Will not be accepted into New England Conservatory

musicprnt
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:59:45 +0000

I am not an expert on composition and I am concerned that your teacher would tell you that. Did he say what he meant? Was it because, for example, you write in a particular style and he felt that the faculty there would not like that style (for example, a composition program that was heavily weighted towards 12 tone/second viennese style of music faced with someone who wrote neo classical or neo romantic pieces), or that teachers there didn’t like him?

My advice to you would be, if you think NEC would be a place you would want to go, to apply there and see what happens. Teachers are human, they have biases, and it could be he is holding a grudge, maybe a student of his he thought highly of was rejected, maybe he was rejected, you don’t really know…and quite frankly, while i have no doubt politics exists out there (few human endeavors are without that), or that things happen in the world of music schools and music that are based in that, I question how he would even know that, enough to tell a student that?

Put it this way, as thread on thread on here says, getting into a particular program is a crap shoot; there are people who don’t stand a chance, who simply don’t have the skills or ability to get into certain programs, but above that threshold it often boils down to serendipity with any program, so many factors effect admission or rejection that it is unwise to make assumptions, like whether you will or won’t get into any school.

Berklee prob wouldn’t be the place for you, if you are into classical music, it is oriented towards Jazz and modern music from what I know. What I recommend doing is put together your portfolio (others with knowledge of composition can tell you more about the process), and find schools at various levels you might want to try, and go for it.