My HS junior has been accepted into both NYU Steinhardt and Univ of Michigan for their summer classical voice programs. Both are excellent programs and off course both have their downsides. Anyone out here who has attended one of these and could provide any insights? Thanks!
D attended Michigan in 2015 - I think the curriculum has changed since then. At that time, she was disappointed that the senior faculty were not involved in the program, as she was hoping it was a way to get to know them and help her with her college search (She did apply and was accepted, but attended elsewhere for her BM). While she did get to experience campus life in Ann Arbor, the dorms, and eat in the cafeteria, nothing else about the program was memorable as most of the performing was choral. The lions share of the students were from Michigan and were interested in teaching music. In contrast, her experience at Ithaca was quite different. Students she met there were from all over the US and are still in contact with her 8 years later as they finish their MM at places like Eastman, CCM, The Ithaca program had opera scenes, choral work, orchestral involvement, and solo singing, along with classes like music theory, a cappella, conducting… Again, I would seek more recent experiences to see if this is still the case, and would hope UM has made upgrades, but definitely find out who are the instructors!
1 Like
I just looked briefly on line and the MPulse program is only a week. It used to be two weeks. Is that correct? Doesn’t seem like enough time to get “work” done, but still is a good way to get the feel of a campus.
Mine did UMich MPulse online two summers ago when they had to pivot quickly for covid.
He found it to be very satisfying and he got a sense of what working with college faculty was like very early in the research process of a vocal performance major. They only worked on solo pieces, likely due to the online format. I do recall that they added a “Solo Track”, but that went away when it became an online program, however, like I said, all they did was work on solo pieces. He really enjoyed it.
Assuming the in person program will be quite different, but my S thought the faculty was great and he got a real sense of where he stood in comparison to his peers and those a bit older.
He also did the ArtsBridge Art Song program (online at the time) and loved that one because the faculty comes from a variety of schools, not just one. I recommend that program and organization highly. In fact, he met his future studio teacher during that program!
And! He did Carnegie Mellon’s precollege program- online, that one was a bit of a disappointment. I imagine the in person version would be a lot more satisfying.
I only wish he had one more summer to do an in person program, but oh well!
Best of luck to you and yours!
1 Like
Thank you!
2 Likes
It’s just one week and seems to be a packed schedule.