<p>Greenwood, a chamber music camp in Western Mass. is a great place that gives some scholarships.
Aspen apparently has future plans to be tuition free.</p>
<p>binx- here's two searchable databases that we used in the past.
<a href="http://www.thestrad.com/summerplus.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.thestrad.com/summerplus.asp</a>
<a href="http://www.stringsmagazine.com/search/ssg/default.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.stringsmagazine.com/search/ssg/default.aspx</a></p>
<p>Marrowstone is a good program, but way across the country from you in Washington, so probably not the best. The director there has been really good about finding my son enough money that he could afford to go the last two years (and coming up this summer). Scholarships are based on both the audition tape and need.</p>
<p>My son is at Tanglewood, not BUTI, but the fellowship program for college students. It is a tuition free program. He loves it so far. His first comment was, "this place is crazy!" but he meant it in a good way. He is busy all the time. The first 3 weeks is the chamber institute. He is playing in a quartet and says it is by far the best group he has ever played in. The orchestra part starts in a couple weeks. He says the accomodations and food are ok.</p>
<p>Binx - As an expert oboemom, I'd say that the best high school summer programs for oboe are Interlochen and BUTI. I believe both offer need-based financial aid. Aspen also accepts a few highly accomplished high school oboists, and also offers scholarships based on need and merit. The age range in this year's oboe studio at Aspen is from 16 to over 30. There are 14 or 15 oboists, about half returning from last year. The oboe and English horn fellows (full tuition, room and board) are the same as last year's. It's my understanding that about 50% of Aspen students return for another summer.</p>
<p>While I complain about the cost of these programs, I know that our family is very fortunate to be able to afford to send our D to them. I consider it a part of the cost of her education. Aspen has been worth every penny we've spent. Last Sunday, she played 2nd oboe to the principal of the Philadelphia Orch in a concert featuring Peter Serkin playing a Brahms piano concerto. This Friday, she'll play 2nd oboe in a concert with Joshua Bell. These opportunities have left her speechless! Our kitchen remodeling project will just have to wait a little longer and our '99 Toyota minivan with 120,000 miles will have to last another year...</p>
<p>Not all of Aspen's programs offer scholarships, but even at full cost it is a good deal compared to many other programs, considering the quality of the teaching and the added bonus of free concerts all summer.</p>
<p>It is a good thing my D does not read this forum. She is still upset about the rejection from Aspen. Maybe it is for the best. She will have some motivation for next year. In the meantime she got a great paid internship and she got called up to attend a week long program at Steinhardt.</p>
<p>It seems that a lot depends on your requested teacher at Aspen -- how many returning students there are, etc.; she should try again next year.</p>
<p>Shennie-my son is at Tanglewood also. He just had me ship out a bass trombone ( he is there for tuba for 8 weeks) because there was a possibility to play the t-bone with some TMC students. DS is quite busy and we have spoken briefly in the evenings. He did get to go to Vermont last Sunday pm to see a solo concert by Gene Pokorney (principal tuba at Chicago). He is in heaven. Playing great music and with like-mined peers. Maybe your son has run into mine??</p>
<p>Momnipotent - It is possible they have run into each other. My son will most likely be hanging out with other string players. His quartet is very busy at this point with the chamber music seminar. He did mention playing ultimate frisbee, though, so if your son is into that they may have run into each other...literally!</p>
<p>We spent the day yesterday visiting our son and attending concerts at Sewanee Summer Music Festival at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. He ended up going there through some interesting circumstances and, amazingly, it's turning out to be a great experience: challenging repertoire, good fit with trumpet teacher, big emphasis on chamber music, nice atmosphere on a gorgeous college campus, etc.</p>
<p>Let me explain the interesting circumstances: This was son's first year competing strictly with college and grad school applicants for summer festivals, and he didn't use a good strategy - applied to too many prestigious programs that he's not yet at the level to win fellowships, received several acceptances with minimal scholarship money, and ended up on several waiting lists. By the beginning of May, he was still trying to figure out what to do, when 2 interesting offers came through connections at Eastman. The first was the Sewanee festival with a huge scholarship because they needed another trumpet player; and the second was the chance to go on an all expense paid tour in Europe with a high school orchestra that needed a "ringer" in the trumpet section. Although the European tour would have been a good cultural experience, he didn't want to spend the entire summer without lessons and choose Sewanee for the musical experience.</p>
<p>And the latest thing to top off this whole deal was a call last week from Chatauqua (one of the programs where he was wait-listed) offering a full scholarship if he could get there right away. He had already been at Sewanee for a week!</p>
<p>to violadad: glad your son had a good experience at Hot Springs despite the luggage snafu. The negative reports we had heard involved organization and administrative issues. Apparently the problems have been resolved or they didn't affect your son.</p>
<p>mommab- What a great story! I think he made a great choice. Or was it the music festival that made the great choice? Sounds like a win-win.</p>
<p>We came close to sending D to Sewanee this summer. She's never been to a summer camp (has never had a summer vacation while in HS - school in Germany goes through the summer.) The violin teacher at Miami-OH teaches at Sewanee summer program, and gave me an application when D went for her audition. (She was taking her theory test at the time.) The deadline for the camp was before she'd made up her mind about what college to attend. If she went to Sewanee, and studied with this teacher, but had decided not to attend Miami, then she was afraid it would be awkward. But if she did choose Miami (as she has done), then she thought that studying with him for four years during the school year would be enough! </p>
<p>So she ended up not going there, or anywhere. Sigh.</p>
<p>We moved our d into Carnegie this past weekend. We were very impressed with the way things were ran. Very smooth. The Pre-college program has so much to offer all students. D is there for flute, and so far is in heaven. She had her placement testing and auditions yesterday. She is very ready for classes to start. Her prize possessions are her CMU id card and her key to get her into the practice rooms in the College of Fine Arts building. Walking into that building is amazing....absolutely beautiful. It seems this will be an intensive program. They make it very clear that it is not a camp...it is six weeks of college. That is what d was looking for......so as time goes on, I will keep you posted since there is not much on this thread about the pre-college program. Hope everyone has a wonderful summer!!</p>
<p>notfromme
When D was an aspiring flute performance major(this was quite a # of years ago) she looked at the CMU summer program very carefully,and liked what she saw.
.Your D should have a great experience there!</p>
<p>cathymee-
thank you! I think she is having a great time! She had her first lesson today and she sent me a one word message....AMAZING! That is saying a lot since her private instructor here at home produces some of our top flautists, and she adores her. She actually said it was hard to leave her for six weeks!! Now, I must ask you....if you would share the road your d took? My d is a rising hs junior, also have a d who is a rising college sophomore at a conservatory in Virginia for MT...sooo, I do know the road of college auditions........ugh. We will be searching for colleges and visiting them this year. If you d did go on to major in flute performance, I would love to hear any suggestions you may have!!! :) Thank you!!</p>
<p>I'll PM you !!</p>
<p>Thanks Cathymee-I will get back with you!!</p>
<p>D just finished her first week at CMU. She LOVES her private instructor, but not too sure about the rest of the program. Next week will be her first full week of classes, so hope her opinion changes. Seems things are not done the way we were told. Wish us luck!</p>
<p>We leave day after tomorrow for Santa Barbara. I can't wait. My S1 went out there last week to visit S2, and called me from the airport to say he was having a really hard time leaving! S2 seems to be thriving, and we are looking forward to seeing him, attending concerts, etc.</p>
<p>binx- Enjoy the trip and the time with your son. And of course, we'll need a full report. </p>
<p>Safe travels.</p>