Graduate programs

nayr42 · Regular Member Joined: 31 Jul 2016 Posts: 19

Hello!

I'm going to be finishing up my undergraduate degree, so I'd like to hear some of your opinions about graduate programs in trumpet performance right now.

My focus is in orchestral trumpet playing. Right now, I'm considering Northwestern, Temple, CIM, Indiana, Rice, or Colburn.

I would appreciate any recommendations!

trumpetpatrick · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 6:41 pm Post subject:

Consider the Glenn Gould School in Toronto! I’m heading into my third year now and loving it.

As far as money is concerned, there’s ample full scholarships, and even without you’re paying a fraction of an American school. The trumpet studio has four students, all taught by Andrew McCandless, principal in the TSO who is absolutely fantastic. The rest of the Brass faculty is equally great and there is plenty of opportunity for chamber music and lots of playing in orchestra. The school is in Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of music, and the facilities are without a doubt the best in North America. The only graduate program is an artist diploma, so if you’re looking for an MM you’ll be out of luck, but the ADP program is structured so you have little classes and plenty of practice time. Best part, there’s no pre screening!
Patrick

nayr42 · Regular Member Joined: 31 Jul 2016 Posts: 19

I'm not sure that I'm familiar with the artist diploma, but my intention is to work towards a MM.

Is anyone familiar with Northwestern, and the team teaching thing they've got going on? I guess it's David Bilger, Mike Sachs, Tom Rolfs, and Channing Philbrick.

HERMOKIWI · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 2581

This is a question we see with some frequency on TH. It's a very difficult question to answer because most of what makes a student a success on trumpet is provided by the student and not by the teacher. There's no magic to this. The teacher can only guide you. You have to do the playing on your own.

There are many teachers who can provide excellent guidance. Unfortunately, there's no objective and quantitative measuring system that rates teachers by knowledge or effectiveness. Teachers tend to be rated/recommended based on subjective criteria.

I have no specific recommendations of schools or teachers. Certainly, however, you want a teacher who can give you sound guidance, a teacher you trust. I think it's equally important to go somewhere that has a lot of performance opportunities. Just understand that at the end of the day every great player contributed the most to their own greatness with knowledge, discipline and practice coupled with inherent ability which they developed into greatness.
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HERMOKIWI

jburgstaller · Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:19 pm Post subject:

If you would like to know more about the Arizona State University Trumpet Studio, please email me at joeburgstaller@asu.edu
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Joe Burgstaller
Professor of Trumpet, Arizona State University
email: joeburgstaller@asu.edu
www.asutrumpets.com
www.joeburgstaller.com
www.trumpetwarmupshow.com
www.ASUTrumpets.com

andybharms · Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:39 pm Post subject:

I'm sure you know that audition technique is just as important as trumpet technique and musicality. I've really dug The Audition Playbook by Rachelle Jenkins. She plays flute in Detroit and her methodology is comprehensive. I suggest you pick up a copy of that and look through it, then look at your list of schools and decide which ones are capable of guiding you through the process she describes. Some of those programs do have that capacity, and some I would suggest you reconsider. Reason being, the individuals that teach there have never gone through that process themselves, nor had an abundance of students under their immediate guidance do so. They will counter with, you never know what's going to happen, or there are other faculty that can supplement advice, or maybe you will end up teaching or composing or something else... all of which may be true! So I always tell people to look at a program's recent graduates. Are they in places you want to be? Murphy's law is real-- if they're working at Starbucks, you might be as well. Sure, you can go out and figure that stuff out outside of school, but isn't that what school should be for? It's your money, time, and effort, so expend it carefully.

IMO you should add a couple of others to your list: Temple with David Bilger. His fingerprints are on an increasing number of audition winners; U of Miami, because I REALLY dig Craig's teaching style; and you would be crazy not to do whatever it took to get into Rice or Colburn, even if it takes you several tries.
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Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

yctrumpet · Regular Member Joined: 21 Mar 2018 Posts: 12

I would highly recommend considering the University of Georgia as graduate school. It is a wonderful environment and the trumpet studio is high quality. Mr. Philip Smith and Dr. Brandon Craswell are the trumpet faculty. Graduate student usually study with Mr. Smith There is no need to say how great he is as a performer and teacher. One of the unique part of the school is it has a British Brass Band conducted by Mr. Smith, that will really get your playing in shape. There is also a graduate brass quintet with assistantship coached by Mr. Smith weekly. I recently graduated from there, it was a game changer for me. You can always reach them by email. Hope that helps.