| I will also add, from a jazz perspective, that my son is studying with a teacher whom he greatly respects and admires and has a good relationship with, though he did not meet or have a sample lesson with him prior. Although we visited his school a couple of times before he applied and sat in on some classes and rehearsals, I did not know at that time that you could request a lesson. However, his selection of schools and teachers was based on the teachers whose technique and style he admired and wanted to emulate, so it worked out quite well. There was one school he applied to where he did not care for teacher's playing, but admired students of the teacher. In the end, however, he decided that was not enough for him.
I wanted to also respond to this earlier post by violadad:
"There are egos that require stroking, there are politics that complicate the process, there is nepotism and favoritism. It is important to be aware they exist... at the undergrad, grad and professional levels. Just like any other discipline or profession."
I am glad this point has been clearly stated and I appreciate the perspective Vieutemps5 has provided because I have certainly seen evidence of this. The audition is critical, and it is important that the student focus on preparations for the audition and not so much on these things. But I don't think the music audition process is any different from academic admissions in that these extraneous considerations do sometimes find their way into the process. |