cello performance thoughts...BU, Ithaca, SUNY Purchase

soccercellomom
Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:14:04 +0000

In the short time I’ve been lurking/posting on this forum, I feel that this group such a broad depth of knowledge, and am reaching out for any thoughts on these schools. Over the years, we’ve spoken to our Private teacher, and the school teacher, and any other musicians we know. None of them even mentioned schools like Northwestern or CMU, or have recommended any of the summer music camps that everyone knows about here (Greenwood, Bowdoin, Meadowmount), so it seems you all have a different perspective, and we’d appreciate any thoughts you have about these three schools and their string programs.

If we had to do it all over again, we probably would’ve had her in stronger summer programs, and applied to some different schools. She was accepted everywhere she auditioned (waitlisted DePaul) with and with scholarships except for at BU.

Private teacher is pro BU, although she’s only familiar with Michael Reynolds, and his studio is full as of this week. We still don’t know if Marc Johnson’s studio is available, and given what’s been going on there this week, I didn’t even try in get in touch with them. We visited last weekend, D loved it (despite the fact that she didn’t care for it on our first visit a year ago). Spoke to chair of the strings dept. They have 32 or 34 cellists and prefer the number around 24. I know it’s a city, and my D thinks there will be more performance opportunities, but there are lots of cellists at BU, many grad students and lots of cellists at NEC and BC and even some at Berklee. No chamber music freshman year. Academically the strongest school she was accepted at. Cost of BU will impact ability to help with Grad School costs and summer music experiences. I also feel like it’s not a campus, which was her original observation. This doesn’t matter to her now, she’s heavily influenced by her private teacher and how cool Boston is as a place to go to school.

SUNY Purchase, good feel to the school. Likes the fact it’s near a city and feels that she’d have more opportunity to play contemporary music. Seems to have excellent faculty and we got a good feel at the school’s accepted student day. Likes cello prof. and is going back next week for another lesson and to sit in on cello rep. class. Economical, and close to home.

Ithaca-I like Ithaca, but people who went to school 30 years ago are telling D the level of play is higher at BU. I feel that it’s more intimate, has nicer facilities, great faculty. She really likes it too, likes the professor, but feels she’s too far from a city. I don’t think that matters much at this point in her education. They have study abroad programs, but not as specific to music as BUs London’s Royal College of Music. Good scholarship, but requires she maintain a 3.0, which I think she can do. Will go back for another lesson and cello rep. class this week. Spoke to a more recent Ithaca grad that went on to San Francisco Conservatory for MM (viola performance/education major@ IC ) on scholarship that loved Ithaca and felt very well prepared for grad school and her career.

I think we are splitting hairs here and she will do well at any of these schools. She likes the professors (however no lesson with Marc Johnson yet) but how much can you really know about a professor after a one hour lesson?
We’ve sat in on different rehearsals and classes and that’s helpful too.

Husband and I feel slightly guilty for not being supportive of her going to BU at full price, but did tell her up front that she’d need to work hard to get a scholarship there.

Any thoughts?