I want to be a vocal performance major in college, have taken multiple ABRSM exams and am a serious vocal student. Are the Peabody Prep Voice certificate programs worth the time? Do they help in college applications? Do you have to be involved and taking from a preparatory Professor?
Thanks!
I’d never heard of this program, but after googling, it seems to be strictly a Peabody Preparatory department offering for their students. I know other community music schools that have similar in house incentive-type programs. The idea is that a student is reaches a certain standard of playing/singing as judged by a panel or jury in a private or public performance or recital. The student is then rewarded with some kind of certificate or public acknowledgment of achievement. Some of these certificate programs also have a theory component requiring the student to also pass theory exams - written, aural, sight singing, etc.
Perhaps having a Peabody Prep certificate means something to Peabody instructors if you are applying there - but I doubt that it’s a big plus since Peabody’s students will come from all over the world from many different teachers unconnected with Peabody.
I doubt that any of these certificates, including ABRSM, are, in and of themselves, terribly helpful in college acceptances. You will be judged on your audition no matter what certificates or exams you’ve passed. However, you may be asked to indicate musical achievements on an application and these should be included. The application will at a minimum be read by an admissions office and perhaps be available to the panel running auditions. If anyone looks, the exams will show a serious interest.
As far as ABRSM is concerned, the ABRSM vocal and/or theory training is a fine methodology. If studying ABRSM syllabus materials has made you a good singer and/or good at theory, you should be appropriately prepared for college auditions and theory placement exams. Colleges in the US are unlikely to care about your ABRSM grade level. Many instructors will be totally unfamiliar with the syllabus.
The key to any such programs is what they bring to the student, as @Momofadult said. The actual level on those programs means little, what matters is how well someone is playing/singing when they get to the audition, and a lot of that will come from how well their teacher has prepared them. The real value might be that in going through such a program, is that you learn, for example, to prepare for a jury who does the actual evaluation, and to work towards that goal, a lot of the preparation for auditions is gaining confidence and not being afraid of the process, so the pre certificate might help with that. In the actual admission, the ABRSM level and the certificate probably won’t do much to gain you admission in of themselves (that might help if you are not doing a BM degree, but applying to an academic school, as a sign of relevant achievement).
I’m familiar with Peabody Prep on the instrumental side. I believe the certificate programs are limited to students who take their private instruction within the preparatory. If the website is unclear, a quick phone call will clear that up. The office staff in the Preparatory are very helpful.
The quality of private teachers in the prep seems to vary widely by instrument, and I have no impressions about voice, so you’d have to look into who the teachers are and whether studying privately through the prep is a good idea for you. It might be, my understanding is that voice is one of Peabody’s better known departments.