<p>My D didn’t become serious about music until mid Soph year of HS, which is when she started with a serious teacher. That summer she (the Teach) encouraged a non-auditioned summer program (trying not to derail fragile confidence). However, between junior and senior year, she strongly discouraged any summer program of more than two weeks, because she wanted D to focus on college auditions. D’s teacher had a plan for preparing for college auditions and it involved summer lessons that sometimes went 2-3 hours.</p>
<p>I had already learned by then that my place was in the background writing checks. We listened to (and obeyed) the teacher because we knew she had the same goals for D as we did. And, so far, it has worked out wonderfully. D is thrilled to be heading to Florida State for music ed undergrad, knowing that Kowalsky/Bish will fully prepare her for grad school in clarinet performance, if that’s the direction she wants to go.</p>
<p>Thinking back to D’s first lesson with her teacher who said, “You have only 2 years until college auditions - that’s not much time…”</p>
<p>I am a non-musical parent (and possibly completely ignorant on this subject) but I do think the camp vs no-camp issue will vary depending on the needs of the student and a lot of other factors. I also learned recently that there are different types of summer music programs. Some are more orchestral and some are more for skill-building. Orchestral programs will have less time in the schedule for individual practice. My D is enrolling in a summer program. This is a critical summer for her as she will be a rising senior. She needs all the practice time she can get. But this statement from the admissions director at one program swayed us:
[Brevard</a> Music Center - Why You Should Attend](<a href=“http://www.brevardmusic.org/main/institute/attend/]Brevard”>http://www.brevardmusic.org/main/institute/attend/)
I would bet that most music majors have never attended a summer music program in high school. In our family we encouraged D to go for it not only for the musical benefits but also the non-musical benefits of learning to be away from home.</p>
<p>My daughter’s classical guitar teacher said the same thing. She was not at an advanced stage yet, but was coming along very nicely after maybe 4 years. She wanted to go to a one week guitar workshop, and he said it would be “confusing” and she should wait until her foundation was really solid.</p>
<p>This teacher’s wisdom, and the care with which he brought her along, would be hard to match anywhere. He was absolutely right.</p>