<p>sophomore in high school, alto saxophone, aiming for a degree in music education/jazz studies</p>
<p>Starting in the Fall,
iām hoping for a double degree:
Piano Performance/Engineering. Iām going to be busy.</p>
<p>Hi to all -
I have lurked off and on on this website and have found many valuable bits of information and hope in some way I can contribute along the way. I am a mom to W who is a rising senior, national and state top band/orchestral trombone player now beginning the process of college visits, then application/auditions. He is exploring university music programs as well as conservatories. He is very active in youth orchestra, solo events, and some adult groups playing his horn over the last few years, and been playing piano since age 5 (although trombone is his passion and performance pursuit). He has also marched DCI world class drum corps for last two summer seasons, but using this summer for getting ready for college musically. Thanks to everyone for sharing so much of your own experiences on so many levels with your children. This is definitely a mind-boggling process. Thank goodness I am a teacher, because at least the academia part of this process is an area I have experience (I am an artist, not a musician!). Looking forward to giving back some now that I have ājoined the groupā!</p>
<p>Welcome, t-boneParent. Nice to add some more depth to our brass section!</p>
<p>Hey 
Iām a high school Junior, first soprano slowly edging my way into light lyric soprano territory (with asthma, haha X_X ). Mother used to sing in high school, Grandmother plays violin and piano, and I newly discovered that my formerly estranged older brother has played violin, bass, guitar, and composed.</p>
<p>Iām looking for schools within reach of the Chicago area, and so far Northwestern is my top.</p>
<p>Iām (hopefully!) a future vocal performance major. Top school choices include Juilliard, MSM, Curtis, Peabody, NEC, BU, McGill.</p>
<p>My daughter is a rising senior, now principal bassist, in a high school that has an excellent orchestra, even though it is a general public high school. My daughter has been playing bass since 5th grade, started private lessons from a Conservatory preparatory school in 6th, with an excellent teacher. Didnāt do any of the summer festivals; did some summer education at the George Vance Bass Workshop several times. </p>
<p>Now madly perusing college web sites, Naviance, visiting schools, learning/polishing the big audition pieces, mucho scales practice.worrying about where/when to make the DVD, and trying to figure out where a GPA of 3.5 with really good test scores would fir for a kid who wants to do double degree. So far on the list for apps: Ithaca, CIM, Bard, Lawrence, Oberlin, BU, maybe Eastman? Scared of the grades needed for Riceā¦</p>
<p>Iām a nervous wreck, daughter is excited and charged up.</p>
<p>My music background: I sing, mostly flat, with my i-pod when I walk. That sums up my lack of qualifications. Fortunately, guidance counselor at school has a background of BFA and MFA in vocal perf (Opera) and bass teacher (and her husband, a Symphony bassist) are helping regarding all the questions that I am too musically illiterate to answer.</p>
<p>Welcome, bassistDD2010. It sounds like you have a good support team already lined up, but if I can be of help with any specific questions please ask them. My daughter just graduated from Oberlin with a BM in double bass performance. She was at one time considering the double degree there, but eventually decided to stick with just the music degree.</p>
<p>Concerning Rice, if you are making a DVD anyway, there is little to lose by using it as the pre-screening video that they require. I get the sense that they cut the music school applicants just a little slack on the academic requirements, at least compared with the rest of the school. The chance to work with Ellison would be phenomenal, particularly if your daughter is into Rabbath technique as suggested by continued participation at the Vance workshops. One potential issue is that Rice may be the only school to which she applies that requires SAT2ās, and they want three of them. If the double degree is a major concern, however, I hear that it is very difficult to accomplish at Rice.</p>
<p>Actually Rice recently, maybe within last 2 years or so, changed their SAT requirements. It is my understanding that if you take the SAT, you are then required to take 2 SAT Subject Tests. If you take the ACT the writing component is required, no SAT subject tests are then required. My son was admitted for this fall following these new SAT guidelines.</p>
<p>Thanks for that update, Flutelady. My daughter had to take three SAT2 subject tests for Rice back when she applied. I was unaware of the recent change.</p>
<p>Okay, not-so-short intro to me:</p>
<p>I played clarinet from sixth grade, through HS graduation in May '04, then I was a music ed major at a community college for a semester. Stuff happened, it didnāt work out, and I moved with my parents and got a job at a grocery store. I have been working and majoring in theatre for two years, and playing only off and on. I had decided that I wanted to go back to music ed, then I met an alto saxophone and fell in love :-)! It was a thrift store special, $175, I then took it across the street to a music store to replace the mouthpiece and case and get me some reeds and basic supplies. They said ānot bad for $175.ā Nothing too special, and needs a pad rehaul I am saving up for, but it is functional. Which is great, because in a couple of months, I am going to a music prep school near my house! Iām planning on going there for two years taking lessons and theory and performance classes. Then, if Iām good enough, I want to go to a university and major in music ed.</p>
<p>Hi! Iām a rising senior looking to become a piano performance major. Iām currently looking at Ole Miss and Union University. I want to be involved in collaborative music, especially with vocalists and musical theater. Iāve been playing piano for almost 6 years, so, yes, I started a little late, lol. I love music of almost all kinds and I never go anywhere without my MP3. Me, in a nutshell.</p>
<p>First post. Thought Iād introduce myself as I fasten my seatbelt for the rollercoaster ride of senior year. Iām the mother of a rising senior soprano who has decided within the last few months that she wants to attend conservatory for classical VP; she has been studying voice for the past few years and has also played cello since she was 5. I have found the posts of others on this site absolutely invaluable as the learning curve for the conservatory admissions process is steep, and my own musical background consists of two weeks of viola lessons in the 4th grade. Daughter, however, is a musician, and our recent visits to conservatories and universities with conservatories have really demonstrated to us that what she really wants is to be with other serious musicians. So here we go.</p>
<p>Welcome to musicnerd and Sop14sMom!</p>
<p>You will find much valuable insight here about the conservatory admissions process. I know that I did! </p>
<p>Sop14- What schools are your D considering?</p>
<p>Thanks, Musicmom. We have visited NEC, Eastman, Mannes, MSM, U of Michigan, Jacobs, and CCM (also saw Boco, which she didnāt like, and BU, which she didnāt love either); she saw Peabody last spring. Will see Juilliard in a few weeks. Also considering San Francisco Conservatory (though having a hard time finding anyone who knows anything about their voice programāweāre on the East coast), Northwestern, and Rice.</p>
<p>Very little on the forum about San Francisco conservatory </p>
<p><a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/457157-san-francisco-conservatory-audition-experience.html?highlight=francisco+conservatory[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/457157-san-francisco-conservatory-audition-experience.html?highlight=francisco+conservatory</a>
<a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/588119-san-francisco-conservatory-music.html?highlight=francisco+conservatory[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/588119-san-francisco-conservatory-music.html?highlight=francisco+conservatory</a>
<a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062178842-post2.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062178842-post2.html</a>
<a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/670821-some-guidance.html?highlight=san+francisco+conservatory[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/670821-some-guidance.html?highlight=san+francisco+conservatory</a></p>
<p>This is representative, not all inclusive. Most are just snippets of info. There may be more, but I call these as indicative of the current posted information here.</p>
<p>Thanks, Violadad. I had searched and found the first two threads, but not the last two. The vagaries of search engines, I suppose. I did see that opera-momās daughter accepted SFCM for VP this year, but I donāt know if sheās still on the forum. I might try a PM.</p>
<p>I missed that. opera-mom actually indicated SFC as her dās final choice. Try a pm, or an email through ccās contact function. Most posters are more than happy to share what theyāve learned.</p>
<p>The search function can work for and against you. I find the search this forum/advanced/titles is the best general way, and you can also show threads or posts as to how the results are displayed. You can also search within posts, but it can bring up unrelated posts. Keeping the criteria within āquotesā is most effective.</p>
<p>A lot of info is buried within threads, and many threads have tangential discussions within that donāt follow a title theme, but are extremely insightful and beneficially in increasing the fount of knowledge.</p>
<p>I havenāt done much with the tag search; itās a recently added function, and since a post has to be tagged when itās first written, it misses a lot of the older gems.</p>
<p>As an aside, these pinned threads are largely informational, and a post can be overlooked. For specific questions, itās normally best to start a new thread, or tag on to an existing similar thread.</p>
<p>Welcome Sop14āsMomā¦Iām still hereā¦I check in every few daysā¦would be glad to answer any questions I canā¦will also update you as the year progresses as to whether the SFCM turns out to be a good match if you would likeā¦Iāll try to send you a pm to make sure you know Iām available!</p>
<p>Thanks, opera-mom! I would be very interested in any information you care to share about SFCM.</p>
<p>Violadad, thanks for all the search tips. Every forum is a bit different in its search functions, I find! Youāre certainly right about buried gems, not to mention the fact that some information becomes much more pertinent the further one gets in the process.</p>