Hi all,
I am new here. I’m a junior in HS and a violinist, I have been playing for 11 years now and I have an interest in music. I’m fairly sure that I want to pursue violin performance as my major in college, although I might major or double major in biology / science as I am also interested in health and the body. I’ve been lurking here for a while now!!!
I’m already getting quite nervous about college, applications, auditions etc. and I wanted to ask for some general advice specifically regarding violin performance and applications at Vanderbilt.
I have already visited Vanderbilt last spring of my sophomore year - I am very interested in their school & I had a private lesson with one of the violin professors. I’ve also already met with my state rep for Vanderbilt, briefly.
Anyway, I wanted to ask all violin performance parents / students: what major concerto did you audition with? I know you also have to play unaccompanied Bach for a Vandy audition, and I am already working on Bach with my private teacher. As of right now I am working on the Mendelssohn concerto (1st movement) and last year when I visited Vandy I worked on Lalo with the professor.
Second question: statistics of test scores and GPA for Blair school of music students…what did your children or you get in with? I have a high GPA, not sure of my cumulative GPA but I will be talking with my college counselors this week to calculate it. As of right now this year my GPA is over 4.0 (weighted I think) and freshmen and sophomore years it was too.
I have not yet taken the ACT (will be doing so in Dec) or SAT, but I have taken the PSAT and I’m waiting for my scores back for this year. I got a 1210 on the one for last year.
Thank you for reading.
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Hi Suzukigirl,
I can’t help with much specific information on Vandy acceptances, hopefully you can connect with someone who can. I can give you the broad overview picture (which you are probably aware of!).
Although the big question from the student is always “What are you playing for auditions”, the real concern should be: “how well are you playing your audition rep?”. Because we rarely know the level of a student’s performance, hearing another student telling you, “I got in with such and such concerto” or “I got rejected with such and such” will not really give you much information (although it is fun to ask and hear the answers!) Ideally, your teacher has placed multiple students at conservatories in recent years. Your teacher is the best source of advice and guidance.
Lalo and Mendelssohn, along with Bruch, Wieniawski 2 and Barber 1st movement, are generally among the first major concertos a student learns. These are likely to be heard frequently at Vandy. So, you want your preparation and performance to be at a very high level to “stand out”.
I do know a student rejected from Vandy. Her Bach was significantly below the level of her concerto, which I suspect was the reason for the rejection. Do continue to take the Bach seriously, as you indicate you are. Audition committees are very interested in what a student’s Bach can tell them - stylistic considerations, phrasing, musicality etc as well as technique. Some students think they can blow this off and play through one of the easier Andante or dance movements, but this is not the case.
Best of luck to you.
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Just want to suggest that as time goes by, your goals for college will be clear. To that end, I strongly suggest that you read the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted closer to the top of this music forum. Good luck!
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