stringfollies

I can't seem to find a Rice-specific thread so I thought it might be useful to create one in which to share our experiences there last weekend for those who don't know about it.

Shepherd School is a small (350?) music school which has only 125 undergrads. The focus is on graduates who are by and large stellar on their instruments and go there for the outstanding faculty. The same faculty each take a few undergrads (some take more than others) and for the few who are accepted, it is a unique experience. The undergrads play in an orchestra with already-trained musicians and the orchestra is fabulous beyond belief. They also play with the grad students in chamber groups and are generally not treated differently from the grads except vis-a-vis curriculum (theory, aural skills, etc).

My S applied for violin performance. He had to choose only one teacher to audition for although the auditions are videotaped. Evidently, if the audition goes very well, but the teacher doesn't choose you, they can recommend you for other studios by video - don't know how often this happens in practise. This whole system makes applying quite a long shot, but if he were accepted, it would be a great program. The music students are accepted only if they are pretty good academically because they take core academics in the University which is at an extremely high level. If admitted, they can double major (no double degree option though) with an academic major so it isn't unheard of for music students to also do premed.

The winter in Houston is beautiful (it was in the 70's last weekend - a relief after Rochester, Ann Arbor, Madison, etc) and the grounds are modern and immaculate. The school is in a wealthy Houston suburb and feels very safe and secure. The music students live in dorms with students in other fields so they aren't at all isolated. The dorm room we saw was a suite for 8 students. It had 2 spacious common rooms and 4 tiny bedrooms with bunkbeds. One shared bathroom for all 8. It was not very nice, but maybe some of the other dorms are better.

The audition process was a little weird since you only play for one teacher in that teacher's studio. Apparently each teacher runs the auditions differently so it depends whom you are auditioning for whether you play for 10 minutes or 90. My S played for 10-15 minutes and then the teacher came out to speak to both of us. It went well, but she reminded us of the huge list of competitors (50-60) for her 3-4 slots for next year. About 2/3 of them were grad students. So it doesn't seem very likely that he'll get in, but who knows?

They had a short information session and then auditions. Finding a practise room on audition day (and on the day before) was no problem at all - nice after our experience last week at Eastman where practise rooms were very hard to get into. You could do a complete self-tour of the building as all the facilities are unlocked. Gorgeous theatres, charming practise rooms with views into trees. Very clean, but a little antiseptic in the hallways (there was very little on the walls). They also provided a schedule of classes and you were free to attend any that you chose. My S only wanted to hear the orchestra. He is usually antsy to leave once finished with an audition.

Good luck to any others applying there. It's a very cool place.

shennie

Rice was my son's top choice when he applied as an undergrad. However, his teacher only took 1 undergrad that year. He was #2 and ended up being waitlisted. He was quite disappointed but things worked out well anyway, as they usually do.

MomofWildChild

For voice, my daughter (now a Rice grad) auditioned for more faculty than just the teacher whose studio she wanted. I think there were 3 or 4 faculty members at her audition and they invited her down to sit with them and chat after she sang. She was quite impressed. They took two mezzos that year for undergrad.

Singersmom07

DD had the same experience for voice last year. When she visited the Chorale later that day, the director was the one who had accompanied her, remembered her name and greeted her in the class and had her join them in singing. . They also accepted 2 mezzos last year, and 2 sopranos. Not sure about the rest.

Cosmos

my friend is applying for bass as an undergrad. they only took two bassists past pre-screening and he's one of them so i'm quite proud of him! i think it's his top choice school; sounds like a really cool place.

stringfollies

maybe they should prescreen for violin too. it might make the process a little more transparent. good luck to your friend cosmos! the bass section in the orchestra was awesome.

team_mom

The double major at Rice, or any other school for that matter, should be only offered together with a huge warning label, "Only applies in certain circumstances." Rice's orchestra meets in the afternoon, the ONLY time that science labs are offered at the school. Since you can't EVER miss orchestra or lab, instrumental students cannot double major in the sciences.

Also, there are some music teachers at Shepherd that simply do not allow the students in their studio to double major, period. The best way to know, other than to ask the teacher, would be to discreetly ask a member of their studio. It's easier than taking the risk that the teacher get the impression you are not "serious" about your music. Or ask any else you know there. As you can tell, it's a very small, very friendly school. The students pretty much know what's going on with all the teachers and would be glad to share what they know.

Last thought on Rice as a music school. Warm, positive atmosphere, albeit demanding. Students offer lots of support to each other, as do some teachers. I've noticed that students often go out-of-their way to attend recitals whenever they can. Orchestra concerts can be standing room only. There is little internal competition. The only time I ever see that really competitive, I'll eat you for dinner attitude, is when they start talking about auditioning for jobs. I don't have a basis of comparison with other music schools, except Juilliard, where the atmosphere is VERY, VERY different.

MomofWildChild

Agree with the post above ^^^^ that the atmosphere at Rice is very supportive. My daughter still lives in the area and attends recitals whenever she can- especially to support singers in her old studio. When she first started at Rice as a freshman, she was VERY intimidated by the graduate students, but by sophomore year she got over that and by senior year she considered them peers. I also want to point out that a lot of the Rice grad students in the voice studios came from what I would consider non-elite undergraduate programs and they are AWESOME.