So just for the clueless, all your kids are either in college or college grads, right? Does this mean that if my child embarks on a music career, she is expected to participate in summer institutes and festivals throughout high school, college, and beyond to be competitive and have a shot at music jobs? And realistically, I as her parent would need to be prepared to pay for all these institutes/festivals until maybe a few years after college when my daughter may begin to get paid if she is lucky? Just checking that I am understanding how all this works correctly.
If so, my S is doomed. I would think not. But everything has value.
My S has worked every summer while at NEC. Full-time at a local arts/music day camp and in the public school system this past summer, with some touring thrown in. But he is a jazz/contemporary guitarist. During the year, he teaches private/group music lessons. Not a ton of money but lots of good experience.
@InfoQuestMom The answer to your question will depend on the style (classical, jazz, contemporary) and instrument. It could also depend on the degree (BA, BMEd, BM) and the progression of each student. A top level violinist in a BM may be going to festivals every summer. For VP, it may not happen until the end of junior year. For music ed students I didn’t notice summer program attendance. For jazz…I’m not sure… So you may get better responses based on more specific information. Note that many programs do give scholarships. But depending on your kid’s style and instrument, it is something you budget for or not. I usually say to try to leave some wiggle room in your budget for summers programs as there will be pressure to participate in some programs. Note that my D did not pay for a program after UG. And I don’t know of any parents paying after college for a program…however there probably are some. At my D’s age she would be embarrassed to have mom and dad footing a summer program cost. So no it is not expected indefinitely. Kids are usually doing well and getting scholarships or paid…or they find something else to do.
Oops … by paid I mean that students/performers are compensated. So, my D did audition this year for one “festival” but it is paid with housing and transportation covered. So for older “kids”, the reference by parents is concerning paid positions. Those usually go to grad students or above. My D did paid programs only in grad school. So no you shouldn’t expect to be paying for years.
@Octaves congratulations!!
@mperrine I hope you get good news on BUTI! My D loved it there!
@InfoQuestMom my D is a classical violinist and now a freshman at NEC. She won her first scholarship to a major camp while in HS in a local competition and attended BUTI. We would not have been able to afford it. The summer after that she attended the Heifetz Institute and we did pay for that - it was a huge expense but we felt it was worth it for the exposure and networking she experienced. She was searching for a good fit for college so that summer we looked into programs that would get her in front of potential teachers. She discovered that she did NOT want to study with this particular teacher which is just as valuable as finding a good fit. The next summer she attended PIMF on full scholarship through the same competition.
In the circle that influences our daughter it is firmly believed that the summer institute is of great value to continue and enhance their experiences/learning. It is a chance to study with teachers from all over and gives a great avenue for connection and collaboration. Now that she is going to be 18 all of the programs she is applying to are fellowship programs. Small fees and just cost of transportation. Her teacher at NEC advised her where to apply.
I wouldn’t say it is the only way but in music especially the more you do the better. More exposure to more pieces, more instructors, more intense practice time. She has already experienced how small the musical world is and she is finding that all of her friendships she’s made at these camps are intertwining and crisscrossing everywhere. I love that she will grow up with these colleagues and have built in friendships and collaborations everywhere she goes in her future.
Now we just pray she gets in to one of them!!
Thank you so much for the clarification. I see there are many variables. For a BM in bassoon performance, is it typical to attend summer institutes? And if so, at what levels? High school? Undergrad?
For composers, summer festivals and institutes are important in that they offer a way to get pieces played. At the undergrad level, they offer a chance to meet and try out teachers for grad school. And these programs create a sort of global network of fellow composers and musicians who also may attend. Often they are funded by the college or grad program, but sometimes not. It takes a long long time to get to the point where you are actually paid for composing, absent winning major awards and commissions (which are mostly orchestral). The expense of travel, housing, and sometimes the program itself is just unavoidable for most composers, even up to the age of 30.
My son’s private bassoon teacher wanted him going to summer music festivals after his first year of lessons in 7th grade. We finally agreed despite the costs. After 8th and 9th grade he went to a regional festival. After 10th, Interlochen. We’ve now just submitted for BUTIs orchestra after two days of technical glitches, S getting sick and prepping for finals week. Recording wasn’t perfect, but he figures it was sufficient enough to get into wind ensemble and eliminate need for an application to Curtis Summerfest. We didn’t bother applying for scholarships at the regional festival. We did apply for scholarship at Interlochen, and surprisingly he did get about 40 percent of the costs covered.
The festivals have been strongly recommended by his private teacher. While the 7 wks at Interlochen took up most of his summer, he’s glad he went because of the training, the teachers, the master classes, and the connections he’s made. They also seem to go over what to expect for college auditions. The advanced bassoon institute at Interlochen had arguably the best bassoon teacher, so for that alone, it was well worth going. I can’t imagine S going into prescreening season in the fall without continued training in the summer. Having said that, hoping he gets into BUTI. I’m not so sure myself because to my untrained ear, there were a few big errors, but what do I know?
What I’ve gathered thus far is that yes, summer festivals are a given for BM bassoonists. Oh well. Maybe my other kids won’t go to college. And music, esp for bassoonists, is truly a small community.
Wow—learn something new every day! My high school senior jazz guitarist son has enrolled in tuition based music programs (ranging from local music school to Berklee, to Eastman) every summer since the summer before 9th grade. He just told me he wants to do Skidmore jazz program this summer. Where do I find out about these festivals and is it already too late?
@Busy_Momma Thank you for sharing your son’s experience. It’s very helpful.
A Disney Article for Summer
http://trombone.org/articles/library/viewarticles.asp?ArtID=101
For Jazz students in high school (or even middle school), here’s what we’d recommend looking into (with a strong bias towards the Western part of the country). . .
Stanford Jazz Workshop: Son did this for 5 years. Loved it. Great faculty and lots of opportunity to both play and hear good music. Attendance includes free admission to the Stanford Jazz Festival concerts, plus you get to watch the nightly faculty jam sessions (which my son loved). Not cheap but not unreasonable given the experience offered, and need-based financial aid is available.
Idyllwild: Heard great things and know the faculty is excellent. Son never actually attended for one very specific reason: drummers were required to bring their own drumset, which was a logistical nightmare, so we passed. Other musicians probably won’t have similar issues. By all accounts, this was highly recommended
Berklee - First, there’s the Newport Jazz Festival tie-in which is awesome and highly competitive (not to mention completely free). Secondly, have heard generally good things about the 5-week program and some of the other programs, plus
As a parent of a high school senior about to go off to college for 4 expensive years, I wonder when it is time to stop paying for summer programs. My S went to sleepaway camps through middle school and has done music programs in high school (Berklee, Eastman, plus local music school). He wants to do another program this summer (Berklee or Skidmore Jazz). I think it’s time for him to get a summer job and he can probably get a TA position at his local music school. Is it unreasonable to stop funding the summer music programs given that he is on the cusp of studying music in college?
Well college is when I started paying, though schools sometimes provide funding. We did send our musician to one program after junior year of high school but it was covered by an ASCAP scholarship. I hate to tell you but even at the doctoral level, I am still helping with these. It depends on the genre of music I think.
lkbux64, my daughter is a first-year at college and if she is admitted to the summer festival she wants to go to, she’ll pay for it with money earned during the year from her part-time job, and from a job that she’ll have during the rest of the summer.
As compmom says, it depends on genre and instrument v. voice. We paid for summer programs when my daughter was in high school, but not since then. During college, grad school, and after the programs were funded and if she needed to pay transportation she paid out of her own funds. But she’s a classical instrumentalist; it’s different in the vocal world.
My S is a high school senior bass-baritone classical singer. We are new to this world. He got a scholarship to attend Angel Vocal Arts summer intensive in LA. Is attending a summer intensive considered advisable? What do classical singers typically try to get out of an intensive? My S likes performing and wants a chance to perform a lead role in an opera and to improve his Italian.
@basso_texas Does his teacher think the program is suitable for him? If the emphasis is on exploration of music, language and art songs for example it should be fun. He is truly too young to sing a lead role. The only people singing a lead should be grad students (or some advanced seniors). He would not have the technique nor stamina and could damage his voice. It would be like being a good sprinter in high school one week and then finding yourself in the Olympics the next week! It’s best for him to take his time to protect his voice over the long run. I would be sure the program focuses on appropriate levels of music for young voices with a good amount of non-singing time to protect his voice. A teacher should know. My D did get invited during auditions to a program in Europe. Her teacher said “no way”. She was too young and inexperienced to benefit from it plus she could hurt her voice. I was glad…since my pocketbook was empty! She did a theater program in our city the summer before college…and sang with her teacher…so nothing special.
Just re-read your comment…maybe you weren’t implying a lead now…as I first thought. Still the rest of it may be helpful. The best thing to get out of it is fun and more experience with vocal arts.