ivy league schools

[rhinetrump]

how are their programs, orchestras?
descriptions/personal experiences/rankings?
thanks

[BigBadWolf]

When I was an undergrad I played in the Harvard and MIT orchestras from time to time. They were nothing to write home about.

Kevin

[trpt.hick]

Yale is great. You can't find a better teacher than Allan Dean. Getting in is always a problem because he can only take a few students. Also, $$$$$$$!

Dave Hickman

[hazmat]

If you are looking at IV league schools Yale is probably the way to go with music. But it's not going to be the same as going to a music school itf that's what you're asking. I know many people that want to go to Yale for their Graduate degrees in music.

[SilverTrumpet]

Yale doesn't offer an Undergrad performance degree. I really would have liked to go there, and started applying until I found that out... HAHA. But there grad school is supposedly amazing.
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[buellerbueller]

I went to Yale undergrad, and was lucky enough to study with Allan while there - he takes on one or two undergrads each year, around his teaching schedule for the graduate school. Allan is a wonderfully nice guy, a great teacher, and an exceedingly talented player in both classical (in his words "tu-ku-tu") and jazz. My only caveat, however, is that Allan clearly picked up the horn and was able to play well from the get go; as a result, I don't think he's quite as strong on physical issues as some other teachers I've been lucky enough to study with since (such as Laurie Frink). On the other hand, he has unparalleled insight on the musical front, and can get you quickly past thinking about playing the trumpet to thinking about playing *music*.

As for Yale not having a performance major, I actually found that to be a benefit. I was able to pursue two other majors (neuroscience and computer science) while still playing in (often as principal) nearly every musical group on campus. There are many opportunities to play with graduate groups, and, for jazz and post-modern classical players, often with professors and local pros as well. Further, the undergrad groups are quite solid and well loved. Sue Mingus comes up for many of the big band performances, while the main orchestra's yearly Halloween concert - playing a score to a silent film directed by students - draws a standing-room-only crowd of several thousand students in the audience. There are about six orchestras on campus, a slew of chamber groups, a variety of theater and opera pits, the big band and a handful of jazz combos, funk groups, rock bands, etc., etc.

So, in short, if you're looking to get in a lot of trumpet playing, to get some first-class instruction, and to do it all while still pursuing another degree in parallel (even if it's something musical, such as composition), Yale's an excellent place to do it. Still, it's not a conservatory, so you'll have to fit in your playing and practicing around other class work. Entirely possible (seeing as I did it), but prohibitive if you're hoping to get in six or eight hours of horn time a day.

Hope that helps.

j

[_Clarino]

Obviously, I am not in a position to comment on American institutions, but my veiw is: My sister went to a Red Brick University. I applied to the same place and was rejected. I ended up at a place which regarded performance much more highly. Exeter, where my sister studied, placed a lot of emphasis on the academic side of study. This was not particularly conducive to high performance standards. Students benefitted far more from time spent in the library than the practice room. I am glad that I was rejected from Exeter without an audition. It helped me enormously. If you want to perform, you need to go where the emphasis is on performance. Harvard and Julliard must be very different places to study.

[trumpetmike]

Clarino - where did you study?

I applied for Exeter (back in the days), went there for an interview and hated every second of the day. Even if they had invited me there without having to pass any exams, I would have said no - it wasn't for me.

[wiseone2]

[LaserBoy]

I don't know about all the other Ivy League schools, but I can tell you my experience as
an undergraduate at Princeton University (1988-1992). I was a physics major, but I
did take advantage of the music life there.

Princeton is not a conservatory -- there is no performance degree. They do have a
music major and PhD which is said to be excellent for composition, music theory,
and music history. During the time I was there, they introduced a "Certificate in
Music Performance", which required a recital, certain number of music
courses, and participation in a certain number of music ensembles. The music dept
got a nice addition to their building a few years ago, so the program may have
grown with it.

http://www.music.princeton.edu/
http://www.music.princeton.edu/dept/performance.html

For private lessons, the department imported people from NYC and NJ, and the
cost was partially subsidized by the department. For 2 years,
I took trumpet lessons from Larry Clemens, who was then principal at the
New Jersey Symphony. (I'd love to hear from you if you are reading this!).
I knew of a few people (cello and violin) who hopped the train to NYC to take
lessons up there.

For playing opportunities, the Princeton University Orchestra (PUO) was pretty
darn good for a non-conservatory school. It did 4-5 programs per year. I got
to play things like Mahler 2 and 3, Stravinsky Le Sacre, Debussy La Mer,
Ravel Pictures, and core repertoire symponies of Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms,
etc. The orchestra webpage is...

http://www.princeton.edu/~puo/

I knew a handful of folks from the PUO that went to grad school in music
performance, some to Eastman and Julliard.

There is also the Princeton University Jazz Ensemble (PUJE, pronounced to
rhyme with "huge"), but I didn't have time to play with them. Quite a few
theater productions happen each year, many of them use a pit orchestra.
The Princeton Triangle Club is probably the most famous theater group
on campus because they go on tour, and they've had a few famous alumni over
the years, including Jimmy Stewart. The Glee club occasionally put on
a concert with orchestra, and I played for a few of those, too. Occasional
oddball things happen too. President G. H. W. Bush (the elder) spoke
at Princeton and accepted an honorary degree. So naturally, they rounded
up a brass group to entertain the waiting crowd and play Hail to the Chief.

If you are looking for a conservatory training, I would say look elsewhere.
But consider Princeton if you want a strong liberal arts education, or maybe you
have an interest in composition.

--LaserBoy (Michael Fitch, Princeton class of 1992)
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