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Re: College vs. Conservatory

Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2019-07-30 00:46

Here's what I think not that it matters. As for an Education Degree this allows you to teach. So I have to ask you - Do you want to teach at a high school level and below. Or with a Masters, maybe if you are talented, teach at a college level but these jobs are hard to find as you have to a very good player.

And we know how hard it is to get a symphony job. Sometimes you have to be invited to audition to a symphony opening. Other times you may get lucky and be accepted to audition. Both ways have happened to me. 300 people can show up for auditions and sometimes they are behind a screen.

For colleges now if you get an audition you still have to be a very good player. You will have to play concerts with fellow instructors and have a teaching load of 20 to 30 students in a state school system. So an hour per student, plus you will have to teach beginning clarinet for the Music Ed Majors!

Here is an option. There is the military bands. If you get a degree usually you go in at a higher rank and if you are a great player you can take a shot with the Washington bands and make a very good living. Also with a degree you can attempt to get a conducting position and become an Officer. So if you do this and stay in for 25 years you will still be at the age of your mid 40's and have a retirement of 3/4 of your military salary, plus things like medical for you and your family for the rest of your life. I think that's around $50,000 a year retirement at the moment; depending on your rate of course.

So you are retired with all of this music experience. Then you can still try out for teaching at colleges, orchestras, or stay in the military, maybe change careers, go back to college, free from the military, maybe go into a totally different field while making $50,000 a year at today's payscale but more like $90,000 and up in 20 to 30 years.

This of course is just an option. Some of the Washington band members can sit in any symphony. They are that good. We are seeing how a few American symphonies are having some money issues and strikes at the moment. This has been going on for many years. It's not new and it's not going away.

Hope this helps and gets you thinking which way to attend school. It bites if you go to a private music school and when you graduate you have a $250,000 bill to pay off. So surely try for a state school.

Kent State, Ohio State are both good and close to you. Needless to say you won't be spending $250,000 attending these schools.

You can also ask both schools if you can do a double major and spend an extra year. Major in both, Education and Performance. I think you just have to take a few extra classes.

Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces

Yamaha Artist 2015

Post Edited (2019-07-30 00:52)

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College vs. Conservatory new

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2019-07-28 20:26