Had no idea this could be considered when he was applying, wish we would have known to ask! He is headed to two this summer plus one workshop week which is local but will require daily travel fees, he did receive some aid from the two festivals but it’s still going to be an expensive summer! None of this was on our radar when he started school, but now we know to budget for them each year. Thinking he needs to ask around about additional funding or scholarships that may be available through the school or outside sources.
Just a few thoughts regarding budgeting from the other side of sending 3 kids to college/conservatory (2 music performance kids) similarly on a moderate income.
While music major kids are incredibly busy (honestly probably more hours than I put in as a STEM/pre med student back in the day) mine were able to work a fair amount by their third and fourth years. They prioritized music related and higher pay work.
My oldest ran their own small studio with about 6-8 students one day per week. My youngest had a decent amount of high paying music gigs and also worked as an RA for 2 of his years with room, board and a small stipend. Some schools promote and help students with professional music work more than others. And my kids found it really helpful for their growth to work in the field.
Regarding summers and festivals, yes funding is out there so one can often have tuition and expenses paid. We did not have any that offered to pay travel expenses though.
And every kid is different, but my son opted not to attend festivals for some summers. After a few years of immersive programming, master classes with visiting artists during the school year, he really benefited by having summers to practice, explore and expand on his own everything he was exposed to. Know that at some point, your musician will become their own teacher.
Regarding the expense of instruments, I know my son’s school had instruments available on loan for some students. So it never hurts to inquire.
Son’s conservatory also paid for professional audition expenses for 3-4 auditions per year which was really a great benefit.
We did not know a lot of this information up front, but just sharing our experience as a moderate income family.
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Adding in that my music major also fit in a good bit of paid work during the school year…he started out doing set up crew for wind symphony, which helped him land a job as assistant manager and then manager of the wind symphony, and he worked at the music library on campus…so all good experiences that could help with getting music-related jobs going forward as well. He was able to use the money from these jobs to buy his own bass clarinet a few months ago (after starting on a second hand student Yamaha in high school and then using Blair’s for most of college). I know music majors are already busy doing a million different things, but, honestly, pretty much every professional musician I know of is as well, so it’s a probably not a bad idea to get started learning how to do it early!
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Adding that mine has made an impressive income since freshman year gigging. Sophmore year he added teaching at his professor’s music academy and a weekly church gig (they pay incredibly well), and he also joined his local musician’s union so he gets gigs at the local symphonies now. He never asks us for spending money!
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Exactly!
Yes, my daughter is currently in need of a new viola and we are looking at buying one for 30K!
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30K! that’s a decent new car!
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The cool thing about high quality string instruments is that they appreciate in value. We justify our purchases in that way. 
My bassist husband has a beautiful upright classical bass made in the mid 1700s that his teacher practically gave him when he was a student. Also a vintage Fender and now a new Yamaha electric upright.
Oboes unfortunately do not appreciate in value, But fortunately they also don’t cost $30K.
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And then there is the bow, as important, another 6 to 10K.
I think the best value is in contemporary luthier made violins/violas. Sound and playability is surprising low on the list in terms of pricing with old violins.
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Appreciation isn’t a given, but it is real! We recently bought our 10th grade dd her last violin that we are willing to purchase. The luthier had had it in his shop for a couple of yrs. We had it on loan and purchased it. After the purchase, we wanted more than a receipt for insurance purposes. He couldn’t find his original records for when he appraised it for sale when he acquired it and asked us to bring it back in for a formal appraisal (free, of course). When we went back in, he was chagrined. He told us we got a great deal bc it appraised $4000 more than we paid for it just in those couple of yrs he’d had it in his shop and hadn’t reassessed his list price. It was a nice surprise for us. And dd loves that violin. (It is by a contemporary Cremona maker.)
Serious question - would it sell for $4K more?
When I got a wedding ring, every store was like our diamonds appraise for 150% or 200% of the cost you pay. And because I’m a sucker, I was smitten.
I showed the insurance guy - what i paid and the appraisal certificate - and he was like - you and the rest of society are fools.
If you paid x, you can buy it again for x. The appraisals are bs but great for the sellers to sell more merch.
And he insured it for what I paid.
Just wondering if these truly sell? Valuing vs. can get x $ for are two different things.
As long as we are talking about high value instruments, what do folks here do for insurance?
My son’s summer opportunity requires that we insure his instrument, and we have never done this before. It seems that with going off to college, we should have it insured as well.
Is this a rider on a homeowner policy kind of thing, or some kind of specialty standalone policy, since he’s an adult and won’t be (regularly) living at home?
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Absolutely. My oldest (a violinist) works for a very high end strings/primarily violins shop.
They do a lot of appraisals. It is a very objective process. So appraised value matches well with amount you would get by selling.
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We have a separate instrument insurance policy that covers damage as well as mysterious disappearance. (If you read about instrument coverage, you’ll find the latter is often referenced as making sure to have.)
We have both of DD’s violins (her less expensive one and her good one), 2 bows, and her violin case all on the policy. We got ours through Hartford. Not sure how it compares to others.
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Our insurance coverage is based on the appraisal, not what we paid. So there’s that. We hope this is her lifetime violin (it’s the most we can afford and as a “starving artist,” it is doubtful she’ll ever be able to afford a better instrument), so no intention of selling it. But, if damaged or stolen, we sure want it to be replaced!
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Thank you for this information. If I go searching or call them, is there a particular type of policy to ask for?
And did you have other policies with th for other things? Just trying to figure out if we should start with our homeowners insurance company.
Here’s some info. It sounds like you’d need to check your policy or with your agent. Some may. Others may not.
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Might look for companies that specialize in musical instrument coverage. Not sure if I’m allowed to give a company name, but many professional and student musicians we know use Clarion.
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We also use Clarion.
Buying an instrument is like buying a car. Once you walk off the lot the market will want to pay you wholesale. There will be a cost to auction, consign etc.
Most good shops (strings) will offer 100% trade in for next purchase.
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Our homeowner’s only allows a rider for instruments up to $6000. We went with Heritage which is what our luthier recommended. Apparently Heritage is a brokerage and uses Hartford. I have no idea how it compares to Clarion.
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