Schools in the South

ii-V-I · Regular Member Joined: 14 Jun 2003 Posts: 14

I am a junior jazz performance major at UNCG. If you are looking to really get your technique down, i would highly reccomend Dr. Edward Bach. I assure you that nobody in this state plays quite like him. But as before mentioned he does push you quite hard! As far as the jazz program, check out our cd's, they speak for themselves.

JGulyas · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2003 11:20 am Post subject:

I remember when I was looking at leaving Brevard College (it was only a 2 year school then) I went to UNCG and took a lesson with Ed Bach. While he can sure play his pants off, I didn't want to go there and study with him because of one comment he made to me. I respond well to the "kick you in the pants" style of teaching so it had nothing to do with a bad comment. He simply said, "I'm not an orchestral player, but I can match the sound if I have to." At the time, my previous teacher at Brevard was (used to be) a heavy orchestral player and I was being taught the style and the sound. I didn't want to study with someone who didn't play that way all the time. I ended up going to the U of Southern Maine and studied with another full time orchestral player.

As I look back on those days, it really didn't matter that I studied with or didn't study with an orchestral player because now, I'm just a player. I haven't sat in an orchestra in about 3 years and I don't really miss it. Now I just play what's put in front of me, whether that be a brass quintet tune, a big band chart or concert band tune. I think Ed Bach could have prepared me for what I do as much as anyone else, and I probably could have saved my folks some money by staying in state.

John

edited to correct spelling
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[ This Message was edited by: JGulyas on 2003-08-03 14:22 ]

senea · Veteran Member Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 131

I'm currently in Louisiana and although we have huge trumpet studios down here, a good bit of them have one strong player, a few good ones, and then twenty other people in the studio. I'm not saying that people suck down here, it's just that the priorities are different (think football, Carnival season, Jazz fest, hell there's something naughty going on every weekend from August to May!).

I should also mention that the playing opportunities here out number the performers. We have a lot of churches to hire out musicians for the holiday season. A few of them even hire orchestras every weekend but we don't have enough strong players to go around, so they are starting to put anyone who's ever played before in those spots.

And for some reason brides down here love the trumpet. A few of these guys are making around $30K a year just on weddings, and with the cost of living so low, that's a pretty good part-time job!

But there's a price to pay - crime, disease, poverty, poor education, and complete isolation from everyone else. I personally hate it here, and I look forward to leaving in June. It's too hard to do anything with yourself and it's very easy to let yourself get trapped by all the 'perks'. If you want to have a good time in college, come on down, but if you want to be successful, go anywhere else.

_dcstep · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2003 7:25 am Post subject:

For jazz, don't forget the University of North Texas, in Denton (was UNT). One of the best programs around in classical also.
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PhotoStan · New Member Joined: 14 Aug 2003 Posts: 3 Location: Atlanta

The question is if performance degree is what you are looking for or education. If you want to do performance I would look to a conservatory. I went to ECU and we had Tom Goolsby there as my teacher. Many of my friends went on to play in military and professionally, but the majority were education.

I am not sure if North Texas is as good as they used to be, does anyone know about there program these days?
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njp · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 2:08 pm Post subject:

Prof. Theurer at East Carolina University has been doing great! His regularly takes groups of students to the National Trumpet Competition for Solo, Ensemble, and Jazz categories. Last year, one of the students placed 3rd in the College Division! Many of his students have gone on to teach at major universities and some are even performing with international Orchestras. It's definitely worth the call just to see what options ECU can give you.

NavyJazzTpt2 · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 8:49 pm Post subject:

I would have to agree that ECU is a great place to go. I went there (in and out of school for 9 years due to gigs) and earned my Jazz Performance Degree. I am a trumpet player with Navy Band New Orleans and a member of the UNO Louis Armstrong Jazz Quintet. I make a good living playing with the Navy, being a grauduate student, and freelancing. I know many trumpet players and other musicians who are playing proffessionally on the highest levels and teaching on the collegiate level. Some are in premier bands, others are in orchestras, freelancing, and teaching college. A lot of good players come out of the school. Take your time, but remember where ever you go....... it is up to you to make the college exeperience benificial. You can definetly party there at ECU, but in truth no matter where you go...... it is YOUR hard work that will pay off in the end. Look for a good teacher and good resources. ECU has that covered. Good Luck! Later, Matt Leder

PH · Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:49 am Post subject:

IMHO UNT is the best it has ever been, in both jazz and in general.

Senea, when are you moving to Indiana?

orchestraltrpt · Veteran Member Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 163

Hey I'm glad to see these NC schools getting such praise. I just graduated from UNCG with Ed Bach, and am now working on a Masters a ECU with Britt Theurer. I'd say that the Jazz program at UNCG is quite good now. UNCG has lots of DMA, MM students which seem to raise the bar on the whole school. But ECU only has a small handful of MM students, and no DMA degrees offered. So I'm getting much more attention at ECU, but I think the school overall seems a little smaller than UNCG. Both trumpet teachers have very high track records, each putting out big name players. But their teaching styles are quite a bit different, so I would recommend that be a major factor in your choice.

Scott

stm0103@mail.ecu.edu