VicAria

There were a couple of what we felt were reasonably priced summer programs in the North Carolina area -- I think one was out of Appalachian State, or at least it was near Boone, NC; another was through the North Carolina School for the Arts. Still would be a haul for you, but at least 12 hours less than coming to the NorthEast!

lorelei2702

Cannon Music Camp at Appalachian State does a very nice four week program, well run, good conductors, and it is a beautiful place to be in the summer.

cartera45

I second how great it would be to be in Boone in the summer. The people there are incredibly nice -on campus and off.

piglet20

Hi ariamom--

I had a similar experience in high school. My director was very mean to me the whole time, never gave me solos, constantly berated me in front of the whole choir, told me to sing softer and with straight tone, made me sing alto when I'm clearly a soprano. I tried to appease him, but he really had it out for me. I stayed in choir because I loved the music, and because I had so many friends in choir, but the entire time, my director was a source of stress and discouragement.

The story has a happy ending, though. I'm currently studying at the Manhattan School of Music. I'm a great sight-reader because of singing alto, and I'm a whiz at new music and early music because of my straight tone skills. The repertoire I learned in those four years has also proved valuable, especially in music history classes.

Singing in choir was not vocally damaging, because I simply did not allow myself to get pushed around--my voice is MINE, and any time I thought what I was being asked to do would fatigue or strain my voice, I just lip-synched. I'm very glad I stayed in choir, despite how horribly my director treated me.

The schools WILL NOT care whether your daughter was in choir. However, they WILL care how she sings and if she's a good musician. Choir is not designed to make you a good opera singer, but it will expose you to tons of music, which is invaluable to the growth of a musician.

I'd also like to add that I'm from Texas as well, so I totally get the whole choir-obsessed director phenomenon. You just have to deal with it, and ultimately prove them wrong/crazy.

ariamom

Piglet--
Thanks for sharing your story! In addition to choir obsession we in Texas have to deal with athletics uber alles! There is a litany of transgressions on the part of this director that was highlighted on the last day of class when a college choir visited and that director talked to them. Essentially, all of our choir director's "techniques" were the opposite of what the college director spoke of--but were exactly what my daughter is being taught. They are getting no theory, no music history, no musical education other than learning the music. We are very comfortable with the decision!

She will be fully challenged in lessons and will have ample opportunity for choral singing as well as solo singing. She has a pretty amazing instrument and right now I can't even imagine where she'll be in two years when she auditions! MSM is also one of her top choices.

notfromme

VicAria-
I second what you said about NYSMF. Wonderful program!! D went there for flute, but was also very impressed with the choir and enjoyed performing with it!! She knew of some kids going for vocal and they loved it. It was a wonderful experience for my d and I expect to see and hear more about this music festival!! The faculty is incredible...MSM, NYU, Curtis, ect....I would highly recommend looking into this program.

piglet20

Ariamom--
That choir director sounds like a real dud. My director, while a jerk, was actually quite musically talented. I'm sorry to hear about yours, but it sounds like you're making the best choice by getting out of a bad situation. Best of luck to your daughter in all her singing!

Hoosier Mama

My daughter quit the high school choir after her sophomore year. The director was beyond incompetent and the whole program was a joke. We fretted about it, mainly because of all the advice we got that she would never get into a decent music program because of it. She went from the high school show choir to the local Bach collegium and loved it! She had a great voice teacher who let her perform some with the students at the university he taught at, learned an incredible amount from the Bach director, and headed to Interlochen for her senior year of hs. When it came time for college, she got into every school she applied to, including her top choice (Jacobs @ IU). I shudder to think where she would be if we had listened to the naysayers and made her stick with the hs music program.