<p>My daughter is in a very rigorous academy, and I’m apprehensive about whether or not we made the right course selection. We chose the school because it has a good theater dept, and some nice opportunities. My daughter’s been there since 5th grade, and for high school, they share classes with an all boys school. She wants to study musical theater, voice and perhaps audition for the new Clive Davis music school at NYU. Of course, as parents, we’d like a backup plan since performing arts is such a competitive field. </p>
<p>She likes singing musical theater and pop, and she was going into the city for voice and vocal coaching until 8th grade (it was a very difficult year academically). The path for high school is: bel canto and then on to the Madrigal choir (which travels to europe for 2 weeks every other year) and then acting in sr level and ap music theory OR acting I, II, to honors acting (or acting for film/tv in lieu of acting I). With either path, you can audition for the fall drama or musical and spring musical as well as the Edinburgh film festival (no pre-req, just an audition). She took musical theater in 8th grade, and the head of the music dept, who also teaches bel canto and madrigals, prefers a more classical style of singing. She doesn’t like belting. If so, she likes the Kelli O’Hara or Kristen Chenoweth style. </p>
<p>Which would be a better path for a BFA program - going the bel canto/madrigals path or acting? Also, she goes to Stagedoor Manor in the summers and will also look into summer university programs in high school like Carnegie Mellon and Cap 21, etc. I’m overwhelmed as you can see! Lastly, how would awards/competitions factor in? Are there competitions and talent searches we should be looking into? I tried to search the forums but nothing came up.</p>
<p>Many thanks!</p>