<p>oooo congratulations on that Caltech acceptance! As a fzx nerd, Caltech was tied for my #1 choice. One of the baseball recruits from my high school told me they sit in the dugout and calculate trajectories among other things. Now that’s baseball! About music at ND:
There are auditions. These are held at the beginning of each year. One need merely sign up on the sheet in Crowley hall in order to be heard by the conductor, a one Mr. Daniel Stowe (<a href=“mailto:dstowe@nd.edu”>dstowe@nd.edu</a>). I think auditions are relatively easy, as I did terribly during mine and still made it in. However, the orchestra is worked relatively hard. The time commitment is variable. Most of the time, rehearsals are from 8 to 9:30 on Tuesdays, but this changes very rapidly. He usually sends out an email specifying time, and often this goes from 7:30 to 10 or later. I remember one instance in which we were rehearsing until almost 11. Further, he often holds back sections for sectionals after rehearsal. Sometimes sectionals are required at irregular times; for instance, an 11 o’clock sectional during midterms week (but he did check to make sure none of us had a test the next day, so no worries). If he feels additional work is necessary, rehearsal can be scheduled on Thursday night for the same timeframe as on Tuesday. It should be noted that all of this time is not without purpose, as the orchestra markedly improves throughout the year. Further, it really felt justified when we toured Florida over winter break (an entire week for only $150 a person, including airfare and meals). The orchestra does go on a tour annually, alternating between national and international locations. Weekly private lessons are not included in tuition, unfortunately. Thirty minutes a week will cost $240 for the semester, while an hour will be double that. As far as someone to talk to in the music department—walk into Crowley Hall and talk to the desk person, who will be able to provide some answers. But the biggest person to talk to is Dan Stowe himself, who has an office in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Since I don’t play a string instrument, I have limited knowledge of string groups on campus. I can’t imagine they’d be nonexistent, but let’s face it: violins sound like someone hitting a baby with a cat.</p>
<p>just kidding</p>
<p>I like to make fun of violins because several of my best friends at home are violinists who played with me in youth orchestra for years. I call their instrument irritating. They call mine a battering ram (but silly string players as they are, they don’t know it’s more like a bazooka!). But really, it’s all in good fun. </p>
<p>I would email Dan Stowe and set up an appointment. He happens to like violins a lot, or at any rate needs some good ones. Good luck!</p>