Coronavirus and Music Schools: What's happening?

[akapiratequeen]

Eastman just announced they are closing and putting all classes online for the rest of the semester, Kids are currently on spring break:

"Spring Break for Eastman and AS&E (Undergraduate and Graduate) will be extended by two days, with classes re-commencing online on Wednesday, March 18. This will allow our faculty and staff to prepare for the transition to online instruction. Dorms and student dining services will continue to remain open and operational during these two days. Specific information about this transition will be provided by the AS&E and Eastman Deans’ Offices.

Undergraduates should complete the semester remotely at their permanent home residence; students may return to (or remain on) campus if their individual circumstances warrant it. We recommend that undergraduates plan to complete the semester remotely. But we know that some students are unable to return home due to travel disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak or other factors; the University will continue to provide housing and food service for undergraduates who remain on campus, although students on campus will also take their courses online."

[tableforsix]

Manhattan School of Music has suspended Precollege for at least two weeks (3/14 and 3/21). They did reference possible online instruction.

College level spring break extended to 3/22. At this time they are still providing housing and cafeteria access for those who need it. Again, a possible move to online instruction is mentioned.

Campus closed to the public through 3/31 at a minimum.

They seem committed to helping the students complete the semester successfully even if the path is unconventional. Communication has been excellent with frequent updates.

[Pohsmom]

Berklee/Boston Conservatory will be completing its semester online as well. Juilliard is online only until the end of March and then…who knows.
Wondering if anyone’s child is a senior and if their school has addressed graduation or postponing vs. cancelling senior recitals. This is devastating for seniors who have worked so hard on these recitals and are no longer able to conduct or perform.

[Lendlees]

Temple is on a ‘wait and see’ approach right now - they had spring break last week. Rumor mongering among the parent community is running rampant, though. I’m a little less alarmist being in COVID-central (Seattle)…

Kid would like to stay if they keep the campus open and he has access to instruments. It’s a lot harder to have Skype-type lessons for percussionists. We will see what happens - worst comes to worse, he comes back home and uses his own instruments that he’s renting to another kid locally.

[BenniesMom1]

My kid’s Temple portal shows “COVID-19 update: Temple University classes move to online and alternative learning methods for remainder of semester” Remainder of SEMESTER! Yikes…

So far I’ve seen ONE of the schools he’s in post that they will continue auditions (I think they were scheduled through mid April? Anyhoo… so here’s how that’s going to work. Interesting. And due to high demand, they even ADDED an audition date in March.

How “remote” auditions will work:

Major Performance Auditions:

Students are encouraged to submit performance videos of their two Major Performance Audition selections, preferably via YouTube link, to our Music Admissions Team. Students should submit their videos the day before your scheduled audition date. Major performance professors will be given the link and will assess them.

Instrumentalists performing on pitched instruments will also include two scales of their choice.

Interviews and Vocal Aural Assessments:

On your scheduled audition date, you will receive an email invitation with a time to connect with our faculty via Zoom (download Zoom here). During that time faculty will conduct the Vocal Aural Assessment and Degree Interview. If the student has difficulty accessing a computer with video & audio capabilities or with adequate internet connection speed will we substitute with a phone call.

Written Theory Test:

[songbirdmama]

Northwestern university students are just finishing final exams for the end of their second quarter today. After spring break (april1) classes will be remote until April 27. All activities and concerts have been canceled. The music dean was convening with music faculty yesterday to address how remote learning will be done for meeting requirements such as choral, ensemble and recital work. My daughters voice teacher indicated she will conduct lessons by Skype, and that she has done it before, reassuring it does work. Fortunately my daughter‘s senior recital is not scheduled until the end of May, so hopefully that will be completed as planned considering it is her final degree requirement before graduation. Hopefully there will be more music specific info today.

[bridgenail]

Welp…my D show closes for 2 weeks after tonight…in a wait and see mode. The house is just under 250 seats so they could stay open but they are going to close. Good news…the company has guaranteed full pay during the two week suspension to the artists. To patrons they are offering to refund or move the value of the tickets to a future show…OR you can choose to donate the money to a fund to support the artists of the show.

MNOpera just closed for the rest of the season making the same offer on tickets as well. I chose to donate my future tickets to the artist fund. So where you see this, please consider the donation. If you have a favorite entertainment site, check to see if you can make a donation if that’s possible for you.

I am relieved my D will continue to get a paycheck for a while…after two weeks I’m not sure. The run was 5.5 weeks with a 2 week possible extension. I’m quite sure it will be less than she had hoped…but grateful the company is finding away to soften the blow. Luckily she has other income streams as well.

[JeJeJe]

Bridge nail—-

Thank you for posting your D’s current situation now. I have two separate concert tickets in later this month. I was very looking forward to. While all local school students (K-12) sacrifice their school learning / activities due to mass school closure, I totally agree that entertainment events should be postponed. One group of European artists’ concert has been officially cancelled. They probably cannot land in US now anyway. Another concert is a local Symphony which will be officially cancelled or postponed. I know members performing in the Symphony. I plan to donate my ticket to the artist fund if an option is given unless they come up with the same concert with same guests later in this year. I am willing to wait to hear great music.

My son is flying back from school tomorrow for his planned spring break and unsure “online / remote” classes until “at least” 4/12. He is busy packing now because he needs to pack for the worst case of scenario which is until “end of semester”. It really sucks for performing music major but social distancing is a key now.

[JeJeJe]

I just received an email from my son’s conservatory. Dining (unlimited meal plan) and housing will be credited on a pro-rated basis for the period of time my son is not on-campus. Some money will help us for extra travel arrangements…They are trying their best to handle this case. Now, we will see if they can accommodate “online / remote” classes with students in different time zone…My son’s first class is 9:30AM, Monday to Friday in this semester. No way he can make musical-sound at 6:30AM (PST) in our condo.

[akapiratequeen]

Writing from Rochester where we just finished packing S’s dorm room. It felt so sad. One of his roommates
was there packing up; the other is still in LA for spring break and
probably not returning. They’re all connected by text and will see
each other in their Zoom classes next week, but of course it’s not the same.

[Lendlees]

It’s looking like kid is staying in Philly - just waiting for confirmation that they will have access to practice facilities. He’s significantly better off there than here in Seattle - so really hoping they make it work.

[Lendlees]

…and just like that, he’s coming home. Philly mayor closed all non-essential buildings which includes college buildings. Need to cobble together instrument/practice facilities and private lessons.

[akapiratequeen]

@lendlees lessons should be online if at all possible. S starts Zoom lessons Wednesday. …

[Lendlees]

@akapiratequeen - Much harder for percussionists - no timpani lying around.

[BenniesMom1]

My kid takes lessons from the instructor at the University here, which is going to online classes in zoom. So, I get to see how this works tomorrow at 4:00 when he has his weekly lesson. REALLY curious to know how that works. He said it’ll make him feel like he’s already IN college since that’s what they all doing. ?

[Baribassmom]

Hi, all- my HS sophomore had his first FaceTime voice lesson on Saturday. He was reluctant, but after the lesson (bonus- moms got to hear it while ‘hiding’ in the bedroom on the other side of the wall!), he said it was great and he got a lot out of it. I guess we are all learning how to deal with no face-to-face contact. Thinking about all you guys going through this with kids away from home and wishing you all the best in these crazy circumstances.

[violinmom29]

Juilliard announced on last Thursday that they are going to remote learning for the rest of the semester and asked students to move out of the residence hall by March 22. My S was here in west coast for spring break when we heard the news. I got flight tickets immediately for my S and his father leaving to NYC on the same day of the announcement. They packed all his dorm room and came back here safely on last Saturday afternoon. Whew…….what a few rough days.

All his friends and suitemates packed everything and left the residence hall by today. Most of students are moving our very quickly because they are worrying about NYC to shut down. Some of his Asian friends are scared of anti-Asian attacks, there. Very sad and confusing time for them:-(.

On a more positive note, my S have started his classes and lesson by Zoom today! He thinks they went very well!! I gave him privacy during his classes and lesson and went to a war zone (a grocery store). I am planning to peek into especially his lesson next time!! I am sure that will be so fun to see!

[JeJeJe]

Most music students have been taking online classes about for a month. We now think this is our new normal to have our college student at home taking online classes in his small bedroom. Funny thing is, we even think that it is like a bonus for us to spend time as family together, teach our son how to cook, etc with Stay-at-home order.

Everyone thinks that online educations aren’t ideal especially for music performance major. Without in-person training, especially without ensembles, it is limited. I was wondering if any music schools / conservatories gave updates on their fall semester plan / schedule. Most likely, second (and third) wave will hit sometime in fall semester (or/and spring semester), hard or mild, no one knows.

My son’s private conservatory is having class registration week for fall semester. We all want to believe that fall semester is on-campus. They also extended a deadline for a leave of absence request for fall semester until 7/15 due to Coronavirus / economic impact. Those talent scholarship recipients wouldn’t lose their scholarship if they defer a semester. It is unusual because most music conservatories don’t approve leave of absence / gap year requests unless student(s) has some medical / health issues. At least, his school gives returning students (both domestic and international) an option.

[akapiratequeen]

Great info @JeJeJe. Like you, we have been enjoying having our student at home. Thanks to all the online classes, the house is full of music, and we’ve had some quality time together.

Eastman/U. Rochester recently notified students that they are considering three possible scenarios. My guess is that many schools have something similar:

1. Everyone returns in August as scheduled.
2. Classes commence online for the first quarter and everyone returns in October.
3. Classes continue online for the first term and everyone returns in January.

Obviously they are hoping for option 1. There have been very few cases in Rochester – ironically, it might have been safer for my S to stay there than to return to New Jersey – but of course, they need to keep it that way. Registration is happening this week, but as of now there is no decision.

[JeJeJe]

Good to hear that Eastman / Rochester has given students heads up. Is Eastern quarter system, or two semesters?

My son seems trying to keep his motivation high enough even online classes with P/F by looking forward to going back to school to study with his friends. He will definitely stick with his school decision, either online or on-campus in fall semester. He will live in a dorm next academic year (sophomore year) so it is good and bad…Good part is, we don’t need to deal housing cost if school goes online from beginning or even in the middle of semester. We expect to have some housing refund like we did for spring semester. Bad part is, dorm living is like cruise ship, instead of older people, lots of possibly asymptomatic young “healthy” people.

According to today’s news, a first death from Coronavirus was on February 6th in California, 3 weeks earlier than the first case in U.S. The virus may has been going around in community in January. There were lots of sick students at my son’s school after winter break including him and his roommates. I wonder if some students already had Covid-19. I am sure that antibody testing would help for colleges to analyze campus safety if it is widely available in next few months.

About online classes, since my son doesn’t like me asking about it (he was supposed to be far away from me if his school didn’t close), I can hear only through his bedroom door. I think that those classes seem going just fine. Some early morning classes are offered in the afternoon for some students in different time zones. Ear-training was questionable first but it seems going fine and keyboard class seems fine, too. Weekly private lessons sound great. Lots of new things every time he gets together with his instructor. But he sure misses ensembles…

His school sent out a very long letter about school’s financial yesterday. They are cutting budget deep by tops’ pay-cut, freezing hiring, pay freeze, suspending retirement contributions & capital projects, etc. But they didn’t mention any plans for fall yet expect they hope to open campuses if it is safe for students, faculty / staffs and community.

We will see which music school decides first for fall semester.