Klarinet Archive - Posting 000518.txt from 1998/03

From: "Jay E. Niepoetter" <niep@-----.com>
Subj: Re: College Choices...
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 16:17:55 -0500

Neil makes some excellent points. I only wish to add that once you find
a teacher that you think best fits your needs, you might ask for a
commitment from the teacher in writing that you will be studying with
that teacher. It is sometimes the practice to have another teacher
teach some of the undergraduate students. Sometimes that could even
include have a graduate assistant teach undergrads. Especially if that
student is not a full music major. I=92m not trying to be cynical, but
you should always protect your interests.

Jay

Neil Leupold wrote:
>=20
> On Sun, 8 Mar 1998, Shouryu Nohe wrote:
>=20
> > Well, I don't know about the CS or BA stuff, but as far as music goes=
, my
> > first choice would be Oberlin.
>=20
> Can you give any reasons for your preference? The person who asked
> the question indicated that he wishes to major in performance. My
> philosophy when aspiring to excellence in a field is first to emulate
> those who are already successful in that field. Studying with such a
> person is an obvious course of action. Few could argue that Larry Comb=
s
> and John Bruce Yeh are not successful in the field of clarinet performa=
nce
> as a career, and they are also reputed to be very good teachers. Anoth=
er
> good indicator with regard to one's prospects for success under a given
> teacher is to look at the track record of that teacher's past students.
> Have any of them landed jobs? Combs and Yeh have both produced players
> who now play in orchestras across the country and around the world.
> They're both highly active professional players in a major metropolitan
> orchestra, and their students absorbed the benefit of their teachers'
> vast experience and artistry.
>=20
> This is no plug for Combs, Yeh, or DePaul University per se, but
> more a question of how any teacher fulfills these criteria. The number
> one reason to attend any given school as a performance major is the
> private teacher. Unless things have changed (and they may very well
> have), Lawrence McDonald is the private clarinet instructor at Oberlin.
> Is he an active performer? Is it solo, or orchestral? Is he in an
> orchestra? Have his past students been successful? Despite his fame
> and commercial success, these are nagging questions for me with regard
> to Richard Stoltzman, who now teaches at New England Conservatory. He'=
s
> never held an orchestral position in his life, which impugns his credi-
> bility with respect to knowledge of orchestral music and style. If the=
re
> were somebody wishing to major in orchestral clarinet performance, I wo=
uld
> not recommend studying with Richard Stoltzman, despite his remarkable
> talent and musicianship. How does Lawrence McDonald at Oberlin stack
> up to these basic questions?
>=20
> Neil