Getting admitted to a music conservatory

shennie
Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:19:15 +0000

“I believe my wife wants her to enter a prestigious conservatory to make a living later.”

There is a fallacy in your wife’s thinking. There are lots of people who graduate from major conservatories who do not find careers in music and there are lots of people who do not graduate from major conservatories who do find careers. Graduating from a prestigious conservatory in no way guarantees that she will end up with a musical career. Musical careers are continually developed based on audition results, a lot of hard work, and a great quantity of luck - being in the right place at the right time. In some quarters of the musical world, it is also who you know. If your daughter is going to pursue classical violin her career will be based almost completely on auditions. And no matter how good you are, there is always an element of luck to these. How well are you playing TODAY, who else is auditioning, what mood is the jury in, what exactly is the committee looking for, etc. Your wife needs to understand that there are no guarantees. However, that doesn’t mean that your daughter should not pursue music as a career.

My son got his BM from one of the schools on your list and an MM from another. He is 27 and struggles to make ends meet as a freelancer. However, he is pretty much happy and cannot imagine any other career. He is willing to live frugally for the opportunity to work with fabulous musicians. He is proud of the fact that music is his “day job”. But he works very hard and sometimes worries about paying the rent. And right now, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

If your daughter pursues music, your wife will need to understand that it is likely not going to be nearly as good economically as medicine, but that your daughter may be much happier.