Author: Sylvain
Date: 2002-09-27 15:36
The entrance audition is 15 minutes and you choose the piece(s) you want to play.
McGill has currently 4 clarinet teachers (in alphabetical order).
Robert Crowley (principal MSO)
Alain Desgagne (associate principal MSO)
Michael Dumouchel (2nd and Eflat MSO)
Abe Kestenberg
They all studied with Marcellus at one point so have a lot of good things to teach you...
You cannot choose your teacher. You usually ask for a specific teacher and you get assigned one of them depending on your wish and their availability. All are great teachers and this not something to worry about.
McGill has one orchestra, one contemporary ensemble and one wind ensemble. There is a 2 round audition (1st round behind screen) every semester to select who will play in which ensemble. The best 3 play in the orchestra, the others get assigned to the 2 other ensembles depending on their ranking.
The audition is pretty competitive there is about 20 clarinet player taking the audition among which a good 10 are in the performance program at the graduate or undergraduate level.
Not every player coming out of McGill gets a job in the music industry, but some are quite successful. One just got a gig for 2nd and Eflat in the Vancouver Symphony, another made it in the National Youth Symphony (Canada) for the second year in a row. Keep in mind that some don't make it at all in the music world. However, if you have the potential and spend the time and effort, McGill has certainly the resources to open a few doors for you.
The advantage is that McGill has numerous programs which will accomodate you if you decide not to pursue a performance degree but want to stay in the music world.
You should spend sometime browsing http://www.mcgill.ca/music/
and see if McGill is a good fit for you. Bare in mind that McGill is a university and not a conservatory so your course load (history, theory, ...) will be significant.
Good luck and all the best to you,
-Sylvain
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The Clarinet BBoard
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