 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: anna
Date: 2001-12-09 22:50
what's it lilke for an american to study music in montreal? is it a very musical city? how does the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal compare to major american orchestras?
is mcgill a good school for clarinet?? are there better places?
is music taught in english?
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-12-10 01:37
I'm interested in an any replies also. I hope to visit McGill this summer as a prospective student (maybe I should visit during winter for the cold reality of the weather, though). I know that classes at McGill are in English. Where are you from? I'm only about a 6 hour drive from Montreal so I'm interested in colleges there- but I think most colleges teach in French and my high school French has disappointingly little practical application.
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Author: anna
Date: 2001-12-10 02:34
i live about an hour away
you're thinking of applying too? What are your grades like? What kind of classes do you take? any honors or AP?
i'm really worried that my grades aren't good enough so i'm curious about other applicants.
where do you live now?
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2001-12-10 17:11
Hi,
I am a student at McGill University. I am a graduate student in computer science, but spend a lot of time in the music building.
McGill is an english speaking university, and highly ranked in Canada. Their music program is quite good and the clarinet studio has a number of very good player.
All courses are taught in english but sometimes by french speakers. Knowledge of some french is sometimes useful but never necessary.
They have 4 teachers: Abe Kestenberg (full time faculty), Michael Dumouchel (2nd and Eflat) in the montreal Symphony (MSO), Alain Desgagnes (associate principal at the MSO) and Bob Crowley (Principal at the MSO). All of them are highly qualified teachers.
The school has 3 major ensembles: the orchestra (which is very good), the contemporary ensemble, and the wind ensemble. There is one audition each semester for all 3 ensembles and depending on your rank and preferences you get assigned to one of them. You will also most likely have to play in the clarinet choir if you are not already part of a chamber music group.
The Montreal Symphony Orchestra is an outstanding orchestra. The music director is Charles Dutoit an internationally recognized conductor. They record almost every year for DECCA, and have a yearly trip to Carnegie Hall for the past 15 years or so.
Montreal is one of my favorite cities in North America, there is so much to do and so many things to see, you almost have too many choices...
Maybe I'll see you around next year,
-Sylvain
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-12-11 00:46
Anna- I'm taking two APs this year- American History and English Literature. I have pretty good grades, mostly As and A+s and one A-. I'm also in honors Precalculus, Music Theory and French IV. What about you? What other schools are you looking at? I'm fortunately within reachable distance of most of the cities in the Northeast so I'm looking just about everywhere. I live sort of near Syracuse, New York.
I think that auditions matter a whole lot more than grades at a conservatory- but it depends on the school. 75% audition, 25% grades is often quoted. I think I might apply to some universities or colleges with good music programs but not conservatories (no auditions) so I try to keep my grades up. Both my history teacher and orchestra director decided that I should be at Yale- I'm getting way too varied advice from wildly different sources. The only real way to tell accuracy is to actually see the place. But I'm only a junior. The Great College Tour comes next summer.
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Author: anna
Date: 2001-12-11 03:46
i am also a junior. my grades aren't so good. A's and B's mostly. probably have like a 3.2 gpa or something but i hope to improve this year.
i'm taking all regular classes this year, but next year i hope to take AP Euro history, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP physics, and maybe AP music theory.
How hard is McGill to get into, academically? Wouldn't you have to be accepted into the university first, and therefore your grades are most important? i dunno. I want to double major in music and something else unrelated. i have no idea what, though. possiblities include medicine, business, law, and maybe computer science.
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-12-12 00:46
DON'T take all those APs at once! You'll kill yourself! I have a great deal of work and I'm only taking two. You won't do as well on any of them- it's better to take two or three and get As on all of them then struggle with so many. I've never known anyone to take more than one science AP at once. If you want to get into a conservatory, you need time to practice- and with that schedule you'll be doing homework 24 hours every day. I have a good two to three hours of work every night with two APs and I don't usually practice as much as I like (I get in about an hour at best).
I can't really comment on McGill academically because the Canadian system is very different and I don't really know all that much about it. I was talking to a Canadian girl this summer and she made me realize how rampant grade inflation is in the US. But I'd guess that McGill is roughly equivalent to maybe not Ivy-League but fairly competitive schools.
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