<p>HS senior S just got a call from Yellow Barn- he was accepted for composition! Now he waits for word from Brevard. Can anyone comment on the differences/preference on either of these two summer camps? My D has been to Brevard for piano so we had the opportunity to sit in on the final composition recital last year. We have never been to YB in VT to hear a recital.</p>
<p>An obvious difference: YB is 2.5 weeks long and Brevard is 6 weeks. </p>
<p>Please post info here or PM me if you prefer! Thank you for any suggestions!</p>
<p>Yellow Barn is known for being especially fantastic!! I think he should go there! I got in a few years ago and couldn’t go and I’ve always regretted it.</p>
<p>Thank you Cosmos, mamenyu and SpiritManager! The program does sound exciting.</p>
<p>Has anyone else out there actually attended either Yellow Barn or Brevard, specifically for composition at either place- or has anyone even been to YB for a concert? I wanted to have an idea of the number of composition students vs. # of musicians.</p>
<p>do a search on google for past lists of participants - they used to post such a list in past years. As I recall, they take only a couple of composers.</p>
<p>I would second the suggestion to attend Yellow Barn. It’s very intimate, the playing level is off the charts, and the interaction with the faculty is very intense. </p>
<p>Four people here at Bard did the YAP at Yellow Barn over the last two summers, including a composer. All of them raved about it. I also try and visit every summer and I always walk away feeling stunned. (I also go to Brevard every summer–it’s a great program; I have nothing bad whatsoever to say about it). </p>
<p>You can PM me for the composer’s contact info–he’s very approachable and I’m sure would be happy to answer any questions you might have.</p>
<p>From everything I have heard about Yellow Barn it is a very high level program for serious music students (the comparison a friend of my son’s made was that some summer programs kind of end up as summer vacations for the kids attending with music as the focus, Yellow Barn was about the music and not a vacation:). </p>
<p>In terms of composition I have heard only good things about the program, and I know that the pieces the composition students write get played by the instrumental students, which I think is great for both parties.</p>
<p>Wow! All responders to my question about Yellow Barn: You are a fantastic group of people! Thank you for your input. Your enthusiasm for YB is apparent! I will let you know my son’s decision soon. The deadline is by March 19. We also have college decision time too! So it’s going to a tough (and exciting) few weeks ahead.</p>
<p>I’ve got a deadline on March 19th too, for the Britten-Pears Orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival. What do I do if I don’t hear back from the other places I applied to before the deadline?</p>
<p>Cosmos- This is my son’s problem too. Last year my daughter received her acceptances for Brevard (MArch 19) and Tanglewood (March 20) within 24 hours of one another. SO that was easy. This year Yellow Barn wants a decision by March 19- the date Brevard gives acceptances. I did contact YB last week via email to ask about when their acceptances would come out. They emailed me promptly with a response. I don’t think it would hurt to send an email or make a phone call to some of your top choices asking them if they can tell you anything before March 19. What do other CCers think/suggest?</p>
<p>I think some programs specifically say, “do not call us to find out results.” We had the same situation last year: an acceptance and a waitlist. Waitlist program wouldn’t say where she was on waitlist, acceptance needed a reply and non refundable deposit. She decided on the program she was accepted to. About a week later, got off waitlist from other program, but she had no regrets about declining it. If we had pushed the first program, I think we might have been able to get an extension for committing to them. That might be easier than getting a program to release results early. It would be nice if all of these programs had a common reply date, but I guess that isn’t realistic.</p>
<p>Yeah. I’m really waiting for two other programs, and one doesn’t even have a deadline until March 12th so I don’t know when I’m going to find out… and the other is supposed to tell us in “early March,” so it could be any time. I guess if I don’t find out from the second one before March 19th, I’ll have to commit to Aldeburgh.</p>
<p>My daughter has one acceptance, two rejections, one wait-list, and still waiting to hear from two programs (by the way, Aspen violin results won’t be in for at least another week.) The program that accepted her is pressuring for a response by March 15, although this is before she will have heard from the other places. I guess she will ask for an extension, and if they insist on an answer she will decline.</p>
<p>So DD missed a couple deadlines, had he worst audition in what would have been a ‘safety’ program (it was a live audition, I really think that it’s great to do live auditions but, if you really want to get an acceptance, I think that it’s best to send a recorded audition when possible. That way you have a lot more control over what ‘goes out’).</p>
<p>So far, a no from YOA and an alternate status from Sarasota. Still waiting to hear from others but there is a certain loss of confidence… many should haves and would haves and, inevitably, panic has set in lol.</p>
<p>So we are looking at late application possibilities and I have been looking at NYSMF which has been mentioned here a lot. I understand that it has a wide range of ages and abilities but, when I look at the website, it comes accross as very high school oriented (or even middle school). I might have the wrong impression so I was wondering if anybody here has experience with NYSFM at a college level?</p>
<p>The different deadlines definitely pose problems, and “alternate” or “waitlist” spots are often unranked, or they won’t tell you where you are on the list…or maybe you never hear from them again. Aspen is often quite late but others are usually right around now - including Steans, Music Academy of the West, Kneisel Hall, Banff, Bowdoin, and some others. So if they have made their decision but not notified you, it might be possible to find out in advance of the official notification.</p>
<p>Cosmos, I don’t know which programs you are waiting on, but it can help if you make a call or email these programs and tell them you need to make a commitment and already have one in hand that you need to reply by “x”.</p>
<p>The programs you have attended in the past speak to your competitiveness, and it’s likely that you would be a serious contender at most.</p>
<p>Now I don’t suggest this lightly or as a way of playing one off agin the the other, but if you are committed to wanting to be at a specific program in lieu of Britten-Pears, make the call. I would suggest prioritizing your list, and be ready to commit immediately if they tell you you’re in. </p>
<p>The common option is to commit to the earliest deadline. The least acceptable is to commit to the first “in”, then withdraw if a better option appears a week or three later.</p>
<p>Violadad,
Is it acceptable to withdraw from program 1 if you get into program 2 from a waitlist? I know this happens in college admissions frequently, (the summer melt), but what about in music programs? Is it expected that this may happen or is it looked down on? Should a student go to a second or third choice program even if they get accepted from a a waitlist from a preferred program?</p>
<p>prefect, I’m sure it happens. The ways to avoid it are choosing programs wisely (regardless of your level), knowing the reply by dates,knowing the programs policies and procedures, and trying to work within the system, or by stretching the envelope and making an upfront call requesting an extension or asking a "will I know by “X” " question.</p>
<p>People do deposit and withdraw for any number of reasons, some legitimate (financial, illness, etc.) and some perhaps a bit more “sketchy”. </p>
<p>Pulling out of a program especially at a late date can be a nightmare in terms of trying to fill that spot, particularly one with a chamber or small ensemble focus, or in trying to fill a typically underrepresented instrument within an orchestral program. The same would hold with balance in voice types. At the uppermost levels, reputation and reliability as well as artistic skills are equally important, as the degrees of separation of talent are minute. If one develops a rep as unreliable, opportunities will shrink. This is especially true if we’re talking free fellowship, high level opportunities. </p>
<p>To answer your question, I would position it as a hypothetical: as a professional musician is it ethical to cancel a “contracted” gig should a better paying one come up for the same time frame?</p>
<p>There are two longer programs I’m waiting for and I’d want to go to either over Aldeburgh, but it would be totally unfair of me to withdraw from Aldeburgh if I get into these other two after March 19… That could definitely happen though so that’s the real problem with all these programs telling their results at different times. </p>
<p>I emailed one of the places telling them that I have to tell Aldeburgh by the 19th, so when will the results be released, and I didn’t get a response… So I guess I’ll just have to wait.</p>