Percussion kid has the following schedule: 2 GenEds (he placed out of Freshman comp); Piano; Theory (easy!)/Aural skills (hard! Kid can’t sing); Percussion ensemble (2x/week); Wind Symphony (2x/week); 2 private lessons/week (1 each mallet and timpani). 17 credits and he’s super busy…but seems pale in comparison to @akapiratequeen kid’s schedule!
He’s enjoying being in Philly, is busy with school, practice and get this…the ‘esports’ club (yep, video gaming club). Also does late night Cards Against Humanity games (maybe all college kids do this?)…his classes range in size from small (music) to large (30+ in the GenEds which are about the same size as his high school ones).
Yikes-I can’t imagine what 21 credits feels like in the music world! You all have some amazing, motivated kids!
Thanks to testing out of theory, my daughter has “only” 15 credit hours, including a math class (her weakness but only needs 3 credits so she is happy to get it out of the way) piano (she technically tested out but had the option to take and wanted to improve her skills) Philosophy/SciFi class (which seemed to be based on movies like Inception) Arts and Entertainment Forum, a Singer-Songwriting Class (must write and perform a new song each week based on specific themes) Master Class-Pop Music, and 2 hours of private voice lessons per week. Sounds pretty overwhelming to me, but she is balancing everything well so far. She joined a study group for the math since that is her challenging one. She really thinks it is so much less stressful than her crazy high school schedule which was Mon-Fri 7:45-2:45 (sometimes started at 7am for Vocal Jazz) followed by homework, study and theatre until 9:30pm. Not to mention the time for college aps, extra travel and stress last year due to auditions. She has had some issues with migraines in the past but said she hasn’t been getting as many headaches since she started college. She is starting to get her normal September cold but said she is now able to take a nap between classes so can re-energize and not have to miss class. She face-timed around 7pm last night and she was about to go to yoga with a friend so she is also trying to squeeze in some exercise into her schedule (which can be helpful both physically and mentally as we all know.) The college radio station wants to interview her and play her original EP soon so that is cool! All in all, it has been a smooth transition for her. We miss her like crazy but it definitely helps knowing she is happy and balancing things pretty well.
@Lendlees Just was listening to Philly’s local classical station and they featured a live performance by a percussion student from Boyer. He is a junior, and won a prize while at Aspen this summer. Your son has talented colleagues!
@AmyIzzy I don’t know how the credit system works, clearly – that sounds like a LOT! So glad she is doing well. That’s great news about the radio station playing her EP. Talented young lady!
Greetings all! Glad to read that things are off to a good start for your freshmen. It’s hard to believe that it has been almost for weeks since my son started at USC Thornton. The logistics and emotions surrounding moving him to LA from NY were such that I completely forgot that I was hoping to connect with some other Thornton parents from CC. Hopefully we can make that happen on parent’s weekend!
My son, a jazz studies major, is settling in nicely. He is taking 18 credits, 12 of which are music classes. His non-music classes include a 4 credit freshman seminar and another 2 credit computer class. After sleeping through his first 8:00 music theory class (entirely predictable for anyone who knows him) and missing the placement exam, he was placed in Theory 1. After two weeks of escalating the issue through the system, he was ultimately able to take the exam and tested out of the first two semesters of music theory so is now taking Advanced Jazz Theory with a more reasonable start time of 10:00 am.
His music classes include his weekly guitar lesson, a guitar ensemble and a jazz combo. The other members of his jazz combo are upper classmen and grad students and he is thrilled to have been placed in the group. His first concert is at the end of this month and I wish I could see it, so this is one of those times when I really wish he stayed closer to home.
Hi all - I’m new to this group with a high school senior and violinist who is applying as a Music Performance Major and possibly Chinese Language Double Major or Minor at a few different schools. I would like to speak directly to a few of you but can’t figure out how to ping folks individually. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks so much!
They need to be 15 substantive posts, also - not spammy. But if anyone would like to PM @ViolinInOurHouse , that would be fine (then the user can respond).
Thank you for the info! I would love to communicate with the folks who have been through the process at USC, UCLA, Claremont, UC Irvine, Vanderbilt, Frost, CSU-Long Beach and CU - Boulder.
I’ve done all the heavy lifting in terms of research and spreadsheets plus our son has reached out to a majority of the violin professors (still a few to go) and even met with a couple for lessons, but I have a few specific questions regarding the professors he has been meeting with and the experiences at each of these schools. My guess is he will need to narrow down the schools once the auditions are scheduled due to overlap of audition dates. If you or your son/daughter has been through the application and audition process at one of those schools could you message me please?
An update for voice students at Bienen/Northwestern. One of the gems of the program was the quality and availability of great collaborative pianists for weekly practice sessions. The music school has now instituted a policy that effectively limits the number of private sessions with their collaborative pianists. Students will have to pay an hourly rate out of pocket for any session beyond the school’s limit. Note she always paid extra for pianists to play at recitals or for recording sessions, but the weekly practice session with an accompanist made the lessons so much more effective, as she had worked with the accompaniment before going in for coaching or lessons. I am not sure on how many sessions are now provided, but the one a week time she had for the first three years will not be in effect going forward without additional input of cash from her (us).
@songbirdmama always a letdown when something that was free suddenly isn’t.
I’m curious now how other schools handle accompanists for voice lessons. This is something that just wasn’t on our radar at all, it never crossed our minds, until S let us know he/we had to pay his required accompanist. He also had to find the accompanist, which took a few lessons, The school has some system where you submit a request and available accompanists can accept it. He wasn’t the only freshman that had trouble., but I wondered if it was just the adjustment period where all the new people figure out the system. He actually ended up accompanying another student at her voice lesson one week. He did successfully navigate the challenge and he seems happy with the pianist he has now.
In the overall scheme of things, it’s not a lot of money, but it was a surprise.
@Parentof2014grad The added bonus for Bienen were these were not students- they are seasoned, mature collaborative pianists. Most of the time, they knew the rep or if it was something new, could come up to speed very quickly. I thought it was a tremendous advantage over other places she considered. They will still have access to this pool, but not as liberally. I also imagine there will be a new market for younger accompanists to undercut the going rate for the “pros”. But yes, it’s hard to pay for something that was previously free!
At FSU S18’s voice teacher has a collaborative pianist at their weekly lessons together. I assume the dept pays for it or the teacher does. But S18 pays his own collaborative pianist to practice with him once a week and for recitals. She is great and has been at FSU for many years. With all the coaching she also gives him, it is easily worth the monthly stipend he pays her. He was given a list when he arrived at FSU, and chose this pianist at his voice teacher recommendation.
Just checking in. Did all of the Class of 2023 parents get to attend parent weekend? Loyola University made the mistake of calling theirs “family weekend” so we brought along grandma, grandpa, Abuela, and an aunt. Can you tell she is our first child? Lol. We had a blast in New Orleans. Did a jazz cruise and enjoyed a jazz club on Bourbon Street, but also did some of the “official” family weekend events, including a nice family breakfast and a concert. I was able to sit in on a music industry class which was very cool. Students were given a big group project that day in which they had to make a press kit and market a song or album. Seemed pretty intense for Freshman year but my daughter was loving it! The recording studios were quite impressive.
The first semester has been going well. She has been involved with a music collective and a songwriting ensemble and has performed at some local coffee house shows which is nice. She joined an online babysitting group so she gets weekly babysitting gigs for extra money to support her social life because mom made it clear SHE is in charge of spending money. She has a boyfriend who attends Tulane and they were going to the library together the other night when I called, so I guess that’s a good sign. Lol. She registers for the Spring semester today-hard to believe!
Sadly, my daughter is unable to come home for Thanksgiving. The airfare prices were costly (although I would have happily splurged) and she has finals in early December so we couldn’t really justify it. She was fine with staying there and hanging with some friends. So the last time we saw her was for family weekend (end of September) and won’t see her again until she comes home December 14th! It has been REALLY hard not seeing her and attending shows and concerts as we are used to! I think she struggled a little when she was sick a few times and needed that “spoiling” but she got through it. They have a short winter break and return January 5th (due to having the week of Mardi Gras off) so I feel like I get a raw deal! But she is so happy and really loves Loyola so I can’t really complain.
I wish she would call, text or FaceTime more but when we do connect it’s a very nice conversation. She even sent me a text last weekend that said “I just want you to know I how much I appreciate you.” Awwww. I joked with my husband that she might be drunk texting. Haha.
I was just thinking back to where we all were at this time last year (stress city!) and I’m hoping all of your hard work paid off and your kids found the perfect college home and are happy now and adjusting well.
Hi all! It’s great to hear that things are going so well for your daughter at Loyola, @AmyIzzy! It’s too bad she won’t be coming home for Thanksgiving, but the time will fly between Thanksgiving and when she does come home, so you’ll be seeing her before you know it.
Things are going well for my son at USC. Their family weekend was late, so we went from August 21 - October 31 without seeing him which I found incredibly difficult. But, the good news is that things are going well. He likes his classes, has made a nice group of friends, and is enjoying college so much more than high school. I suspect that part of it is the difference in going from being one of a couple of “music kids” in a smallish high school to being part of a well run music school with great resources and scores of other talented musicians. He very much feels like he chose the right place which really warms my heart.
I hope all is well with the rest of the Class of 2023 kiddos.
@AmyIzzy and @lkbux64 it sounds like your kids are off to a great start!
We didn’t go to family weekend. Instead I flew out last week and attended S’s choir concert. DH watched the live stream from home. The concert was incredible (S even had a small solo) and it was great to see him perform again in person (his other performances have been live streamed by the school in the case of his main choir or on FB live for some student-led things, so we haven’t missed too much, but you know it’s not the same as being there.
He’s doing really well. Like @lkbux64’s S, I think he was really really ready to be in college and out of high school and it shows. He’s having a lot more fun, he has friends, he’s engaged in his classes and working very hard, loving being immersed in music, figuring out the adulting stuff, and it’s great to see!
He’s taking cello lessons but not in any strings ensembles this semester. He sent me a recording of a concerto he’s working on that he made for his midterm. I was blown away at what he has accomplished in half a semester on his secondary instrument.
He has registered for classes. He’s taking his first teaching methods class next semester and he’s really excited about that. Also looking at chamber groups for cello and maybe a vocal jazz ensemble, depending on audition and avoiding scheduling conflicts. He’s taking an online gen ed class over winter break, or so he says. I don’t think he’s worked out registering for it yet.
Thanksgiving is a tough one. It’s a family holiday but so close to the end of the semester when they’ll be coming home anyway. My oldest hasn’t been home for thanksgiving since she left for college five years ago. She just spent the day with local family. The middle D didn’t come home her freshman year, a mistake in hindsight–she was miserable. She came home the years after that. Many kids can be fine but she wasn’t and I felt terrible about it. This year, all three kids are coming home, and we are really excited.
Thanks for the great updates, @AmyIzzy and @lkbux64. All sounds like great news.
I did not go to parents’ weekend at Eastman, but S’s dad went and said it was quite the event – U. Rochester does a huge weekend with lots of activities all over both campuses. Instead, I went up a couple of weeks later to see his first recital. It was soo good. Absolutely extraordinary to see how much he’d grown as a player in such a short time.
A is fully immersed in Eastman life and, after the first month or so of uncertainty, seems to be finding his place. He has a lovely group of friends and a growing sense of pride in his accomplishments. We spent some great time together and it was a wonderful trip. I hope I’ll be able to go for more of his concerts – they have a great livestream system but being there, with an enthusiastic audience, could not be beat.
S will be home for just four days over Thanksgiving, taking an eight-hour train ride Wednesday afternoon and going back by car on Sunday. He’ll be back for the break two weeks later, from December 15 or 16 (depending on his finals schedule) through January 10. He’s already signed up for his second semester courses and was thrilled that he doesn’t have to start at 8:30 every day. All in all, an excellent first term.
