lorelei2702

Large state universities with comprehensive music schools have enough majors in almost every discipline for 1+ full time applied music teachers. They are screened and hired by the faculty members in their areas, i.e. voice faculty by voice teachers, piano by piano teachers, but French horn by brass teachers, cello teacher by string faculty. Music history and music theory faculties are usually separate entities within the school. Conductors are screened by constituencies, i.e. choral teacher would be vetted by voice faculty, conducting faculty, probably music education faculty.

Most conservatories are in metropolitan areas where there are professional symphony orchestras, which serve as combined opportunites for faculty and performance; voice teachers may be still in their own performance career years or not, and their loads reflect that need for flexibility. Voice teachers are unique in that singers definitely reach an age when they are not likely to be performing, or if they are it is in character roles or strictly recital work. Dancers have an even shorter professional shelf-life.

In NYC conservatories, almost every applied music teacher is part-time/adjunct, and many have other gigs, playing in symphonies, and/or teaching at several different schools and/or maintaining private studio. At some schools, they have to maintain a certain number of students in order to get (health and retirement) benefits. Teachers are put on rosters, and then students who are accepted by the whole faculty chose with whom they want to study, usually as part of a ranking process before their audition. After the student is admitted, if the first requested teacher is not available, or if the student has not ranked the teachers, in the best situations the dean will contact the student and help negotiate a choice in a studio which has room...the teachers are not involved in the process, and this is good and appropriate, keeps politics out of grading and other kinds of decisions. Some places the student is told he or she must contact the requested teacher to see if there is room, and the faculty member can then chose which students they prefer from those requests....this is NOT a good process, too many problems arise.

binx

The teacher selection at Juilliard is "similar but different." During application, students are asked to indicate a first and second choice. At audition, teachers are asked to indicate on their judging form (or something) whether or not they would be willing to have a particular student in their studio. If the student is accepted, the two lists are compared - by the admissions department. The teachers and students are not aware of who picked whom; only that both were agreeable to the choice. Occassionally a student gets a teacher he did not select - due to the selected teaching already having a full studio or because the teacher didn't see himself as a fit with the student for some reason. But the students are made aware of what studio they've been assigned to at the time of acceptance, and they can decide if they are willing to study with that teacher or not.

Students can also change studios while at Juilliard, if agreeable to all.

mamenyu

From what I've been told by other music teachers, Juilliard's process is not all that blind; that seemed to be borne out at the audition, too. Perhaps it varies by department.

binx

The audition process at Juilliard is not at all blind. The judges watch, listen, and talk to the applicant. I'm not sure what you mean.

In terms of what I wrote about teacher/student studios; obviously, if a student has been in contact with a teacher ahead of time, it is certainly possible that one or the other knows they will be choosing/accepting the other - assuming they share that info. Let me qualify as well that I only know my S's experience, and anecdotally, his friends. That includes folks who got their first choice, and those who got neither choice.

My S did not have any trial lesson there, and did not meet either of the teachers he requested prior to the audition. (He was assigned his first choice.) He chose them by reputation alone. Juilliard did not request any references beyond his English teacher, and that is all he sent. They had his resume and talked with him at his audition. If he had any kind of edge apart from his application and audition, it was accidental - or out of my S's control - in nature. If the teachers contacted any of his former teachers, for example, we are unaware of it.

Obviously, I have no first-hand knowledge of other departments or majors.

MahlerSnob

"I have one question, regarding the Conductor's Institute. My son, '07 Hartt graduate, thought about applying last year as an orchestral player but took advantage of a couple of festival fellowships instead. In general, your opinion of the Institute's orchestra from your experience would be appreciated."

The orchestra at the Conductor's Institute is kind of a strange group. It's a rough mix of college students from various schools (many from SUNY's), local professionals, amateur players, and conducting students who play when they are not on the podium. The quality of the playing is decent: probably about the level of a mid-level conservatory orchestra, but far from the Vienna Philharmonic. That said, it's a pretty good gig. Room (and possible board) are provided, and my understanding was that the pay is pretty good. The real downside is the music. While Farberman always chooses good rep for the summer, there are approximately 40 conductors and the amount they cover in a given week is rather small, so you end up playing the same pieces or sections of pieces over and over again. This is fine when it's a Strauss tone poem or a Mahler symphony, but when it's Mendelssohn 4, which we did last summer, it gets excruciatingly boring very quickly.
The only major problem I had with the Conductor's Institute was Farberman himself, who looks something like Colonel Sanders but acts more like Musolini. His approach to conducting is very good for certain kinds of music (the kind he writes, for example) but is not very useful in just about anything else. Nevertheless, he forces everyone to use his technique in every piece conducted at the Conductor's Institute. It is a program I would recommend only to those who are either very new to conducting or who have serious flaws in their technique.

violadad

MahlerSnob- Thanks for the overview.. My son was considering it strictly as a paid short term summer gig, not for the institute itself.

bookcases

thanks to all who replied re: Bard... a lot of stuff to think about.. new vs established programs, the various outcomes of the double major. etc.