Klarinet Archive - Posting 000588.txt from 1998/03

From: Jacqueline Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: College Choices...
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 19:42:36 -0500

On Sun, 8 Mar 1998, Neil Leupold wrote:

> On Sun, 8 Mar 1998, Shouryu Nohe wrote:
>
> > Well, I don't know about the CS or BA stuff, but as far as music goes, my
> > first choice would be Oberlin.
>
> 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 Combs
> and John Bruce Yeh are not successful in the field of clarinet performance
> as a career, and they are also reputed to be very good teachers. Another
> 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.

<SNIP>

Another perspective on choosing where to study -- the amount of
performance experience one can expect to get in ensembles. As an
undergrad at Northwestern (with 30+ other clarinet majors), I got very
little ensemble time; we fought to get on conducting majors' recitals! I
felt that in choosing a graduate program, I wanted to make that a
priority. That doesn't mean you don't also look for a good teacher who is
active in the profession, but for me, it was certainly a major
consideration. I managed to get that at the U of A (in spades!), which if
I had gone to a more prominent school with a "name" teacher, would have
been much less likely. It worked for me, but as they say, "your mileage
may vary". Just one more thing to consider......

Jacqueline Eastwood
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
eastwooj@-----.edu