<p>I am just curious. My son is going to be an entering freshman in Jazz performance Double Bass. At some point I would love to see our son travel and study abroad, even if it were just for a summer. Anyone know what sort of programs might be available?</p>
<p>Study Abroad was one of the big things on D3’s list, and it was a question she asked at every school visit. Maybe jazz is different from classical, but she ended up being disappointed: it seems that while conservatories and music schools may say they offer study abroad opportunities, the reality is that it’s extremely difficult to actually go away for a semester. Some of that is due to teacher preference (“I only have you for 4 years and I have a specific plan for your development”) and some is due to curricular requirements (apparently substituting a different class for a particular school’s Theory III, for example, would cause the world to end).</p>
<p>The strong recommendation - and her current plan - is to do summer programs overseas. Some of these are low/no cost while others are not. Since her music school is attached to a university, there’s some possibility that she might take advantage of some of the short-term travel opportunities - they offer winter session classes abroad and even some spring break educational or service trips. (Of course, her ultimate plan is to become in such demand globally that her patrons gladly jet her off to exotic locations, but that’s a longer term goal!)</p>
<p>Stradmom is correct, conventional school year study abroad programs are highly impractical for musicians. Once your son is in school, he will find the bulletin boards littered with flyers advertising summer programs. Frequently a teacher will have recommendations for and against particular programs (depending on the students particular talents and requirements). In short, your student will probably want to work with faculty on that search.</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing this up StacJip, I had been wondering about this myself, as it seems that summer study abroad seems non-existent, especially for instrumentalists. I am wondering if anyone out there has done a summer study abroad in another discipline (such as language) and managed to get into the local music scene or take lessons from a local professional at the same time, and how did that work out? Was it a waste of time?</p>
<p>A study abroad program is also very important to my D, who will be a senior in the fall. (And her brother got to do it, so I’m sure she will demand equal treatment!) So far the feedback from admissions offices has been fairly negative. Surely some music programs have a relationship with schools/conservatories overseas?</p>
<p>Lastbird: Ithaca college and Potsdam’s Crane both talked quite a bit about music study abroad programs during their audition day programs. Potsdam has a relationship with the Birmingam Conservatoire (UK) and you can check Ithaca’s website for their partner. Also, Baldwin Wallace in Ohio had a program available. Since overseas study was on son’s list of things he wanted from a college, I did ask at each school. In fact I just asked him at the end of the year if he still was interested and now he thinks he’ll wait until undergrad is over.</p>
<p>As has been stated, many schools do have reciprocal agreements with schools abroad, but may well not be the best idea for music performance majors. VP majors, in particular, don’t get much out of it and can even lose momentum because it takes a good year to really get comfortable with a voice teacher just because of the number of elements involved. Often, the timing is wrong because of when grad school applications/pre-screening/auditions are set.
I know kids who have done language programs but none of them were able to work music lessons into the time because the programs are structured and don’t allow students time away on their own (legal issues, even if they are over 18).</p>
<p>I, too, found that most conservatories dissuade you from parting with your teacher to go abroad. But I will tell you about an exception. Furman University takes a music group (to include vocalists) to Italy for a semester of study and the teachers go, too. So if that’s a school you find on your list, go for it. I will tell you it is a beautiful campus and a highly touted academic program.</p>