College Discussion - View Single Post - So You Want To Be Music Major

BassDad · 11-07-2006, 03:33 PM

Musical word of the interval: Concerto - before about 1700, this word simply meant a piece of music for both voices and instruments. The modern usage refers to an extended piece of music in which a solo instrument (or instruments) contrasts with an orchestral ensemble. The solo portions are often very involved and virtuosic, frequently culminating in a particularly flashy passage (the cadenza) just before the end of a movement. Cadenzas are sometimes written by the composer of the concerto, sometimes written by a noted performer of the appropriate solo instrument, or (rarely these days) they can be improvised by the soloist. You may see the plural form of concerto written as either "concertos" or "concerti." Traditionally, the solo parts are performed entirely from memory.

Just when you thought it was safe to come back to this forum, we present

Installment #3, "You mean you want to do this all summer, too?"

Back up a couple of months to January of sophomore year. Daughter had been back at school for about a week when her orchestra director asked about her summer plans. Clueless parents that we were at the time, we figured that summer would be a lot like the last one which daughter spent hanging out with friends and practicing in the wee hours until dawn. Boy, were we wrong.

When asked for recommendations, the orchestra director came up with a single word, "Tanglewood." He had big plans for daughter from the get go. A bit of research showed that regional auditions were to be held in New York City in five days. Not knowing any better, we made the call and found that all available audition times had been taken a month ago. However, the next day we got a call asking if we would be interested in taking the place of somoene who had just cancelled. Daughter went in with the two pieces that she had closest to being ready, the baroque sonata that was the all-state audition piece that year and the bass section solo from "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" that her youth symphony was currently rehearsing. Unfortunately, we found out in April that she was not accepted.

That sent us right back at square 1, but we managed to find some alternatives. We came across the website of the Strings International (http://www.stringscamp.com) while Googling some combination of Harold Robinson and summer music camp. (Hal teaches bass at Curtis Institute, along with Edgar Meyer; see Installment #2.) We found that they had long since filled their violin and cello sections but still had room for a couple of violas and basses, so we signed up on the spot. We didn't know it at the time, but this was a huge turning point.

Daughter filed much of the rest of the summer with other music camps, including one run by George Vance at the University of Maryland (now held at Georgetown, see http://www.slavapub.net/workshops/wrkshp2006.html), a Jazz Week at William Paterson University (http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/pub-in...05_sumjazz.htm) and a one-week session run by the American String Teacher's Association at Rowan University (http://www.stringconference.com).

She had two private lessons with Hal Robinson at Strings International, where he introduced her to some of the elements of the Rabbath method of bass playing. It was immediately obvious that this was going to be tremendously helpful to her playing and she asked Hal for additional lessons on the spot. She got those lessons in August of that summer, along with a reference to her next teacher, Joseph Conyers. At the time, Joseph was one of Hal's top students at Curtis. He is now the principal bass for the Grand Rapids, MI symphony orchestra and teaches in a college or two in that area. I expect he will soon be on to bigger and better positions and I recommend him as highly as possible to any serious bass student in search of a teacher.

From all of this, we learned that it is better to audition live in front of the decision-makers than it is to be taped for them at a regional audition. We learned that it is helpful to have more than four days of preparation for a major audition. We learned that there is a big difference between a good teacher and a great one. We also learned that daughter would not have been ready for Tanglewood the first time she auditioned. She was accepted there the summer after her junior year. Her eight weeks in the bass workshop and BUTI orchestra convinced her that she had to be a performance major and provided a wealth of material for her college essays. Of the ten students in that year's bass section, at least seven are now performance majors at top programs including Curtis, Juilliard, NEC, Oberlin, Rice, BU and one of the finest conservatories in Japan.

Has your son or daughter found a summer program to be of particular importance in their musical development? How has it changed their playing or singing?

11-07-2006, 03:33 PM	#5
BassDad Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: NJ Threads: 11 Posts: 1,844	Musical word of the interval: Concerto - before about 1700, this word simply meant a piece of music for both voices and instruments. The modern usage refers to an extended piece of music in which a solo instrument (or instruments) contrasts with an orchestral ensemble. The solo portions are often very involved and virtuosic, frequently culminating in a particularly flashy passage (the cadenza) just before the end of a movement. Cadenzas are sometimes written by the composer of the concerto, sometimes written by a noted performer of the appropriate solo instrument, or (rarely these days) they can be improvised by the soloist. You may see the plural form of concerto written as either "concertos" or "concerti." Traditionally, the solo parts are performed entirely from memory. Just when you thought it was safe to come back to this forum, we present Installment #3, "You mean you want to do this all summer, too?" Back up a couple of months to January of sophomore year. Daughter had been back at school for about a week when her orchestra director asked about her summer plans. Clueless parents that we were at the time, we figured that summer would be a lot like the last one which daughter spent hanging out with friends and practicing in the wee hours until dawn. Boy, were we wrong. When asked for recommendations, the orchestra director came up with a single word, "Tanglewood." He had big plans for daughter from the get go. A bit of research showed that regional auditions were to be held in New York City in five days. Not knowing any better, we made the call and found that all available audition times had been taken a month ago. However, the next day we got a call asking if we would be interested in taking the place of somoene who had just cancelled. Daughter went in with the two pieces that she had closest to being ready, the baroque sonata that was the all-state audition piece that year and the bass section solo from "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" that her youth symphony was currently rehearsing. Unfortunately, we found out in April that she was not accepted. That sent us right back at square 1, but we managed to find some alternatives. We came across the website of the Strings International (http://www.stringscamp.com) while Googling some combination of Harold Robinson and summer music camp. (Hal teaches bass at Curtis Institute, along with Edgar Meyer; see Installment #2.) We found that they had long since filled their violin and cello sections but still had room for a couple of violas and basses, so we signed up on the spot. We didn't know it at the time, but this was a huge turning point. Daughter filed much of the rest of the summer with other music camps, including one run by George Vance at the University of Maryland (now held at Georgetown, see http://www.slavapub.net/workshops/wrkshp2006.html), a Jazz Week at William Paterson University (http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/pub-in...05_sumjazz.htm) and a one-week session run by the American String Teacher's Association at Rowan University (http://www.stringconference.com). She had two private lessons with Hal Robinson at Strings International, where he introduced her to some of the elements of the Rabbath method of bass playing. It was immediately obvious that this was going to be tremendously helpful to her playing and she asked Hal for additional lessons on the spot. She got those lessons in August of that summer, along with a reference to her next teacher, Joseph Conyers. At the time, Joseph was one of Hal's top students at Curtis. He is now the principal bass for the Grand Rapids, MI symphony orchestra and teaches in a college or two in that area. I expect he will soon be on to bigger and better positions and I recommend him as highly as possible to any serious bass student in search of a teacher. From all of this, we learned that it is better to audition live in front of the decision-makers than it is to be taped for them at a regional audition. We learned that it is helpful to have more than four days of preparation for a major audition. We learned that there is a big difference between a good teacher and a great one. We also learned that daughter would not have been ready for Tanglewood the first time she auditioned. She was accepted there the summer after her junior year. Her eight weeks in the bass workshop and BUTI orchestra convinced her that she had to be a performance major and provided a wealth of material for her college essays. Of the ten students in that year's bass section, at least seven are now performance majors at top programs including Curtis, Juilliard, NEC, Oberlin, Rice, BU and one of the finest conservatories in Japan. Has your son or daughter found a summer program to be of particular importance in their musical development? How has it changed their playing or singing?