all marks good except one really bad: what to do?

violindad
Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:00:16 +0000

I do not think that there is any guide or anything written with any authority that compares the quality of US music schools with those in Canada. Any attempt at such a guide would probably be useless, in any case. Within any school there is huge variability as to studio teacher quality and class quality. In any case, a teacher that is excellent for some students could be death for others! You need to find a good fit for yourself.

Here are some things that you can do on your own to help inform yourself:
a) Read teacher bios. Where did they study? Where and with whom have they performed? What recordings have they made? What are the reviews of their performances and recordings like? Where do they teach in the summer (helps to have connections to competitive summer programs and your teacher’s presence at a top summer program speaks to how they are regarded within their discipline). At what other schools have they taught or are they currently teaching at (many top teachers especially in the East teach at two or three different schools)?
b) Look at the bios of laureates of major competitions (if a top performance career is where you think you might be headed). Where and with whom did they study (for undergrad, grad, diplomas etc.)?
c) Talk/email/facebook with at least three or so students in each of the studios/schools that you are seriously considering.
d) Try to figure out as much as possible what you want in a school. Do you want the stimulation of strong liberal arts courses and students that are not majoring in music? Or do you want a total immersion experience where you do as much music as possible and hang out with serious musicians as much time as possible? If you can determine whether you want the broader or narrower approach (or a combination), this will help narrow your focus considerably.

Anyone that attempted to rank or tier music schools on this board would probably get 10 critical responses for every supportive response.