<p>Quick introduction</p>
<p>I'm new here. I'm a graduate of Northwestern University's Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music. I received a BM in Voice/Opera Performance with a Certificate in Music Theatre and a Minor in Dance. I graduated in June, and am currently a Voice and Piano teacher in the Chicago area. I am applying in the fall to get an MM in Vocal Pedagogy.</p>
<p>Oh and I'm a light Lyric Soprano, though being 21, that will most likely change within the next....5 years or so.</p>
<p>Downstateny-
My D was at the Albany regional auditions Jan 17 for Fredonia. She has been academically accepted, invited to attend April 4th accepted student reception, is in Honors Program...BUT has to wait until after March 28th last audition for accceptance into the music program. What a backwards, cruel joke!!!
I grew up in Queens and you would NOT go wrong attending Queens College for music.
Fabulous. Good luck with Crane. Yes...we're waiting on that and Ithaca as well.</p>
<p>Parent (mom). D is a home schooled sophomore, dual enrolled for orchestra at the local public HS where she plays the harp. D also plays piano. Problem- maybe, maybe not- she is very good at both instruments and can't decide which instrument to continue with in college. She has a year to decide where to apply. How does one go about choosing which instrument to concentrate on and which to "give up"?</p>
<p>S, junior in HS want to major in math, physics, music (composition) and anything related.</p>
<p>I took piano lessons as a child but never played well. H plays guitar, piano, flute and bagpipes mostly by ear and is a physicist.</p>
<p>Musicmom1234, thanks for your comments about Fredonia, and Queens College. I agree, that is so cruel a practice, being academically accepted, (like my son also), and having to wait until the last auditions take place before one finds out if accepted to the music major! :) Strange though, he received a letter from Fredonia yesterday offering a scholarship of $3000 a year if he decides to attend; but since Fred. "was not able to offer (him) admission as a music major", he won't be attending. Also in the mail was a partial scholarship from Hofstra but we will have to weigh everything when everything else comes in. </p>
<p>We didn't attend Potsdam's Decision Day open house for accepted HS for the same reason; why attend if the student doesn't know if they are accepted into the music prog. yet?
(there is another one scheduled for almost end of April.)
So, many of us are in the same boat. The waiting continues...
:)</p>
<p>Downstateny-
My D received a Financial Aid Offer today of Stafford Aid from Fredonia but nothing yet regarding merit or even acceptance. But she's in Honors and accepted to any program.
Just no mention of acceptance or rejection from music. Potsdam is wanting an interview
for a Mt. Emmons scholarship this week or next ....BEFORE hearing from Crane School.
How does one even enjoy this process if music is the reason for applying in the first place.
She was rejected at Ithaca yesterday. Still waiting on Syracuse. Sorry your son heard
negatively from Fredonia. We will continue to wait. Anyone hear from Fredonia or Syracuse in the last few days? Give a mom a reason to hope!!!</p>
<p>musicmom: Last year D heard (+) from Fredonia about now. SU waits until all academic admission decisions have been made- should probably be next week! Seems like it was around the middle of the month.</p>
<p>Thanks musmom. Send my D good thoughts please!</p>
<p>Hi All.
Good luck to our kids!
musicmom, I will try to send you a pm.</p>
<p>Introducing myself after a year of just learning from your experience. Thank you for sharing and now I am ready to pay my dues. My daughter is a senior in high school wanting to double major in music education and voice performance. </p>
<p>She visited 12 schools; applied to and auditioned at seven; has received acceptances from 4 and is waiting on three. I think she will have some tough choices. </p>
<p>I will write up our experiences and post them sometime over the next few days or weeks. Thanks again to everybody for all your help.</p>
<p>Musmom2-
Your recollection was superb. My D was accepted with a nice academic scholarship at
Syracuse today! More than makes up for the Ithaca 2 sentence rejection letter.
She is thrilled..still waiting on Fredonia and Crane. Hope everyone gets the news they want ...and soon.</p>
<p>musicmom1234-
Good for her! Will still keep my fingers crossed for the other 2!</p>
<p>welcome yorkiemom --</p>
<p>The piano is a very seductive and wonderful instrument, but your daughter should keep in mind that, while music is generally a difficult field to find work in, the piano stands alone for being the most difficult. A pianist is limited to a solo career (VERY rare), a chamber group (also rare since many groups are string quartets), collaboration (accompaniement) or teaching. An instrumentalist has all of the above plus 100's to 1000's of orchestra positions depending upon the instrument. If she's really torn and I were her mother, I would recommend the harp. Just my 2 centes.</p>
<p>While I agree with stringfollies in her assessment of the piano, I would not classify the harp as being an "easy" path to a career either. There may be a reasonable chance of carving out a freelance career as a musician (as both a soloist and chamber player), and instructor/teacher, the orchestral chair positions are few and far between. From what I have seen of harp talent at the conservatory and above level, the level of talent is beyond extraordinary.</p>
<p>Now, if she could play both harp and piano simuntaneously, she might be on to something. ;)</p>
<p>I didn't mean to suggest that the harp would be an easy route. I agree that either is going to be a challenge. And yes, I've heard some amazing harp players too even at the prep level. Still, I think it's probably a somewhat better bet than piano. I've seen soooooooo many incredible and talented pianists with little or no musical career of any kind at age 30. They spend their 20's entering and sometimes winning competitions, but eventually they are too old for that and there's nothing left to do, but change direction. It can be deeply disappointing. I realize that this can happen on any instrument, but I think you probably get an earlier read that it isn't going to work on other instruments because you don't make the orchestra audition cuts or faculty slots. There are fewer guideposts on the piano. You don't see nearly as many string players still doing competitions at age 28 or 29 - I think that those who failed these tests move on before then. I would really hate to see my son have to make such a decision at 30 years old. </p>
<p>Violadad - both instruments might be the best idea - if she's homeschooling, she probably has the time to really master two!</p>
<p>Yorkiemom, my son also plays classical piano and another instrument for jazz. I came to CC when he was a sophomore, asking for advice about whether someone--anyone has/had done a double performance major, or whether every kid had to give up one instrument. Three years later, he is in music school, studying both instruments for a double BM, and may actually finish in four years (!!!!!). </p>
<p>Stringfollies is certainly correct, that the piano is not an easy route, by any stretch of the imagination. However, anecdotally, my son has been earning $20-50 an hour doing accompaniment, pit work and some teaching for two years now. There are some piano performance majors who don't necessarily envision a solo career as the only option (mine doesn't), and I do think there are options for pianists who are good sight readers (this is what helps mine get some of his jobs). Can they make a real living? Who knows? Can any musician? We're willing to let it play out, so to speak.</p>
<p>I am just here to say that your daughter could continue piano AND harp, although it will likely be discouraged at certain schools. We found some very receptive schools and teachers, and some less so. The trick is to see how committed your D is to both instruments, and then to seek out schools that will let her pursue both, if that is her heart's desire. Some schools are reluctant, because it is double the practice time, and some teachers are not supportive, but it can be done. Even at conservatories that say that it is NEVER done.:)</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me for more info, if you like!</p>
<p>My D is a violist, HS Jr, want to be a Music Education Major (Instrumental). We both post under "Car". mostly me, her mom. this site has been a great help already.</p>
<p>Hi Car, and D, welcome! My D is also a junior and a violist part-time (maybe full-time, leaning in that direction). This group has been an immense help to us and we're not even as stressed out as the families of seniors!</p>
<p>I'm the mother to two musicians. My son, 18, plays piano and cello. His primary interest is sports so he hasn't concentrated on his musical development. His sophomore year he played in the area's youth orchestra but decided he didn't want the stress of combining volleyball practices/games and orchestra rehearsals. He would like to play in a college orchestra next fall and is considering two schools with good music departments.</p>
<p>My violinist dd, 15, is considering a career in music. Although talented, she doesn't have the showmanship tendency. She can and will perform well in public but doesn't love it. She plays in the youth orchestra, a quartet, and an advanced Suzuki ensemble group which has toured in Europe. She's already been to Spain and Italy and two separate trips. Next year she'll be traveling with the youth orchestra to the Czech Republic and Austria. </p>
<p>Dd might end up in music education. Right now she's saying she would like to be a private violin teacher. We'll start looking at colleges next fall but don't really know where to start so I'm glad I found this forum!</p>
<p>Hello. I'm the mother of two daughters - one happily immersed in her undergrad career, and planning for overseas grad school(archaeology), scholar/athlete kind of kid. </p>
<p>The one we're searching for now is a Soprano I, wanting to major in vocal performance, eventually landing in the opera world. One digging in dirt, and the other singing to the heavens - same parents, same gene pool. Crazy. Thank god we didn't have a third. I can't even imagine where we would have gone with that one!!!</p>
<p>I'm new here and the mom of a high school freshman who plays classical and jazz piano. We are exploring all of our options for the next four years and trying to learn as much as we can so we can make good choices. I have to say that it seems very daunting after reading many of the posts here. Any insight into the best piano performance programs? We are probably more interested in a university with a music major rather than a conservatory, but that changes daily.</p>