the buildings are so architecturally interesting. The general tour & visit information sessions were both really boring, but the music school has very friendly faculty and a highly impressive early music ensemble.

Cleveland Institute of Music - Tiny, lovely building, unwelcoming faculty, mixed emotions on students’ faces walking through the halls. They sounded good & looked dedicated though.

Northwestern University (Chicago) beautiful outsides of buildings, boring-as-can-be insides. Visitor’s presentation was uninteresting. I met with a voice instructor who was very nice and impressed with my classical resume. We chatted about a few things and she didn’t seem like she was in a hurry or anything. One of her students came in and I sat in on their rehearsal. I was very, very unimpressed, but maybe it’s because I don’t have an ear for what’s considered “good” in operatic baritones. I don’t think it was that guy, though, to tell you the truth, haha.

Columbia College Chicago - This was an emergency stop because I just HAD to find another “contemporary” school by that point, and it was near Northwestern. The students were nice, but very strange. They were extremely laid back and thought it was a wonderful thing that their school was open-enrollment because they hadn’t done the best academically. They didn’t seem to have any clearly established career goals, either. The school itself was shiny and high-tech, but it looked almost like a money scam.

University of Southern California (Los Angeles) - My first two auditions were at the Thornton School of Music for Popular Music and Jazz Voice. In total, I auditioned for about 10 people, and all of them seemed very friendly & professional but one who was probably very tired by the time I showed up for the day’s final audition. They seemed genuinely excited about every individual who was there to audition. The rehearsal/performance spaces were really nice, the campus was HUGE and gorgeous, the food isn’t bad, and the weather is perfect year-round. The surrounding neighborhood isn’t the best, but USC is its own gated entity so there’s not much to worry about.

tango14 · February 3, 2011, 9:32pm

jazztrombonemom, this was the main reason S2 decided not to go to UNT, the fact that he probably wouldn’t see anything but a teaching assistant for lessons until he was an jr. or sr., if then, and the fact the that sax prof was retiring. It might a bit different for trombones because there usually aren’t as many. As all of the music school posts state, the relationship between teacher and musician is paramount. A good relationship can make up for some deficiencies in the institution, and a bad relationship will not be compensated by an institution with a great reputation.

JazzTromboneMom · February 6, 2011, 11:06pm

It’s funny, tango14, I got the impression that UNT is aware of the complaint of lack of direct contact of a professor for younger students. We were there the night before the audition and were invited to a “Trombone Showcase”, a performance of the teaching fellows, which encompassed solo and ensemble playing in classical, modern and even an avant garde piece with accompanying visual images. Such excellence in playing and range of pieces that it left me with the feeling that UNT would be great for trombone and maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad to be taught by a teaching fellow working under a professor’s supervision. Then on audition day we went to a informational meeting given by a professor from the Jazz Studies area who pro-actively (without being prompted by any question from the audience) stated that a professor knows every student assigned to him or her and that the student is assured of 12 private lessons (I believe that was the number) with him/her every semester. He contrasted that with a jazz school in NYC (I won’t name names here ;-)) whose professors may be out of town on a gig and you may not get your full quota of lessons. Anyway we were left with a good impression of UNT based on the two days we were there and it will be a strong contender if DS gets an offer.

badblonde · February 20, 2011, 7:04pm

just took D (VP/Classical) to her very first visit…she is a jr in HS, and decided to follow some advise we got on CC…first visit & sample lesson at your school of least interest…
that happened to be FSU, as it is our state school, and the only one within driving distance.

What a wonderful experience!. It is ranked in the top 5 music colleges within full universities, and I can see why…The facilities were not just nice, but gorgeous with an new music building to add to the older one - which was just as clean, organized and nice. (campus itself was lovely) …at least 4 fabulous performance halls, the music school has its own free standing library AND registrar. Not to mention a great dorm (w/ classrooms and its own laundry facility) just for music majors!

The buildings are large, clean, and wonderfully organized, with plenty of practice rooms as well as storage for instruments, etc. There was also an outdoor amphitheater…

Even our private music school tour was well done! D had a ‘sample lesson’- which was more discussion than singing, but the Prof. couldn’t have been more warm & welcoming. She had us speak with another student & parents (who were visiting) and were told how enveloping the music dept. was. Curriculum looked fantastic, with a new infusion (endowment) to the baroque music section. They have an excellent music faculty, with great educational background, as well as good performance experience. Really an unbelievable school…

This has set the bar very high for the out -of -state programs we will visit.

momophony · February 25, 2011, 5:52am

CSU Long Beach was altogether as friendly as has been often reported. After general tour led by smart and interesting students we also had an honest & positive res hall tour (v. tiny room, but what’s new). Apparently the Presidents Scholars (full ride I think) agree to be on the revolving list of rooms that might be visited - they had 10 minutes warning & were not home. Freshmen are now required to live on campus, which is super as far as we’re concerned. The dorm dining was ok, certainly basic, and included a salad bar & opportunity to pack sandwiches etc to go (making the 19 meal option not altogether necessary). The music school is at the far far end of the campus. As we approached, music came pouring out of the practice rooms. The energy was really great. We were told each student has his/her own practice room. They all open to the outdoors, under an overhang. Students seem easygoing & happy. Our DS and his friend both loved the look of the attractive campus & the general vibe of the conservatory. The U is as selective as it goes for a CSU and we were told the conservatory accepts about 20 percent of applicants. For a California resident it’s amazingly affordable - compared to anything closely comparable. I’m not sure there is anything like this for the price, esp. for jazz, unless you’re a NY resident and interested in SUNY Purchase. This was just a first look for HS juniors, not super-serious yet.

alyanj · February 25, 2011, 7:09pm

Oberlin
Great string meeting led by Peter Slowik. Informative, persuasive, reassuring. Definitely increased our interest in the school.

momophony · February 28, 2011, 3:35pm

Second visit last week was not well planned, but I’m not sure what more we would have seen at Thornton if we had planned better. DS is getting braces off soonish, and he has quite a bit of work ahead before he wants to meet any faculty, so we didn’t try that angle. Met with very nice Admissions person, heard a spiel she clearly gives often - she’s good at it, handles a lot of information in a short time, so my criticism is not about her - but we didn’t quite get a feel for what the school is all about, or why people there care about music. In fact, we didn’t hear any music at all. See above description of our Long Beach visit for marked contrast. (Where, I forgot to mention, we were given cd’s and shown into two rehearsals. Music, music, everywhere - quite the selling point.)

As far as having a look at the school, her only comment (though we had not asked) was “I’d love to show you the practice rooms, but I can’t.” They have awesome brochures, lovely grounds, and of course a very well-regarded school, but I don’t feel I know much more about the feel of the school than I did before.

So here’s my advice for visiting Thornton: definitely make an appointment for a lesson with a faculty member or at least ask about having a closer look at the school; have your basic questions very handy; enjoy the lovely campus, and finally, skip the fast food on the first floor of the student union and have a real lunch at “Lemonade”, the restaurant upstairs. Nutritious & delicious.

If anyone knows more about the Thornton vibe, especially for jazz studies, please do let me know, PM or otherwise. We heard a second-hand student rumor that it’s not fabulous for trumpet (as in “it’s not where people go”), but DS is more interested in jazz studies/trumpet, so I’m wondering a. if the rumor is untrue and b. if jazz studies is different. (Or potentially composition, if the braces cause a problem into next year.) Thanks!

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