Klarinet Archive - Posting 000630.txt from 1995/06

From: CLARK FOBES <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Conservatories vs. Universities
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 13:30:04 -0400

Universities, but Lisa Clayton brings up some very good points in this
recent posting.

I have attended both a University, (C.S.U., Fresno; BM) and a
Conservatory, (San Francisco Conservatory of Music; MM) and have a
somewhat different perspective.

There is no doubt that the performance experience at the
conservatory was at a much higher level and the general milieu of music
making was stimulating. However, I am very grateful for the excellent
basic music education I received at Fresno State and in retrospect even
more appreciative of a good liberal arts education.

As a graduate student at the SF Conservatory I was returning to
school after about a five year break. I was looking forward to learning
and "cracking the books" again. What i found in general among the
students there was a real lack of concern or interest in learning
anything beyond music. In fact, the majority of students regarded
anything outside of their very narrow diligent study of his/her
instrument as an imposition. What was even more discouraging is that
some teachers of applied music seemed to foster this attitude. The
advantage of attending a conservatory, for me, was that as a small
school with limited enrollment I had a huge variety of performance
opportunities. I also wanted to relocate to San Francisco and going to
school gave me a center of focus.

I do not recommend young students to attend conservatories. For
one, the expense has become exhorbitant and two, while the education
may be excellent in a very narrow way students lose out on a good basic
education.

The ideal, in my opinion, would be to have a music conservatory
associated with a larger university. This is the case at the University
of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Other examples are Northwestern,
DePaul, Indiana and USC.

I don't regret my two years at the SF Conservatory. It was a very
rich time in my life, but I am very glad that it was not the sole base
from which to launch my path of life long learning.

Clark W Fobes