<p>drumdad, my son attends a not-so-prestigious school, yet he has the opportunity to work with Allen Vizzutti, who is one of the most famous trumpet performers in the world. Vizzutti left a pretigious conservatory to teach at a state university, of course my son knew that in advanced and thats why bumped the state university up on his list - it wasn’t origionally his first choice school.</p>
<p>He has had several private lessons each semester with Vizzutti, master classes (a couple are on youtube and you can see my kid in the front row of the audience), and has performed with him several times (as in standing next to him on stage), one time on tv with a live audience of around 80,000 and a televised audience in the millions. </p>
<p>I can’t think of a better source for a recommendation - think about something like this on my kid’s future performing artist website: “He is a remarkable trumpet player and a joy to work with” - Allen Vizzutti.</p>
<p>And my son’s “regular” trumpet instructor, James Ackley, frequently performs as a guest artist all over the world with top symphonies, and records on a frequent bases. He’s a guy with serious connections and regularly hooks students up with opportunities.</p>
<p>Also, there is an older student at my son’s college who dropped out of a different music school decades ago to become a professional musician, and only returned to college after 30 years of making a living as a musician. My son has done several soli/duets with the “old dude” on stage in their concert ensemble. He hit it off with my son, and my son now get’s paid gig offers on a regular bases due to his association with the “old dude” - mostly wedding band stuff.</p>
<p>Yes, networking is exceptionally important, but such opportunities exist at many schools, not just the prestigious ones.</p>