<p>Just about time to think about summer programs again, and I would appreciate any feedback from any wind players who have done summer programs. D is currently a university freshman performance major. She is not at Juilliard, Curtis or Rice. :D
thanks.</p>
<p>I think these programs would be appropriate to apply to at this stage, though I am sure there are many others:
Aspen
Music Academy of the West
Eastern Music Festival
Brevard
Round Top
National Orchestral Institute at U of Maryland</p>
<p>As a “safety”, she can think about applying as a counselor at summer music programs like Interlochen or NYSMF. At NYSMF, she can play in ensembles, too.</p>
<p>My D has been to the first two programs - loved both. Aspen is a large program that accepts quite a few woodwind players. We were surprised when my D was accepted. It may help if you can pay the full cost and apply to the less popular teachers.</p>
<p>Your D should also look at programs that her teacher (or colleagues of her teacher) is associated with. Over the years, we have seen many teachers accept their own students into their summer programs. Our ultimate “safety” summer program was to ask my conductor cousin to program some oboe music in his small summer choral festival in France. Fortunately, we never had to go that far, but it’s always a good idea to build a network of possibilities.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thank you for replying. That is good news about Aspen. MAW would be wonderful but is exceedingly competitive for clarinet. We will definitely check out the others. The idea of applying as a camp counselor also is very interesting, so thanks for the suggestion!</p>
<p>consider camp counselor at Blue Lake, perform in the top (it has a name!) band with the profs, mentor a cabin of high-school kids…</p>
<p>I’ll add some good Canadian programs: Domaine Forget, Orford, and Banff. All of them have plenty of US students attending. Domaine and Orford are in Quebec so you get the added benefit of somewhat of a cross-cultural experience. </p>
<p>All three are in beautiful natural settings. Domaine is somewhat remote (and I recall that a US mom was fretful about the distance to medical attention and the fact that much of the medical staff was Francophone). My son has attended both Domaine and Orford and enjoyed and profited from both. Like any program of this type, much of the benefit depends on the calibre of instruction. My son did get one dud instructor one week (a highly recommended teacher from one of the prestigious US music schools–so you just can’t always tell!).</p>
<p>Domaine’s clarinet sessions usually run for 2 weeks in June; last year the four instructors included Fuchs (principal of the Berlin Philharmonic), a Juilliard prof, and two Quebec profs. Domaine would probably be a safety for your daughter, but the quality of instructor is much higher than what you would get at similarly safe programs in the US. Generally in Canada, the quality of instruction at universities (and summer music programs) does not correlate strongly with the calibre of the admitted applicants (I write that because I have found that many US people assume that a low degree of competitiveness in the application process means a low quality program–much truer in the US than in Canada). </p>
<p>Orford usually has a two-week clarinet/woodwinds session in July (as well as some weeks of orchestra after that). Last year’s clarinet person was Guy Yehuda. Orford is somewhat more difficult to get into than Domaine, but still probably fairly safe for most performance majors.</p>
<p>Banff is the most competitive of the three. James Campbell and Todd Palmer were the clarinet instructors this past year. The clarinet masterclasses run for 3 weeks and I believe there might be orchestral opportunities following that.</p>
<p>All three programs tend to run on a masterclass format with students given quite a bit of freedom. Students that are accustomed to the Interlochen format of having every 5 minutes tightly scheduled find the Canadian programs strange.</p>
<p>I don’t know precisely how high the calibre is amongst clarinets in these programs. I know, for example, that some instruments at Domaine bring in some of the best of the students in North America (one instrument attracts a large Rice contingent). At all three programs the fees are low by US standards (although with the dollars near par, the fees are no longer just 40% of comparable US programs), and the scholarships seem to be generously allocated.</p>
<p>Gee I had totally given up on this thread! (posted 10/3!) Thanks everybody. Will forward all this info out to D. Quebec is actually at the top of Mom and Dad’s must-see vacation spots, too. I really appreciate all the detailed info.</p>