<p>Can anyone share their experiences with changing professors partway through a music performance degree program? The professor our senior most keenly wants to study with called yesterday to say the professor will be retiring in the spring of 2013. A search committee for a new prof has been formed, but it doesn't seem likely to me that person will be selected by the time our senior has to choose a program. This is an excellent music school at an excellent university, and recent hires seem to be renowned musicians/teachers. The primary concern our student has is whether the not-yet-hired professor would be a good fit. Assuming the audition/application/financial aid were to be successful, what are some helpful questions to ask oneself/the school in this situation?</p>
<p>Two questions I can think of:</p>
<p>-With the hiring of the new teacher, does the current teacher plan on being part of the process, does he have some sort of vetting power with the people they consider possible?Given the nature of student/teacher dynamics, this is critical that the current teacher, who knows his/her students, see if he/she feels they are compatible.</p>
<p>-Will existing students have any kind of trial with the prospective teachers, will they have some sort of in effect audition process with kids in the studio? This to me would be a good question, because they could easily bring in a replacement that existing students couldn’t work with well…with other music groups, when hiring a new conductor, for example, interaction with the group is one of the critical criteria in the hiring, and to me it wouldn’t be a great move to ignore existing students.</p>
<p>I would have to think very carefully about whether I would pursue an application at that school under those circumstances. I salute the teacher’s honesty in letting you know well in advance that s/he would be retiring; that speaks well for the school’s commitment to students. But I would be pursuing second- and third-choice teachers more actively in this situation…I guess it depends how much of a risk taker you are?</p>
<p>Are there other professors at that school that the senior would be happy with? DD’s former studio professor announced retirement a couple of years ago. It is happening end of this year with the graduate students class leaving and there is no replacement yet. Current undergrad students who are not graduating are being transitioned into another current studio, having some lessons with the other professor and some combined studio classes. They all came in knowing they would have a change and elected come anyhow to get as much from the professor as possible before then.</p>
<p>There are NO guarantees in this, or any other field, and try as you may, you can’t anticipate or even plan for every eventuality. Consider this: the teacher my D had originally had a sample lesson with ( junior year) at her favorite school left the year she actually auditioned. She still chose to apply, auditioned, was accepted and was selected by a teacher that she really “clicked” with and who seemed to be perfect for her. We asked all of the questions about her plans for the future, did she anticipate looking elsewhere for employment,etc, and received all the “right” answers. Now, in the fall of her junior year, teacher calls a studio meeting in which she announces that she is quitting, effective the end of this academic year!! Nope, not taking another job, not moving, not ill, just…quitting, and leaving what will be 5 seniors up the proverbial creek.
See what I mean? You can plan and do everything within your power to ask questions but you are not in control of what other people choose to do, so the fact that a school had the courtesy to let you know at this point in time is a plus. Since your student has not yet made a commitment to said school your options are open, but as Singersmom07 pointed out there may well be other excellent teachers there who could provide instruction; take the time to investigate and even ask the prof you have been communicating with for his/her opinion. At any rate, finding out before your student has begun may be a bit of a disappointment but not a real loss and you still have time to make other arrangements.
Stradmom, I have to disagree with you on this one(or maybe I have just misunderstood you?). Yes, we all go on about how the teacher is the most important thing when choosing a school- I’ve said it myself, on many, many occasions, but I would not hesitate to have a student apply to a school simply because a teacher was leaving (assuming that there were other teachers on faculty who might be available). We forget that teachers are mortal human beings with lives of their own and that they are not chained to any one facility. They may get an offer “they can’t refuse”, have to tend an ill family member, take off on a recital tour, tire of the endless negativity and politics at a school, decide to grow petunias or even get hit by a bus. Things happen and we’re not often privy to the reasons behind the actions and decisions. It’s not fun and it can really hurt- I know my D and her studio-mates are turned upside down right now, but they’ll get through this and hopefully come out stronger on the other side. The good thing is that graduate schools understand that things don’t always follow a nice, linear progression and the administration of the undergrad school is there to provide help to shepherd things along. Never forget that Murphy’s Law invades every aspect of life!</p>
<p>Mezzo-
I agree with you that ruling out a program simply because a teacher is retiring may be self defeating, but I think stradmom has a point as well, that there can be times when in this situation it may be better to write the school off.</p>
<p>-It could be at said school there is only one teacher in the department. With some instruments you have relatively few students (for example oboe) so there may only be 1 teacher. In that case, the student may be facing a situation where they will be getting someone totally new to the school…which may not be bad, obviously, as the student could end up with someone even better…but still, if that is the situation it isn’t like on violin, for example, where they can say “oh, professor X is retiring” and either decide to work with another teacher or work with X, with the idea that teacher Y or Z can finish the job.</p>
<p>-If there is only 1 teacher (or one good teacher) in the department, then the student is kind of stuck hoping the school hires someone who turns out to be a good teacher and can work with them. That is why I came up with the questions about the search committee, if this professor is the only teacher on that instrument, then the replacement becomes critical. The problem is, the school could go out and bring someone in based on factors that don’t make for a great teacher, they get a ‘name’ that may be based on them being known as a performer rather then as a teacher…more importantly, even if a good teacher, they may not be compatible with the current students. As a hypothetical, in music instruction the method of teaching is usually based on traditions based on who the teachers teacher was, and in violin in particular I have seen this one up close and personal, where a student works with a teacher from one tradition, and they get a teacher from another (for example, student is in the franco-belgium school of things, runs into someone from the old russian tradition) and it can be difficult for both student and teacher).</p>
<p>That is why I asked if the current professor and the students had any say with the new teacher; like I said, when they bring in new conductors for music groups, they generally have tested them out with the group before hiring them for that very reason, that each group has its own chemistry and such. If the new teacher was going to be selected by the university search committee and the retiring professor and students had no say in it, I would be concerned, especially if the school doesn’t have any other alternatives. So much of the teacher dynamic is personal chemistry with the students…</p>
<p>One way to look at this is think of the horror stories with teachers you read on here and elsewhere, teachers who seem to be from hell, who are famous but are known for being not so great at teaching…and then think about how if one of those comes in, because bureacrats were impressed he/she won some competition or soloed with X orchestras, and assumed ‘of course they will be a great teacher’. Not all that different from academia, where you have the superstar professors who did x, y and z, and couldn’t teach their way out of a paper bag <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>Good point, musicprnt( and that’s also why I thought that I might have misunderstood the object of stradmom’s comment). If a teacher is going to be replaced within a department, and the dept itself is "iffy’ or under the control of a head who is more concerned with absolute power than with hiring the best possible applicants for a position, then further erosion can occur. Unfortunately, there are some tyrannical, “power-drunk” folks out there who will stack the faculty with those who are easily dominated, creating an oligarchy that benefits them and not the students. Like it or not, we are a nation of specialists and although it’s distressing to hear a highly placed administrator say that “There is never a case where a student knows more than a faculty member, about anything…”, they are in charge because they have the big office with a view. When it comes to hiring conductors or those who must work with existing ensembles, there may be cases where current students have input in the hiring process but for hiring individual instrumental/vocal faculty most schools are not going to consult students while doing their search and the kids will be greeted with a fait accompli in the fall when the new faculty member is presented to the classes.
In a case such as the OP presented, checking out any existing faculty members, and especially the head of the department, will be most beneficial. Look at other music boards and read everything about the school- if there is a history of disharmony (pardon the pun), then it may be well to pass on the school altogether rather than walk into an unpleasant situation from day one. Have the student sit in on studio classes and lessons, if at all possible. Check here on CC to find out if there are any current or recently completed affiliations with said school- it’s a way to get some “inside” perspective and connect with a student who might be willing to allow a visitor to sit in on her/his lesson. If there are no suitable alternatives within the existing faculty open to the prospective student, then I too would be hesitant to proceed with application to said school.
As for new hires: getting a young teacher is not always a negative. As musicprnt pointed out, those who have great performance careers may not be wonderful at pedagogy, while a teacher who has not had a lot of stage experience but who went the PhD route may be truly committed to teaching.
Cheer up, after all of the planning and waiting, grad school looms and the whole process will start all over again!</p>
<p>Mezzo, nice put, I agree totally with what you wrote, that last one is a lot of years of experience condensed into a few paragraphs:). With finding a program/teacher the research is going to be key.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the insightful comments! You’ve given some great questions to ask. </p>
<p>There is only one professor for our senior’s instrument at this school. We were both gratified that the professor persisted in reaching D (kept calling during rehearsals!) to let her know. D plans on continuing the admissions process to see what unfolds. Her private teacher is reluctant to insist she still apply, but pointed out that an impressive number of graduates of this music school are finding positions after graduation. He suggested that if D does enroll there, she should “soak up absolutely everything she can” that first year, but is also optimistic about the caliber of teacher the school will recruit. The entire music school, as well as the rest of the university, have great reputations. Thus, compared with another school she’s considering which has a very well-regarded teacher in her instrument but which doesn’t seem to come up much in discussions of overall strong music performance programs, this school seems worthy of continued effort. Of course, it may be a mute point, as there’s a prescreening process. </p>
<p>I haven’t named the school/teacher partly because I haven’t seen anything publicly available about the professor’s retirement, partly because I want to preserve some anonymity for our senior in the search/audition process, and partly because I think it’s a discussion that’s relevant to most music students. D will probably not be able to visit the school before auditions due to rehearsal schedules and concerts, and the cost (it’s a plane ride away), but plans to take some extra time at auditions on the campus to visit classes, etc. It does seem that morale is high at the school. The only reason I’ve heard of anecdotally for transferring is the rigor of the university courses.</p>
<p>One of my son’s studio teachers retired before his junior year. There was absolutely no indication that this would happen and we were all incredibly surprised and concerned, since this individual had been not only an amazing teacher but an amazing mentor for our son.</p>
<p>But, learning to be flexible as a musician is very important. Things change. People leave, as MM pointed out. Learning to deal with unpredictability or change is imperative, although it is clearly not always the best scenario.</p>
<p>My son’s new teacher was not a new hire (this is not a department with a single teacher for his instrument, which would have, of course, been far more of a concern). This teacher has a completely different style, and would not have been his choice as a young freshman. But he has learned an amazing amount from her, as he has from every teacher he has had. And, as has also often happened, new teachers have new expectations, and he has grown enormously each time he has changed teachers. This is the silver lining.</p>
<p>It is not ideal, by a long stretch. But it can, and does, happen, even while the students are in a long-standing studio, as both my S and MM’s D have experienced first hand. I would be significantly more concerned, as the OP, about choosing a school for a single teacher, when there is not another studio teacher for the same instrument.</p>
<p>One positive thing about the situation in hand is that the program itself seems to be high level in all regards. Why do I think that is important? For one thing, it shows a track record that they seem to be able to hire teachers who, well, can teach (though obviously, even the highest caliber music schools can have teachers that either cannot teach well at all, or work well only with some students). The other positive is that a high caliber program I would surmise would have an easier time attracting high level teachers, people with a track record. It is kind of like what a company like Google is like, they have a cachet about them that tends to attract really high achieving people to apply there, while a no name company may not necessarily attract the high caliber people as much. </p>
<p>Since the current teacher has been open, why not talk to him about the situation, and see what his experience has been in dealing with things like this…he probably has experienced it from time to time I would gather…</p>
<p>I would go carefully. There are no guarantees, but we need to take all the information given to make a best guess. In this case, you may have been handed a gift of foreknowledge. </p>
<p>I would consider the overall calibre of the school - are they strong in all instruments? If so, they will likely be interested in maintaining that level. Are they near a big city or good orchestra, that may provide ample alternatives? How worthwhile would it be to have one year with this teacher? </p>
<p>Studying with different teachers can be a positive. At this point, your goal is to determine how trustworthy the school will be in finding an appropriate replacement.</p>
<p>As far as personality or “fit,” that’s harder to determine. If it happens that the new teacher is not a match, then you’re faced with a couple options - transfer, or learning to work with folks you don’t necessarily connect with. That’s not a bad thing, either. There is also the chance that the new hire would be better than the old one!</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is whether the retiring teacher will have his heart in the game, or will he mentally already be gone. It happens.</p>
<p>Go ahead and keep this school on your radar, but make sure you have other viable options. As the year progresses, perhaps more information will become available, and the decision will become clearer.</p>