Klarinet Archive - Posting 000648.txt from 1997/11

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Graduate schools for clarinet study
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 10:19:03 -0500

On Wed, 19 Nov 1997, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> Two points: (1) Both the University of Michigan and Michigan State
> University are state funded and controlled institutions. (2) In my
> original message on this topic, when I referred to conservatory atmosphere
> or orientation, what I meant was that no matter what the size or type of
> control and funding of the institution, the primary concern within the
> music unit would be performance; there would be relatively large numbers
> of students who were preparing for careers as performers, and this would
> be their central focus.

Fair enough. My erroneous post concerning UM's funding status was not
linked to whether or not it is a suitable school for the student you
described.

As you show in item #2 above, there is the possibility that you were
not entirely clear in what you meant concerning a conservatory atmosphere.
I'm very familiar with the major conservatories in the U.S., and had them
in mind when making my recommendations. As Roger Garrett pointed out, UM
has a standardized general education requirement, a rather extensive one,
which is not typical of genuine conservatories of music (which are,
essentially, high-intensity trade schools for musicians). And having
spent time -- either through auditions, visitations, or as a student --
at most of the schools I recommended (including UM), I wanted to let you
know that UM's physical environment is also not typical of the other
schools worth considering.

There are many elements which qualify a "conservatory" atmosphere, of
which the curriculum, student population, and physical environment are
just a few. From your expanded list of requirements, UM seems to be
as good a candidate as some of the other schools out there.

Neil