<p>The negativity by some teachers is the reason my daughter has been turned off of (her orchestral instrument) so many times. It never happens to her on sax–everyone is nice (maybe because they aren’t competing for orchestra jobs, I don’t know). However in our experience the jerks are both the not-so good musicians as well as those considered at the top of their game. It will be a real issue when looking for the right teacher at conservatory.</p>
<p>There’s a music teacher in my school district who has made multiple students cry by comparing them to each other in inappropriate ways and telling some kids that they have no talent, etc. This teacher has even gone off on asides about their lack of talent and how hard they’ve worked and “if only G-d had given me more ability,” yada yada yada. They’ve even said things to me about my own ability, although not on my primary instrument so it wasn’t really personal. Still, I think there’s some truth to what was said above. This teacher went to a subpar state school for music education and is working directly with other teachers in the district who have gone to CCM, Bienen and others, so that may also add to it. I wish these types didn’t see music or teaching as a competition; those who take out their insecurity-related angst on their more talented pupils probably should have taken a different career path.</p>
<p>Any other thoughts for small LAC with accessibility to NYC would be appreciated. My daughter plays viola & wants to study music, and is also interested in studying english. She looked at Bard and liked it well enough; Vassar was of course beautiful but the admissions guy was a complete snob and very off-putting (she doesn’t have a 3.9 GPA), so forget that. Will look at Sarah Lawrence this week. Anyone know about Union?</p>
<p>One of Stradmom’s daughters plays viola and is a senior at Bard - but not majoring in music. I’m sure she could tell you more about that experience. Not sure how much easier than Vassar - but how about Skidmore, Wellesley, Smith, & Wesleyan - it all depends, of course, on how serious a viola performance program she’s looking for. Bucknell and Goucher? I think compmom’s recommendation for the book on Creative Colleges would be very helpful here…</p>
<p>My son has settled on applying to a conservatory, but in our search we found a few other LA colleges that seem to have excellent music programs. I’d add Connecticut College, Williams College, and Wheaton College to those that have been mentioned in previous posts. Good luck!</p>