missing academics with BM

YeloPen
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:38:19 +0000

Piano Parent, it would take me about an hour to assemble the links, but look for threads/posts by Yelopen (clarinetist/comp sci? at Yale)



I am a clarinetist at Yale doing chemistry or math (though I listed myself as chemical engineering on the acceptance thread). If you’re thinking of Clarimom’s son, he is a clarinetist here doing computer science. Also, Terrence C is a vocalist at Yale, not at Harvard :)

That said, Yale’s music is incredible. There is certainly no shortage of talent. YSO is extremely competitive; I’d say everyone in the orchestra could have gotten into at least a decent conservatory. There are several musicians in the group who were accepted to some of the top programs and some who even transferred to Yale after studying at Juilliard or Eastman for a year. I got into Bienen School of Music at Northwestern and did not make it into the orchestra; Clarimom’s son, who is a good friend of mine, got the spot and you can look up his impressive acceptances on the thread from last year. Talent in other aspects of music is also prevalent, i.e. in conducting. One conductor graduating this year was top in Curtis grad school auditions, or so I’ve heard. There are several popular student-run orchestras and YSO often has students conduct pieces or run a rehearsal once in a while so those opportunities are plentiful.

Lessons are great. Studying with actual Yale School of Music faculty is not as uncommon as people think. At least for violinists, I think everyone in YSO taking lessons is taking them with a SOM faculty member in an actual studio-type setting. Much less common for an instrument like clarinet, though Clarimom’s son is incredibly talented and Professor David Shifrin did accept him into his studio. I personally am studying with a graduate student, but he is constantly featured on the SOM website for winning national competitions here and there and he is a great teacher.

Chamber music is not uncommon. There’s a pretty popular chamber music class, and students around campus are eager to be in a group. I formed a wind quintet within the first couple weeks of school, and we rehearse regularly and performed in a student-organized chamber music concert during first semester.

Most importantly, there is no shortage of passion for music at Yale. Yale is a fairly artsy school in terms of extracurriculars. Concerts are happening around campus all the time, and everyone is extremely supportive; musicians and their friends attend each others’ concerts regularly. There is no lack of music geekiness; my friends and I are constantly talking about music and running around campus singing symphonies and going to the amazing music library to check out recordings, pieces, etc.

Even though there’s no music performance degree offered, Yale musicians still go on to professional music careers. For instance, a clarinetist in the LA Phil graduated from Yale with a BA in Russian Literature. There are several others playing in NY Phil, SF Symphony, etc. etc. A lot of conductors and composers as well.

All these musicians are also very multi-dimensional in their talents and interests; i.e. musicians who are International Chemistry Olympiad medalists, national computer science competition winners, photographers, electro-musicians, etc. (no exaggeration, those are all real people I know here). All in all, I couldn’t have made a better choice. My love for Yale is never-ending so sorry for the long post :)