She is not open to any other major than violin performance at this point. We’ll see if she changes her mind, but I doubt it. I have spoken to her voice teacher about possibly preparing her next yr for possible voice auditions in case she opens up to that possibility. But, right now, again, she is a solid no on that front (which is hard for us to process bc she excels without much effort but practices for hrs every day for violin. It does make us believe that violin is a true love.)
So wouldn’t it make sense to do both orchestra and the extra teacher assuming that teacher is for violin And decrease voice? Piano is useful for theory as you said. It seems her time is taken up by having so many interests and it might be time to focus more on one? If she wants a BM that is. I don’t know, just throwing it out there.
Oh, I understand your suggestion. No, not really. Voice is only a 30 min lesson and is close by (and we go there straight from piano, so it isn’t even disruptive. It adds minimal to our schedule.) Orchestra is 2 hrs and is 45 mins away, so it is at minimum a 3 1/2 hr commitment per week. It consumes our entire Monday evening (plus Sundays on concert days bc their concerts are over 2 1/2 hrs bc all 6 levels of orchestra play, plus the drive.) Her practice for orchestra is fairly minimal, but it isn’t zero. (Voice she practices while doing other things like singing in the shower, washing dishes, etc. Not quite the same as violin.) She already gave up musical theater this semester bc of her school load. (And MT is her happy space. Giving it up was her decision.)
Got it! It’s so hard when they have to start making choices. Too bad about MT too. She is multi-talented!
Just a few additional generalizations with the caveat that all musicians are individuals with their own paths and priorities.
In general, classical strings will prioritize individual preparation with a high level teacher along with chamber ensembles, appropriate master classes as well as theory and/or piano. Participation in orchestra is often the lowest priority due to the heavy time commitment and section playing which does not allow the collaboration of small ensemble playing.
Classical winds/brass likewise prioritize working with a high level teacher, master classes, theory and/or piano. They tend to be less involved in small ensemble groups and more likely to want orchestral experience. This is because a wind section in an orchestra is basically a small ensemble. In addition, some auditions will include orchestral excerpts and it is helpful to have experience playing these orchestral solos with an orchestra.
My wind player son who attended a high level conservatory was initially surprised that many violinists (who entered the conservatory with recording contracts even as young teenagers) had never played in an orchestra before.
It is a matter of where you want and need to spend your time and energy.
Again, there is no perfect recipe. And I would venture to guess that all kids/families make educated choices along with mistakes which are an opportunity to course correct. All part of the process. And also part of our musician’s lifelong journey.
4 Likes
That’s mind blowing! Wow. Thank you for sharing that. It really puts things in perspective. She has played in orchestra since she was 9. Skipping a yr should definitely not be a problem.
2 Likes
I am pretty close to 100% certain that for violin performance, that dropping youth orchestra and all state won’t hurt her applying to any music school for performance. One of the ironies is that with strings, even ones like Rice that emphasize orchestra and ensemble playing, the teachers still emphasize solo playing. In getting in it is as others have said, it is going to be about her audition, they don’t look at the CV . I don’t have direct experience with applying to a music school inside a university(my son didn’t go that route) but I doubt it would hurt them with the academic admissions side of it if going for performance. Where it would be a value I suspect is if music is being used as an EC for non performance, then being in all state, youth orchestra might matter.
Personally anything that works to advance her personal playing (ie the other teacher) would be what I recommend. That the other teacher was at that high a level and you say has contacts in the music world is no small thing. Besides supplementing her current teacher, having contacts is a big deal, it means he knows what schools are looking for, he probably knows the reputation of the school in strings, who he thinks would be a good fit, and also may be able to grease the skids if your D applies to a program to get into that teacher’s studio. The other thing is when you apply to music schools, many of them want letters of reference, and having one from a ‘known’ teacher can help IMO.
One thing I would recommend, make sure her main teacher knows about it and why you are going there, some teachers can get snippy with second teachers or want to in some ways coordinate with them, so they aren’t teaching the same thing:).
It is good your D is taking piano, but this notion you need to be proficient on the piano to get into music schools puzzles me. Even in checking the admissions requirements for schools like Curtis and Juilliard and NEC and the like, I have not seen one for strings that says ‘must demonstrate proficiency on the piano’. However, for performance students, they do require students to take classes to gain basic proficiency on the piano after enrollment or will let a student test out of this requirement (music theory , which is also required, all comes back to the piano). So taking piano lessons is not a bad idea at all, as is taking theory, it can lessen the load when you get into a music school, but it is not a requirement, the same way music theory isn’t.
I assume her voice training is her own personal desire (which again, certainly doesn’t hurt her, both in having a rounded view of music and also feeding her love of music), def no requirement on that.
Hope this helps. Again, in summary, I agree with others, unless youth orchestra and all state drive her forward, the extra teaching sounds like a big win to me.
3 Likes
Thanks to everyone for their input. We have been praying for doors to be opened to help know what is the right path. Monday early evening is the perfect time for us to be able to travel for a lesson. (And anyone who has tried to get in with a new teacher knows how hard scheduling a time that works can be.)
I finally contacted him today. After interacting, his response was that he was excited to get to work with her. He asked if there was any way we could make Mondays at 5 work! It was like a weight was lifted bc we are 100% at peace that this is the right path!
5 Likes
Awesome, I am glad it came together, scheduling can be a nightmare with teachers, my son over the years had other teachers working with him besides his primary and it could be difficult scheduling and getting him there.
One thing about the ‘right path’ when it comes to all this is there isn’t one right one, and the reality is that very few choices you make will totally block someone from succeeding in music. My observation FWIW is that when something seems to have not worked right, the person ignored their instincts and went with something they otherwise wouldn’t do because someone else told them too. To give you an idea, one year my S did a chamber music summer program, and he agonized over going there. He really wanted to, but the ‘experts’, other kids, some music parents, etc were telling him he should be going to Aspen, which among a lot of top level young music students is kind of this mecca, it is the unofficial summer program of choice of many Juilliard pre college kids (or was)
He ended up going to the chamber program for 2 years, and it literally changed his life, there is a direct line between there and where he is today many years later.
2 Likes
I do think it’s fine for your daughter to skip youth orchestra for the year.
I did think of something. My son is a brass player so maybe it’s different or has changed since he applied for 2003. A few of his schools actually wanted a list of all orchestral repertoire he had done. He was able to do this because I had saved every single program! He listed the orchestral piece, and if he was a soloist or first chair, he listed that.
I’m not sure if this is done at all anymore…or with string players. But my kid had a very robust list of repertoire because of summer orchestral programs, and Precollege orchestra. Did this matter? Who knows?
This is not typical for string players – I can only remember one of my kids ever being asked for a list of orchestra rep or excerpts, and that was for a summer program.
1 Like
I think music resume (as part of a supplement or simply listed on the application) is more important for students applying to BA programs, whether intending to major in music or not. For a BM program, the audition is the thing. It sounds like the consensus here is that the extra teacher is a priority with a BM in mind, and it would be okay to not do the youth orchestra. Of course, assuming that is what the daughter prefers.
She had her first lesson with the teacher yesterday. It only took one lesson for both of us to know that this is the right decision. Definitely a case of where you recognize teaching limitations impacting output. Wow. Incorporating slight differences but making a huge impact on sound.
8 Likes
That is awesome, I am glad it worked out! I am not a musician but one of the things I have observed, especially with strings, is that small things amount to a big deal, if that makes sense, and the thing is a lot of teachers either can’t (because they don’t see it) or don’t bother with them. When my son switched teachers when he was 11, it was incredible what the new teacher picked up on, the details of where his playing was not good, it literally was a list.
It was where we became aware of the levels of teaching (and playing). His prior teacher went to one of the bigger name music schools, was a principal member of a pretty high level orchestra, yet had missed so much (or quite frankly maybe didn’t care).
Anyway, sounds very promising, congrats.
2 Likes