Financing grad school for MM in performance

bridgenail
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 22:19:26 +0000

@songbirdmama - I would guess most schools know what the operas are going to be by audition time. The auditions for grad school are looking for talent AND needs for upcoming operas (in my opinion which could be right or wrong). I would guess your D’s UG school does this as well…knowing the jr and sr talent available when deciding on operas for the next year. For UG VP need is not such a big deal. They are looking mainly for talent and not thinking about operas as much since it is rare to use a Freshman in anything but chorus. But of course they do have to balance out males and females to get a variety of voice types…they are not going to take 12 sopranos for a class of 20 (even if the sopranos are the “best”). But in grad school, the needs for opera productions could play a bigger role in offers (this seemed to be the case for my D).

In general, I don’t think most students get written offers (but I’m not sure…some may). My D did not. But she did get some verbal reassurances that knowing their talent pool and her abilities, she should expect opportunity A, B and C (which would still require auditions once at the school). These assurances came from her teacher and another running a grad program. Those opportunities did come through. I still think in general the scholarship offer and teacher enthusiasm/dialogue will help your D decide…more so then anything in black and white…but I’m not sure as people don’t tend to share a lot of that information.

At my D’s UG, which had a large grad school, there were lots of “whispers” about deals like this in grad school…and I think that there may have been some deals for some intl PD candidates…but I also think some of it was sour grapes too. How knows for sure? But in general, I think it’s a more humble experience…lol…for most…and a good scholarship with teacher encouragement is what to look for (at least that’s what I think…). If the scholarship is generous or negotiable…that’s a pretty good sign.