Summer Festival Acceptance Notifications

@songbirdmama You are right about the Italy program – for college students. This is a different program that takes place on campus, for high school students – the vocal academy: https://www.oberlin.edu/summer-programs/vocal-academy

So as it turns out, D did get into the summer vocalist program at Oberlin after all!

On Saturday, we got a snail mail rejection letter. Today via snail mail, we received the acceptance and welcome packet – postmarked the same day!

D says when filling out the application she remembers she accidentally hit the submit key after entering only her name and address the first time around, then started over and completed a second full application, including the video audition upload. So our guess is maybe the first incomplete application triggered some kind of form-letter rejection. She’s even more excited to get the acceptance after the accidental rejection than I think she would have been to begin with. (Plus, Oberlin has been at the top of her list since we did a quick stop there last summer, and she REALLY wants to meet the faculty there).

So looks like she’ll do both that and Tanglewood. Which makes me sad because it has her gone for a lot of the summer… but I think it’s going to be the best summer – so far – of her life!

Have any of your vocalists done both programs – and would you say they got different things out of them? Any thoughts for parents with separation anxiety? (Just kidding. She’s been away for some long stretches and we’ve all managed just fine, even though we missed her terribly!)

Congratulations @khill87 ! My D only did Oberlin academy on her rising senior summer but several of her academy companions did several programs so it’s not unusual.

Looking for advice. My cellist daughter (HS junior) got into Bowdoin 2nd session after being waitlisted, and Tanglewood Cello Workshop and Orchestra. I know the first focuses on chamber, and the latter on orchestra, but we’re not sure what to do - and Bowdoin demands an answer tomorrow!

Tanglewood Cello Workshop + Orchestra

Or

Tanglewood Cello Workshop + Bowdoin, 2nd session

Thoughts?

@khill87 - Congratulations on these summer programs! Maybe get some input from her voice teacher as to whether it’s too much singing?

@WAMomofCellist it’s so personal, and a lot of it depends on if she wants to focus on orchestral or chamber music. Bowdoin, from my understanding, tends to be less structured, so students have more choice, but also have to be very organized in terms of seeking opportunities. So it depends on best fit for her specific needs, wants, and personality. Another thing to consider is that summer festivals give students the opportunity to meet faculty from different music programs, and if she’s planning to apply to music schools, this would be a good opportunity, esp as she is a junior. So, if there are any faculty at Bowdoin who she’s interested in, that might be a good reason to go there. Does she have a clear feeling on which she prefers? Congrats on these acceptances!

@WAMomofCellist Maybe ask Bowdoin for a couple more days? If they could give you till Monday you’d have time to gather more info.

@WAMomofCellist I believe the whole Tanglewood program would be easier to navigate. Plus getting into the orchestra part of BUTI is a huge honor. I would say make it easier on yourself and stay within the same program.

@coloraturadad Random question: About how many vocalists are in the summer program at Oberlin? (Doesn’t matter for anything other than our curiosity… but we were just wondering about the size of the group). Thanks!

If my memory serves well, there were around 34 vocalists when my D attended in 2017.

Question for past BUTI / Tanglewood attendees.

I’m hearing ticks and Lyme disease might be an issue there. Living not too far (~ 2 hours) I can certainly imagine this might have some truth behind it. Have you heard more on this while your kids were there? I heard couple kids get Lyme disease there each year but I can’t tell if its an exaggeration or a hush hush reality of the place. Thanks for any insights.

@HereWeGoAgain2018 My daughter is going for the first time to BUTI this year, so I don’t have direct experience with the festival, however, I work in public health, have had a tickborne disease myself (not Lyme, but a lesser known one), and my husband’s grandfather had Lyme (contracted while living on Cape Cod), so this is an issue I am pretty familiar with and that I feel comfortable speaking up about!

Yes – Lyme disease is a real and serious threat when you are in Massachusetts – not at all hush-hush, but well-documented by the CDC. (This website uses CDC stats but is a bit more user-friendly: https://www.tickcheck.com/stats/county/massachusetts/berkshire-county/lyme) And having had (at least) two cases in our family, I can tell you tickborne disease is no joke. But there are few places you can be outdoors and not encounter ticks, so you’d have to live in a bubble to totally avoid them. In my opinion, it’s not a reason to worry – just to be cautious.

I don’t know whether it’s true that a couple of kids get it every year, but anyone visiting the area should definitely be wary – do tick checks in the mirror every night and wear repellent. (We live in the Southeast where ticks carry somewhat fewer diseases but are possibly even more prevalent, so for us, tick wariness is part of being outdoors).

What I am not sure about is how much people talk about it at Tanglewood – whether there is a culture of putting on repellent – or if there is a nurse on duty who can assist in removing ticks. (If you live in a part of the country where this is not a thing you have experience with, there is some skill involved!) Another mom mentioned there are some kind of biting insects also and that repellent was a good idea for that reason, so maybe the biting ones will be a good reminder of the silent ones and keep the kids using the repellent on a daily basis.

My daughter slathered herself in bug spray at Tanglewood. She did say she knew someone who indeed got Lyme disease from a bite. They have a nurse on site and they do help with things.

Thank you for your insights and suggestions @khill87 and @mperrine. This sounds like a plan. Bug spray and mirror checks!

PS. I’m sorry to hear about your direct experience with the tick borne diseases. Hope you did not have any permanent impact to your lives. Wishing you all the very best

Where I live Lyme is rampant. I’ve had it; my husband’s had it; several of our kids have. One of my dogs just had it (despite having had a Lyme vaccine… and by the way, why don’t they have these for people?) Anyway, caught and treated early (with a month of oral antibiotics), it’s not a huge problem and is highly treatable. The serious problems happen when it’s untreated for a long time, so it’s important to be alert for symptoms. A ring rash can be a sign, but the rash does not always occur and sometimes it’s not evident because it’s on the scalp (for example) and covered by hair. I’ve thought about it a lot, but there is no way to avoid Lyme exposure where I live, even if I were to stay out of the garden and woods. I know people who never go near nature but have still been tick-bitten and diagnosed with Lyme. Prudent precautions include 1) wearing a cap or hat when walking under trees; 2) DEET spray (I know, DEET is unpleasant); 3) tucking your pants into your socks like a nerd on woodland paths. 4) most important: taking a shower when you come out of the woods. Of course, as I wrote above, you could be bitten walking down a city street or sitting on an open balcony, so you can’t take showers constantly. 5) paying attention for any symptoms. Another factor is that there can be false negatives in the Lyme titer test.

I know all that sounds frightening to those who don’t live in the east coast/mid-Atlantic states where Lyme is common, but short of avoiding a large swath of geography, it’s something we can deal with proactively, with some diligence, even if it’s not entirely under our control (the way not being in a car accident is something we can be proactive about, but is never really under our control.)

Daughter did both BUTI orchestra and Bowdoin a few years back, in different summers. BUTI orchestra acceptance isn’t a given, from one year to the next. If she declines this year, just keep in mind that she may or may not get in next year; at least this is what we witnessed. Another factor is her teacher assignment at Bowdoin; did she get into her top-choice studio? Also, Bowdoin invites students who are in high school, and college; BUTI does not. So she’ll have more chances to apply to Bowdoin in years to come. I would vote for BUTI this summer. Best of luck!

My jazz guitarist son, who is graduating from HS this year, just found out that the job he thought he had lined up for this summer has fallen through. I am looking for suggestions for summer music programs for which the deadline to apply hasn’t passed yet. A tall order, I know, but I figured I would try.

@lkbux64 Try Idyllwild Arts Summer Jazz Instrumental Intensive… I think they are still accepting applications and it is a good program