rcmama

Mom, on a roller coaster journey, hence the SN. D1 started playing oboe in the middle of 8th grade, is an Interlochen grad, and now a freshman oboe performance major at NEC. She is studying with the principal oboist of the Boston Symphony and spent last summer at Aspen. D2 is a HS sophomore, loves MT, has played bassoon for about a year and a half. At night, after she falls asleep, I whisper in her ear "I will major in something NORMAL when I go to college!" JK, . H is completely unmusical. I took some piano and guitar lessons as a kid, but nothing to compare with Ds. H and I both have cousins who are professional, semi-pro, or amateur musicians.

mom4

My son who is third of four kids, all musical, is a junior, cellist in a perf. arts high school, planning to go to conservatory or music school. H is an architect/sculptor. Big sister is a college dance/science major, biggest brother is a college social sciences major who is a music techie and writes great indy rock. Mom (me) plays piano, loves chamber music, and earns a living as a writer. I also have a 2nd cousin who is a conductor in Europe. Thanks for all your input on my queries.

mom55

Three kids; D is Italian/Art History major soph at Wesleyan; S is high school senior and is applying to both universities and conservatories for jazz studies/sax performance; D is in middle school. I have a great ear, can pick out any tune on the piano, but very little formal training. H can play the guitar a little. His great-great grandmother studied piano with Clara Schumann, for what that is worth.

momnipotent

Fun thread! DS is beginning college visits as a junior. He would love to attend conservatory to study tuba performance. Any other Tubas out there?
He is quite talented at violin, piano, guitar, bass and has excellent grasp of music theory. But tuba is his passion. We are open for any recommendations as far as outstanding programs. We are going to U KY next week to a tuba-euphonium program with guest Gene Pokorny (principal tuba of Chicago Symphony). Can't wait!

thzxcyl

Student. Piano performance. Double degree in JHU/Peabody.

ASW

Our D is a senior getting ready to audition on oboe. I played piano and violin for a couple of years when I was young. My husband played jazz saxophone through high school.

Piano/MT Mom

S is a senior applying to double major in piano performance and theatre. Older S is a senior history major at Oberlin who plays drums. I come from a musical family, but after childhood piano lessons and high school flute, I realized I do not have the talent or temperament. H is an information systems professor who designs/plays graphics software with live musicians, mostly jazz.

mommab

momnipotent:
Gene Pokorny did a master class and guest appearance with our high school band several years ago as a birthday (maybe graduation?) tribute to his twin niece and nephew who were members of the band. I took my son, who was in middle school at the time, and remember how nice he was and how well he related to the kids. Hope you and your son enjoy the program!

momnipotent

mommab-how cool! Can't wait till next week

momnipotent

I have just been reading through old posts with regards to auditions, summer programs and a variety of other topics. I wonder if all of you seasoned music parents would mind helping me with a timeline for admission to conservatory or university. DS is a junior. Plays multiple instruments but will major in tuba. This music school process seems to be quite different from what I went through with DD last year (she is studying international relations).

Also, I am on an extremely limited budget. Any suggestions on schools known for generous merit aid (for talent, not gpa) would be appreciated.

BassDad

In my experience, the schools that seem to have good financial aid include Curtis (DUH), Oberlin and BU. Curtis, of course, offers free tuition to all who are accepted (but expect to pay $15 to $20K per year to live in center city Philadelphia) and that acceptance is almost entirely based on the audition. Oberlin in the past has offered $8K to $12K Conservatory Dean's merit scholarships to about the top third of accepted students, and there are full tuition scholarships available if they really want someone. They have also been pretty generus with need-based aid. Unfortunately, they are taking steps to reduce their overall discount rate in order to avoid future financial problems. Admissions there is need-aware rather than need-blind, but they still claim to meet 100% of need for accepted students. BU has quite a variety of scolarships available, but many of them have certain GPA and/or standardized test score requirements.

By way of contrast, NEC is notoriously stingy, frequently offering nothing more than unsubsidized loans to some very good applicants. Peabody usually does not offer much, but occasionally will surprise you with some merit money if they both liked your audition and need your instrument.

Anyone else have experience with these or other schools?

edad

Eastman also has a history of being fairly generous. I believe merit in the $5-10K range is fairly common.

ImperialZeppelin

mominpotnet:

So far, everybody's assesmment on merit money has been very accurate at least at the "top tier" schools. You need to be cognizant that the lesser known schools tend to give more money to good musicians AND you're in luck since tubas tend to fall into the "not so popular" instrument category which increases your chances for merit money.

Like everything else in life, merit scholarships follow the laws of supply and demand. Since tubas tend to be heavy on the demand side, you're sitting much prettier than other instruments.

Timeline is simple. but it is VERY different than a normal LAC one:

If you haven't started already, NOW is the time to visit schools and arrange for lessons with teachers. You'll probably have to take a hiatus in the winter when most teachers are busy with auditions, but restart the process in the spring.

Start working on audition pieces as soon as the list of schools you want to apply to becomes obvious, but no later than early summer.

Have your S attend a summer program that will help his musicianship.

In the fall submit applications, both school and financial, ASAP and practice like a demon for auditions.

Winter - audition!

Late winter: Wait with baited breath!

Spring: make your selection and wonder how you all lived through this.

My $0.02...
Zep

momnipotent

Dear Zep-
You make all this sound fun! Son is already working on audition pieces. Is it too soon to ask schools if they have anticipated "need" for tubas in 08? This may help us narrow down our search a bit.

ImperialZeppelin

Never hurts to ask. They sure know if they'll be graduating any tubas in the spring of next year.