I appreciate everyone’s input here. It’s always quite helpful, if not just to ease an anxious parent’s mind, but also to hear other’s thoughts on the whole process of how they selected a school based on their particular child’s needs and wants, and what the range of possibilities are afterwards. (It certainly is quite comforting to know that the range is indeed far-reaching, and a BM is music seems rather flexible.)
For me in particular, it helps because my kid is the only one in his high school, that I know of at least, pursuing a path where he will be wholly devoted to the arts. (He does have an older sibling who has gone through the college process, but this older one attends a regular four-year university–the process this second time around has been twenty times more stressful, complicated, and anxiety-inducing. And I’m referring to both the kid’s anxiety, and to mine.)
@George2020 we didn’t have money either. Other kids in the family worked. But music kid got funding from college for summer programs, including airfare. For long term concerns, the summer programs and festivals were key in getting into a funded doctoral program (composition). So no cost to master’s. In the end it saved money even if we had to pay a little.
I fear that things have changed and without school funding, those who need to work may suffer in the extremely competitive music field. I don’t like it but it is a reality. Maybe jobs in music for the summer in addition to a day job?
My D20 is at CIM and has done summer festivals in 2 of her 4 years. CIM has scholarships that students can apply for that are need based as well as merit based. They are granted on a rolling basis (I believe monthly) and you can specify an amount you’re asking for. In both cases, she got exactly what we asked for. We don’t have much need, but she was able to get her travel costs covered by the CIM grants. I do know of one other student at CIM who has demonstrated need and received 100% of her tuition and travel covered. I hope this helps!
I have a bachelor of music in horn performance from a conservatory. My husband majored in bassoon performance. I am a teacher (masters degree in elementary ed) and he is an attorney (admitted to law school straight from undergrad). We both changed paths after undergrad, and were not held back by having a B.Mus. in performance. What would have held us back is having no bachelor’s degree at all.
Also, on another note… Colburn is my son’s dream school. He’s a 13-year-old cellist, so we have a few years. But do you have any advice for getting admitted to Colburn (beyond playing a fabulous audition)?
For Colburn, it’s so small I’d say putting yourself in front of the teacher matters a lot to get those personal connections. We are also strings (not cello), and it was near impossible to contact the teacher…Like 5+ months of trying. Pull other contacts who know him, sign up or audition for anything he’s a part of, go watch him play or see his studio play, etc. Assuming you are also one of the top in your instrument and you are lucky enough to make personal contact through trial lesson and/or outside program, I’d say you have a much better chance at acceptance when the time comes.
Well of course it basically comes down to having a fabulous audition. But a few other thoughts:
Work with a teacher who has had some success in placing students at high level programs.
Find opportunities for growth musically and as a performer through master classes, festivals, summer programs, competitions.
Although it is nice to have a dream school, encourage your son to explore and get excited about other teachers and programs. I see some kids with the “dream school or bust” mentality suffer some real burnout if their path does not go as planned.
Foster balance with activities other than music for these early HS years. The hours of practice (especially for strings and piano) are so important, but can become overwhelming and a grind. My kid found it healthy to participate in sports for example. Not just for the physical activity but to have a peer group outside of his music world.
Hello, looking for some advice/connections. Any students in this forum who are studying classical music composition program at MSM (or parents who can help)? Can I request you to message me please? My S is accepted there for BM comp and I wanted to get some senior students perspective.
Intense practice, of course, not just going through the motions to please a parent or teacher.
First, you have to get the audition, so work hard on how to record the best video possible (not expensive equipment, but how to maximize sound, lighting, mic placement) and mixing sound with video (separate audio recorder from video). This takes years and pays off for all the other auditions too, of course.
Second, pursue opportunities for public performance. On audition day, there were many children from all over the world, and that was only one of many audition days for our child’s instrument. So you’ll be competing with many of the best 17-19 year olds from the entire world. The audition cannot be flubbed despite the pressure, and there aren’t excuses for upset tummies, taxi driver got lost, didn’t have time to rehearse with pianist that we hired, and so forth.
Third, come ready to learn. Colburn asks the auditioning students to plan on being there all day in case they get a call back for a second hearing. This second hearing may be more of a “getting to know you” session and may have some criticism of what you need to fix in your playing, and being ready to not only accept critiquing from a top-notch music instructor but being ready to immediately apply it will be important, if that opportunity happens.
Fourth, it may be very difficult to get on the radar of a particular instructor, but is very much worth trying. May cost you as much as $500 for an hour lesson, however. Still, it definitely gets their attention (for good or not so good, depending…).
I have never in my life- even with members of top ensembles and orchestras- been charged $500/hour for a lesson! I do agree trying to schedule lessons with potential studio profs/instructors to get a feel for their approach. But $500? Many of the instructors we contacted were happy to have a 30-60 minute session, schedule permitting. Most didn’t charge, especially after viewing pre-screen materials, and before the audition.
$500 for a single meeting is something. Especially for access to a school that is “free” which one would hope would be more egalitarian than most programs. Both my kids had sample lessons at a range of programs, we were never charged but we always offered. I would expected less than $200 for sure, maybe more like $100.
Having been through the music process with 2 kids, with a 13 year old hung up on a single extremely competitive program with tiny numbers that could potentially vary by year? And faculty isn’t always stable for years, so who knows. I’d be introducing my kid to a wide range of options and encouraging an open mind when audition season comes around.
Hi,
let me clarify, I don’t know what Colburn teachers charge for lessons, but I do know some others in the area that can charge that amount. We were forewarned about one, who ended up giving my son a lesson for free, but we saved up to be ready to pay that much if necessary.
My guess is that is probably to discourage those who might waste their time by having a woefully unprepared child take a lesson with them.
On the other hand, I do know people who paid to fly their child every other week to another state, buying an extra seat for the cello, to get lessons from a great teacher, so some people are likely paying those high fees.
I agree, though, that you are likely to pay much less or even get a sample lesson for free, but you should be ready to pay a high fee if asked. It might just be a test to see if you are serious about supporting your child, or who knows?
Also, we did notice living on the coast that fees tend to be much higher here for even normal lessons, so we weren’t shocked to hear of that kind of fee for a lesson. Ouch.
@Whatawildride, $500 for an hour lesson? The most expensive one we came across was $150 an hour, and it is with the top US orchestra instrumentalist, professor at the conservatory. Oy!
Has anyone here been to Mercer University/Townsend School of Music/McDuffie Center for Strings? Does anyone have an idea of how big the school of music is and the ratio of undergrad to grad students?
Or if anyone has been to Macon, could you please tell me what it is like there?
But do you have any advice for getting admitted to Colburn (beyond playing a fabulous audition)?