Summer piano program - Interlochen or Indiana University + a non-music program

College Majors Music Major
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<p>My ds was accepted to the Interlochen high school piano program a couple of days ago. We have two weeks to accept. We have not yet heard from IU as their decisions are not made until May 7th. However, the director of the program at IU has graciously agreed to review ds's materials early. She did have the caveat that she might not be able to give a firm answer at this point but said she would tell me if she can't say either way right now. So his getting into IU's program is an assumption right ow.</p>

<p>Interlochen is six weeks and would be it for the summer. If he does Indiana's program he could pair that with another three-week summer enrichment program that is not related to music (of course, we won't have an answer on THAT until later, either, but I <em>think</em> he <em>should</em> get in, but it's still ??????). </p>

<p>Ds is not sure whether or not he wants to pursue music performance as a major in college. We wanted him to apply to summer music programs (he has never attended one before) to get a sense of the total immersion in music. Obviously, Interlochen gives him a longer immersion time, but I don't know how much time spent there is NOT devoted to music. However, since he is not sure about music, the IU + other program would give him an opportunity to explore music AND another topic of interest. Ramble, ramble. Sorry.</p>

<p>It will be his decision, but any information about/experience with either the Interlochen or IU summer piano programs would be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>I would definitely go with the Indiana program. I’ll quote for you some of the glowing accounts of the place that I received from different friends of mine on the Piano World discussion forum when I was deciding which festivals to apply to this summer:</p>

<p>"If you’re in high school, Indiana University Piano Academy, HANDS DOWN, no questions asked. My only experience with it was as a staff member, but how I could have gone as a student!</p>

<p>Why it is so great:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>In addition to daily lessons with the regular faculty (who are stellar enough as is), there are masterclasses about three times a week with some of the most famous pianists alive (Pressler, Watts, O’Conor, etc). I don’t know of any other festival that brings in such big names to give classes to such a young age group.</p></li>
<li><p>On-call practice coaches for all practice time. This means that anytime during your practice, if you are having trouble with a passage, need some quick advice, or just want to talk about/play something for somebody, a “practice coach” will be sent to your room.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-Interactive sessions…[the friend quoted below] can tell you about these in detail but from what I understand you perform in front of all six faculty members, and they debate publicly, onstage amongst themselves about different approaches to interpretation. Sort of like a masterclass with 6 teachers. </p>

<p>-World class concerts every night</p>

<p>-Duets and ensemble exposure</p>

<p>-Theory classes</p>

<p>-Alexander technique classes</p>

<p>-Great opportunities to network. Bloomington in the summer is fantastic: the whole town is virtually empty -you are alone with the humidity, thunderstorms, and your peers and mentors. Since there are so many picnics and outings, and everything is so compact, you’ll get to make a lot of lifelong friends and connections."</p>

<p>A pianist who is now in college and attending Brevard in the summer (studying with Craig Nies there) had this to say about the Indiana University Piano Academy:</p>

<p>"Based on my past experience (I went the past two summers), you don’t get paired up with a single teacher. You have a lesson with each teacher (although you can usually ask the the teachers for another lesson). You are also assigned a duet and a duet partner, and usually the duets are pretty simple and fun to play.</p>

<p>There are various student recitals, the first one being around the middle of the second week. I believe there are five total, and the last one is on the last day of the camp: the Honor’s Recital. In addition, the night before the final day, there is a duet recital, where everyone performs their duets! Generally, this meant to be a more casual, and even “humorous” recital… You can do some shenanigans like this: [IUPA</a> 2010 Duet: Gottschalk “Ojos Criollos ‘Dance Cubaine’” - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>

<p>My personal favorite teacher is the director, Dr. Karen Taylor. However, I feel all teachers are wonderful and very competent. They also have practice coaches that you can have help you out (sort of like another mini-lesson) during your practice time.</p>

<p>There is an audition you do near the very beginning of the camp where you play a piece for the teachers for the opportunity of a master class with a guest artist, or a master class with one of the camp faculty (they call them interactive classes, though).</p>

<p>Make sure you go outside and enjoy the weather! Ultimate Frisbee, various versions of tag, capture the flat, and other games are a whole lot of fun.</p>

<p>Also, there is a music store called Ars Nova where you can get used sheet music books for great prices, and they also carry countless - absolutely COUNTLESS - CD’s, cassette tapes, and records of classical music (if you have a cassette player or record player; fortunately, I have both!).</p>

<p>I met PLENTY of people at IUPA who loved all sorts of music and were very knowledgeable about violinists, violists, singers, cellists, conductors, brass players, jazz, classical guitarists, chamber music, opera, musicals, etc. I also met plenty of people that were homeschooled. The students the two years I went (and there were many new faces the second time, so this probably applies to anyone who goes) were very keen on looking past any kind of differences and making friends. It doesn’t really have much of the kind of high school pedagogical approach that you’re talking about, either. </p>

<p>Cliques don’t necessarily form, but as with all things, people often find their group of friends that they especially enjoy spending time with. Both years I went, literally everybody made great friends despite differences in upbringing and social life."</p>

<p>If things seem less serious than other festivals, I have a feeling it’s because it’s just not a Juilliard/New York competitive atmosphere rather than any lack of prestige of the program or talent and skill required to do well there. I get the sense that you can work as hard as you want there and not reach any upper limit in the quality of teaching, and the attitude in general seems supportive, considerate of every student’s needs, and pushing them to new artistic heights with that same firm but gentle hand.</p>

<p>Interlochen, on the other hand, seems to me to be a bit of a machine - it has more than twice as many piano teachers than the Indiana program (and those teachers don’t seem nearly as interesting or renowned as teachers at Indiana), and I feel certain that the massive Indiana Jacobs School of Music has facilities in far better condition than a summer camp/arts high school in the country, far away from skilled concert technicians. If I sound vehement, it’s because I have a preference for much smaller programs and the personal side of things. There are nice things about it there: the rural setting can be calming and more summer-campy, and they have a very wide variety of music (orchestra, opera, chamber music) and other art events (visual art, theater, and so forth).</p>

<p>I wish you the best for your summer, whatever you choose!</p>

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<p>Hoggirl, don’t forget to ask for an extension on your decision from Interlochen.</p>

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<p>My daughter is not a pianist, but has attended a number of summer institutes. My views on Interlochen are documented in prior posts, so I won’t repeat them here. In general I think that shorter camps are better. The student gets more exposed to different teachers, methods, other students and opportunities. My daughter attended three different institutes last summer, all different, but good experiences. I think that rachnroll made a number of good points, but I’ll add this one: does your son want an institute/urban environment, or more of a camp setting? At Interlochen my daughter had to clean and unclog the toilet several times per week. Once we learned the distinction, it was easier to chose between summer programs. My daughter prefers staying at universities and less “campy” places; others have different preferences.</p>

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<p>My D’s middle school band director, who is a very accomplished musician and whom we adore, attended Interlochen for four years as a student with trumpet and loved the camp traditions, the large ensembles, the high level of playing, the students from all over the world, and the general atmosphere. Even now wherever she travels in the world she meets friends – all professional musicians or teachers – that she met years and years ago at camp. </p>

<p>That being said, we decided against it for D because we hadn’t heard much about the piano program and our attempts to request more information weren’t successful.</p>

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<p>@rachnroll - thank you so much for taking the time to provide those insights from former attendees. <em>Extremely</em> helpful. IUPA sounds amazing. I wish we knew whether he was in or not!!! I fear the director will only be able to give a “maybe” at this point, which I completely understand. Of course the early review could also be a flat out “no,” but I am hoping not. I will definitely have my ds read through these comments.</p>

<p>@woodwinds - I will look for some of your other posts. Part of ds’s initial appeal about Interlochen was the “campines.” However, in past summers, ds has only done a camp experience (not music - just camp) for two weeks. I definitely hear you. I wouldn’t last in “campy” for two hours! LOL!</p>

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How does one do this? How long of an extension will they provide?</p>

<p>So thankful for this board and the wealth of information provided.</p>

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<p>Oh, my! What a great site! I couldn’t tell which discussion forum would contain discussion of festivals??? I’ll look again. I haven’t had enough coffee this morning. :)</p>

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<p>Hoggirl, you just call Interlochen and ask them for an extension. They gave us an extra 2 weeks a few years ago, but you might even want to ask to extend until mid-May. If there might be any scholarship money involved from other programs, that would be a definite legitimate reason for you to request an extension. They understand that. Even if they only give you a couple of weeks it will give you a chance to make a better decision.</p>

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<p>It would never have occurred to me to do this. I have a friend who says, “It’s an asking world.” Too often, I forget this.</p>

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this is my first conversation on this webpage. First, I’ve learned a lot from this comparison. My son has been to interlochen twice and loved it both times. We liked that it was a camp like experience, with swimming and campfires etc. But, now he’s ready for a more purely music intensive experience and is looking at the Jacob school. But, I can’t seem to find any information about the costs. This year’s tuition, room and board hasn’t bee posted yet. Anyone know what they were last year just so I can have a ball park (and start saving up!)

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@mozartsmom‌ - it’s been too long for me to remember this information. This thread is quite old, so I suggest you start a new thread. Eastman also has a summer program (among others). Good luck! Ds loved IUPA, but he ultimately chose not to pursue music as a major. However, he did submit a music supplement to any college that would accept one. Good luck to your ds wherever he decides to go!

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thanks hoggirl…I didn’t even notice how old the posts were!

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Closing thread.