Our 16 year old daughter double bassist went to Brevard Music Institute last summer and loved it - it really lit a fire under her and she now wants to be a professional musician. This year she got into Brevard again (waitlisted at Tanglewood) but I’m wondering if she shouldn’t try something that has both symphony and jazz? (she loves and plays both). I heard that Stanford has a great (but pricey) jazz program - and Idyllwild also has a jazz 2 week program and a 2 week symphony program (where a Colburn instructor that she likes teaches). So - my question is: Is the Idyllwild Symphony program to the same level as Brevard? What about the Stanford Jazz summer Institute? Any others she should look at?
To further complicate things - she is looking for a full-time residential program for next year (we live in SC and she doesn’t have access to any good bass instructors) - she is considering UNCSA, Idyllwild and Colburn Community Program - again, if possible, to play both classical and jazz. Any thoughts on these?
Money is a bit limited - are these programs really important for her to get into a good conservatory?
The UNT classical and jazz double bass workshops are held the same week as each other. At the end, they will play a song together - when S went for jazz, there were about 12 jazzers, and the final DB performance had 76 basses playing at once.
As someone who has also done Brevard (and a couple others summers back) in the past year… I think of course boarding schools can help further your education early on. UNCSA is a great program. However, I know a lot of incredible musicians that attend public schools located outside of major cities and get into the top schools. At our age, most teachers are fine in my opinion to build up the basic technique that we need! It’s the personal practice and motivation that I think counts a bit more. But if you do have the desire and money to attend a program, that can only help. One good thing about those, rather than faculty, is that you’d be surrounded by higher quality peers than in the current environment (however, if you live in a smaller city… summer programs can be great. It exposes you to higher level musicians than you knew and really motivates you).
As for summer programs, I have never heard anyone do anything at Stanford musically. Idyllwild is a good program for sure, but most kids that attend are CA kids that I know of and I would think it’s a tad less immersive and demanding compared to Brevard. I did Brevard last summer because of the reputation of the conductors and faculty, and passed on Interlochen orchestra. I definitely don’t regret it.
If those are the three choices, I would do Brevard again.
I’ve heard good things about the Bass Intensive at Curtis Summerfest. (Check with admissions if the deadline has passed. They seem have some flexibility regarding timing.) The instrument summer intensives are usually a better value than the orchestral programs in terms of access to high quality instruction. She’d also be able to get instrument-specific guidance about residential programs and other options for high-level instruction.
How close are you to Charleston? I’d think you could find a suitable private teacher there. Skype lessons are also possible – especially if supplemented with occasional in-person lessons.
I posted on your other thread and wanted to piggyback on what @GoForth said. This year, UNT has changd their schedule so that Lynn Seaton’s Jazz Bass Workshop is the week before the Bradetich master class, with a small break, so you could do both.
My S has attended the Bradetich Master classes for the last four years, and the year before that he did the intermediate camp. He has been in ensembles with players from Costa Rica, Australia, and all over the U.S. It’s been a great experience for him.