Author: Dutchy
Date: 2006-10-19 14:47
Mother of 2 college students here, so I've been giving a fair amount of career advice lately. :D
I am frankly puzzled as to why you would even consider a career playing an instrument that it sounds like you're not in sympathy with anymore. Musicians are never highly paid, no matter what field of music they decide to go into, lacking a Deutschegrammophon contract or a recording deal with Columbia, so a large part of the reward for making music your career has to be the sheer artistic pleasure you get from playing your instrument. But if your instrument doesn't give you pleasure, and if you decide to become a professional clarinetist solely because it's something you know how to play and are reasonably certain of being able to find employment eventually with it (like, "Well, if nothing else, at least I can do this"), then I think you need to re-think your career choices.
I too don't think that after only 3 years of oboe--and especially since apparently all 3 of those years were simply "catch as catch can" seat-of-the-pants oboe-playing in Band class every day without any teacher or coach to tell you what you were doing wrong--that you don't have much of a chance of being accepted into a serious top-drawer oboe college program. You're up against oboists who, like you with your clarinet, have been playing since the 6th grade, and have probably been spending all 4 years of high school aiming towards an eventual audition with those top-flight schools.
Sorry to sound so negative. :( I'm assuming that you're a senior now? Someone who is a senior, but who can "barely play" the 12 major scales on oboe just realistically doesn't have a chance of coming up to college-audition speed in the few months between now and the time those schools you named will require you to have your application on file and your audition scheduled.
For example, Oberlin's latest closing date for admissions is February 1, and the regional auditions are in January and February. If you're going to go there, you'd need to apply now. Also, I notice that they say, " Our admissions committee considers enthusiasm for Oberlin a plus when reading applications." In other words, they don't wanna be just one of a list of potential schools that you've put in applications to; it doesn't work like that.
http://www.oberlin.edu/coladm/admit/deadlines.html
I also notice that it says, "The Conservatory of Music welcomes talented music students with demonstrated records of achievement. A clearly defined talent in a performing medium is essential, as is the potential for further growth and development and the dedication required to become a professional musician."
Someone who perforce must admit, "I just had my first oboe lesson the other day, although I have been playing casually for 3 years now", isn't what they're looking for. They're looking for all those kids who started oboe in the 6th grade.
http://www.oberlin.edu/con/admissions/
...unless you're some kind of instinctive oboe-playing genius, and you practice 8 hours a day for the next couple of months, and you display a truly astonishing oboe talent at your audition, and you exhibit a driving, urgent desire to make the oboe your career, your vocation, your holy calling. That's who they're looking for. Question: Is that you?
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