<p>My daughter graduated from Oberlin in 2009 with a BM in Performance in double bass and a minor in Ethnomusicology. It was very much the right school for her. While initially interested in the classical orchestral path, she had a lot of other interests that she wanted to pursue at Oberlin. In addition to classical double bass with Thomas Sperl, she studied jazz with Peter Dominguez. Peter encouraged her to sing while playing and, in her words, “what started out as a party trick led to the development of a unique style of solo performance with voice and upright bass accompaniment.”</p>
<p>She also studied classical Indian music with sitar guru Hasu Patel, hand drumming with Jamey Haddad and viola da gamba with Cathy Meints, all three of whom are highly respected in their fields.</p>
<p>The co-op system was another unexpected benefit. She rose through the ranks to become one of the head cooks (an elected position) which made her responsible for supervising preparation of dinner for 80 a couple of times per week in a vegetarian/vegan dining co-op that also had to be sensitive to certain allergies, including gluten. The meals were made from scratch with the students responsible for everything from budgeting, purchasing ingredients (many directly from small local farms), planning and preparation, serving and clean up. The meals were usually both healthier and better tasting than what was being served in the school cafeteria, and at a lower price. She used these skills to secure day jobs that let her support herself for a couple of years after graduation until she was getting enough gigs to go into music full time.</p>
<p>The winter terms worked out well for her, allowing her to pursue special interests, as did the ExCo classes that she took. At one point she was considering a dual degree with Mathematics and she was able to explore that possibility for over a year before deciding to concentrate on the music alone and she still graduated in four years.</p>
<p>Since graduating, she has supported herself with very little help from us. A few months back, one of her bands received the Audience Favorite award at an international music competition in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Yesterday, she auditioned at New England Conservatory for their Masters program in Contemporary Improvisation. She expects to get a decision from them some time in March, but it sounds like the audition went about as well as it possibly could have from her point of view.</p>
<p>It is good that your daughter visited Oberlin. The place can be a bit quirky, which makes it perfect for some and not so great for others, so visits are important there. If she is accepted and is still considering attending, I highly recommend the All Roads program that they hold in April, which lets accepted students attend classes, spend a night or two in the dorms, eat at the cafeterias or co-ops, and generally experience life as a student for a couple of days.</p>