Author: Ben
Date: 2006-10-04 01:52
For someone interested in a primarily performing career (yes, I know how hard it is to get any job in music!), what’s the real value of graduate school? I have a good friend finishing her DMA in flute at Eastman; she feels like she never has time to practice, since there’s such a big academic component for her degree. She didn’t realize it before she started, but is close to being done now. Also, I’d imagine most people with a Masters or Doctorate do not have a good playing or teaching job (at least, one that pays the rent and a car payment).
I guess if one goes somewhere where it’s not a financial drain, they’re working with a helpful and inspiring teacher, and they feel like they have enough time to practice and prepare for auditions, it would be a great situation! But, it’s hard to find all those things in one place; Yale and Colburn come to mind, though.
So assuming someone is a good player, and already has a good enough resume to audition for many professional orchestras, what would be the most helpful?
1) Going to a school with a better reputation and working with a great teacher, but getting a bunch of debt, too. Better for a resume if one applies for a teaching/performance job, and better place perhaps to make contacts, but without much security after graduation. What does one do when you’re out of school, have $60,000 in debt, and no time to practicing enough to be competitive in an audition while paying it back?
2) Go to a school that isn’t as great overall (lower quality orchestra, chamber music, etc.), but has a great teacher, and where they might also be more likely to help financially. So, perhaps one could graduate after a couple years with a much smaller debt to repay, but if they aren’t in an area where they could freelance and make contacts while in school, where do they go from there? Move to a major city as an unknown? Hope to have a job before they graduate?
3) Live as cheaply as possible getting a job to make ends meet (private teaching + waiting tables), practicing as much as possible and studying with good teachers in the meantime. No graduate degree to help with college teaching, but still having all the advantages of being in a big city to freelance and study with good teachers, without a huge student loan hanging over your head. Going back to school would always be an option, of course.
I’d be interested to know what people think, especially if you went to graduate school for music. If so, what you’re doing know, and how do you think it helped or not?
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