 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Reese Oller
Date: 2024-04-09 05:25
Right!
So, I've done it; I've been accepted into my degree program at all the schools I applied to: Eastern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, and Millikin University.
All are offering merit scholarships, and all of them really want me.
But... I'm really having difficulty choosing one.
Does anyone here have personal experience with these programs?
Any advice is welcome, I have to make a decision soon!
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Author: lydian
Date: 2024-04-09 19:40
That’s great to hear. What sort of degree are you going for? How did you like the teachers you met during the audition process? Have you toured each campus? Is one closer to home than the others? How important is campus life to you?
Post Edited (2024-04-09 21:18)
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Author: Reese Oller
Date: 2024-04-09 21:26
I'm going for clarinet performance! I really like all of the professors, but I would say I have closer ties with WIU and Millikin than with EIU's professor. I've toured each campus, and I would say the least workable for me would be WIU, the buildings are spread pretty far apart.
Millikin is the closest to home, but the most expensive.
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Author: HighWood
Date: 2024-04-09 21:32
Have you looked at SIU Carbondale? Eric Mandat is the clarinet instructor.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2024-04-10 00:04
1) Do you like the instructor? You will probably be spending 4 years with him or her.
2) Is the instructor well recognized by their peers? You initial auditions/selections are influenced by your teacher. Even when they say it doesn't.
3) What is your cost? Room & board & travel home probably isn't included in your scholarship. Maybe.
4) I see you saying all of them want you. Don't let that go to your head too much. You will probably be a little fish in a big pond. You'll grow up, but talk to a few students to see what kind of pond it is. You wouldn't think so, but there's sometimes sharks in ponds. Or really big carnivorous fish, anyway. The music business isn't especially nice.
5) Do they have decent scholastics along with the music department> My eldest son graduated from CIM; Case Western provided the academics, and they weren't all that easy on the music students.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2024-04-15 07:09
If you are Clarinet performance, go for the School with the teacher that you like the most, and has the best Musicians (if both happen to be at the same School, lock it in).
Your private teacher by far will have the most influence on your playing, and that’s what is the most important for Performance.
Also, what style of Music do you like? Some Professors are more traditional and some are far more modern music wise.
How important to you are extended techniques? Mandat is fantastic at them.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Johnny Galaga
Date: 2024-04-16 05:30
Those aren't exactly high-end music schools. Think about where a clarinet degree from a lesser-known school will get you on payday at a job somewhere. It may not be worth the free tuition.
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Author: brycon
Date: 2024-04-16 06:26
Quote:
Those aren't exactly high-end music schools. Think about where a clarinet degree from a lesser-known school will get you on payday at a job somewhere. It may not be worth the free tuition.
A clarinet degree from a high-end music school isn't going to get you anything more on payday. Playing the clarinet really well and being an excellent colleague, however, might, and one can achieve these things attending any number of schools.
If money is a concern, for an undergraduate degree, it's a much better option to go to a less high-end school on a scholarship: perhaps the OP works hard, improves under the guidance of his or her teacher, and gets into an elite conservatory/music school for graduate school, or perhaps the OP realizes that he or she loves music, would like to play for fun, but really wants to become an engineer or something. State schools allow students these various academic paths while keeping the tuition and fees comparatively low (and, in many cases, they have fantastic clarinet teachers). High-end, schools, such as conservatories, by contrast, lock students into a career path and, in many cases, load them up with debt that will never be paid off on a musician salary.
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Author: donald
Date: 2024-04-16 13:54
I agree with brycon, there are many EXCELLENT teachers at "non high end" schools, and many totally crap teachers at "VERY high end" schools. If I could do it all again, maybe I'd bust my arse to get to "the 'yard", but I doubt I'd encounter better teaching than I got at OU.
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Author: Reese Oller
Date: 2024-04-16 21:30
Thanks for all the fantastic advice! Yes, I do plan on getting my bachelor's at a "lesser-renowned" school, then applying to a college of music or conservatory.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2024-04-17 10:06
I agree that you can get a bad and unpleasant teacher at a top-end school. But, the competition from higher-level classmates does toughen you up and make you better. It wouldn't have suited me, though, because I've never been a competitive person.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2024-04-17 19:30
Reese,
There are a couple of additional dimensions that you probably need to consider when choosing a school to attend.
These include:
1. What is the enrollment? Too small and many activities will not be available.
2. Where is the school located? Size of town and what is there for you to do when not attending classes. Social life, shopping, and entertainment will be very important for the next four years.
3. How is the library? Even though there are lots of resources available online you still will need academic librarian assistance.
4. What performing groups are available for you? The curriculum will contain a requirement to participate in several other groups. Some of my best experiences were in operetta workshop (I was in a Gilbert & Sullivan production) and festival choir (we had several hundred voices and performed major oratorios).
5. What is caliber of the music theory, sight-singing, and harmony faculty? These are courses that are the bedrock of the music curriculum.
6. How is housing and the food?
I am sure there are other things that you will think of but remember, attending college is a maturation process that will tell you much about yourself and the world. The only place I think I learned more was the 3 years I spent on active duty in the US Army.
Best of luck,
HRL
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Author: Slowoldman
Date: 2024-04-19 19:41
Juilliard has been affectionately (or maybe not so affectionately) referred to as the "jail yard".
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Author: LFabian
Date: 2024-04-20 18:01
So far in this thread, no one has mentioned having minors programs which might influence your life. I minored in engineering. I am satisfied with the decision I made and am retired and still playing clarinet for fun. So pick the school with a good minors program.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2024-04-20 22:55
LFabian: -great advice! Never put all your eggs in the same basket. Especially when it comes to someting so precarious as earning a living in the arts.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: donald
Date: 2024-04-21 13:46
Yes, more cynically the "Jail yard"... more affectionately just "the 'yard".
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Author: Reese Oller
Date: 2024-04-22 11:07
Hi Abby, do you have any advice?
Fancy seeing you post here, I thought you just read these things!
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Author: Reese Oller
Date: 2024-04-26 08:50
Julliard is referred to as the Jail Yard, then the shorthand was further shortened to the Yard.
Edit: I just realized I explained the how, not the why. I suggest reading the whole thread, the answer is here somewhere.
Reese Oller
Clarinet student (performance major at Millikin University)
I can play bass clarinet, Eb clarinet, BBb contra, alto saxophone, bassoon at a decent level, and flute in a pinch.
Post Edited (2024-04-26 19:40)
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