It’s the first year so it is really hard to anticipate. I signed up (twice!) for the info session and neither time was given the link, so I don’t know too much, other than that it is ridiculously expensive.
Faculty is good. It is not obvious how much time you will be spending with faculty, though, and in what capacity. My daughter was a bit worried that the schedule looked really busy (orchestra, choir, chamber music, and theory appear to all be daily) with minimal time for practicing.
But once again, it is really hard to know what it will be like since it is brand new. Somebody is going to have to just give it a try and report back to all of us.
This is the sample daily activity for the Violin students. No theory component but my son is not superb interested in choir. He did it for one year already (was very helpful for violin - totally recommended if people haven’t done it before).
I always find these sample schedules confusing. LOL It could be very scheduled; it could be only scheduled on some days.
My daughter is attending two very small selective chamber music programs. I’d rather not say which ones because they both only take about 4 violists and it would become very obvious who she is. (Though I think half the people on here likely figured out who we are anyway!)
We probably can guess . I do want to thank you for all the advices that you have been writing for everyone on this forum. It’s really appreciated for non-music parents like us.
There is a high 99.9% chance we will go with the Juilliard program. I will report back how it goes for everyone information. I’m sure they will adjust the program next year though based on this year’s experience. I also noted that they have application fee waiver for Juilliard precollege kids so a few of those kids might attend this program as well.
The debate will be which program to choose based on faculties/schedule for people focusing on solo/chamber track:
Heifetz
CSS Centerstage
NEC violin 2 weeks
Juilliard (lots of unknown since it’s a new program)
Curious, did they give you a sense for how many kids per instrument will be in the program? If they are standing up an orchestra my guess would be somewhere in the 20 range.
I didn’t attend the info session so have no idea how many violinists do they accept. Usually how many students per faculty members? We can take that number * 6 members.
For Heifetz, they do give out rejection letter one week after their status update letter (I consider this letter as a soft wait listed letter).
I was just informed that one my students got the rejection letter who is an alumna (Heifetz). Today was the first day for the status update. Maybe it’s little different this year?
My kids both got a letter yesterday saying they are made it past the 1st round, so I guess they actually did make some decisions? I assumed that was just a delay tactic but maybe they did actually do a 1st round. Your student plays cello (I’m assuming from the name)? My younger son has been to Heifetz jr for 3 years and every year it feels like he might not get in, so I think it is pretty common for alumni to not necessarily be offered a spot. I would not be surprised if my son gets a rejection.
Hi! Wondering if anyone can share their experience with Ascent’s chamber program, my 16 year old cellist wants as much solo work as chamber work this summer - and the faculty looks great - but wondering about the level and the time allocated to solo vs. chamber. Thank you!
My child was accepted to Music Academy of the West high school intensive. Has anyone had any experience at that festival? I know the high school program is new. Anyone else looking at it?
Also, does anyone know when Brevard results come out?
Congratulations! The college program there has good reputation. A close friend of my son participated last year. I don’t know about the high school program; however, I assume the high school students will have contact with the college students, which is highly beneficial in helping them figure out where they want to apply later.
We strongly considered applying to Music Academy of the West – the college program has a great reputation, especially for orchestra playing. And the teachers look excellent. We got burned with a new program once before, so we decided to give it a year and hopefully they will work out the kinks. It looks great, but it is really hard to know what level it will be and how it will shake out. I don’t know anyone who plans to go at this point.
My daughter (viola) went to Ascent a couple years ago and didn’t love it. Generally, their returning student rate is low, so I think we may not be the only ones.
The teachers are great, and she did enjoy the lessons. She felt that she did not have as much time to practice as she wanted, but some of this was because she was the youngest violist, which meant she had to play in a bunch of chamber groups. That may only happen with viola.
She is used to a very well-run chamber program at her precollege, and chambr music did not live up to her expectations. Coaching was not frequent enough, and her groups often didn’t have structure for the rehearsals between. They were pretty much left to their own devices.
In terms of solo, there are very few opportunities for solo performance, or even to rehearse with piano. Mostly it was just lessons and individual practice.
Son got acceptance email today for Heifetz. Not sure how they run their acceptances and WL but I feel like took a couple days longer last year, so maybe its running more efficiently this year.
. I do want to thank you for all the advices that you have been writing for everyone on this forum. It’s really appreciated for non-music parents like us.