Recent Events
Ok so I haven't gotten a chance to update this thing but I have some great news!!! On March 21 was our district solo festival. I got 2nd!! woohoo so I qualify for the state competition in May!! That's the big news, and I am super excited!
Last week over spring break I got the opportunity to go visit some music schools back east including Berklee, New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Oberlin Conservatory. I got to go to new places and experience new things. I had never been to Boston, so I got to go see all the historical sites and of course go shopping haha. I went to visit Berklee there and I realized that it wasn't the place for me because they focus more on jazz and contemporary music, and their string dept. didn't seem too impressive. That night we got to go see Spamalot(the broadway version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It was soooo funny and we had a really great time.
New England was better. It had more of the vibe I was going for. They had a great concert hall. I got to have a lesson with one of the professors, and she was really nice and gave me some things to work on. Though I might still apply there, I think it would be a better school for a graduate program.
Rochester, NY and the Eastman School of Music was my next stop. We got there the day before our tour, so I got to go and sit in a studio class lead by Charles Castleman (my teacher's former teacher). I heard some great violinists. One even played a piece that I have played (Symphony Espagnole By Edward Lalo). After the studio class, Mr. Castleman invited us(my parents and myself) to his office to talk with him. I couldn't have a lesson because his schedule was booked with rehearsals for an upcoming concert. It was really great to talk with him. He was very nice as well, and he gave us more of a perspective of the school as well as some of the others. He said that I played well which made me feel good(I had sent in an audition cd for his summer program, which I got rejected from because all of the previous year's participants were returning so he couldn't reject them). So we went on our tour and the school seemed like a place I would want to be. They had a gorgeous concert hall! The dorms were fairly recent too so that was a plus. I also liked that they have the connection to the University of Rochester. With a bit of spare time, we drove down to Lake Ontario (the weather had been really nice everywhere so far). It was beautiful.
Our next stop was Cleveland to visit Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin Conservatory. First though we HAD to stop at the rock and roll hall of fame. It was really awesome. They had so much stuff in there. My favorite things were the costumes, instruments, and the hand written lyrics they had from different bands. One disappointing thing was that the Pink Floyd exhibit was getting redone so we didn't get to see it. Other then that it was really fun. CIM was located right next to Case Western University so I really liked the college campus vibe. When we were there they were undergoing expansion construction, so it wasn't the prettiest looking place at the moment, but it is exciting that they were building a new recital hall and other stuff. We got to hear a faculty concert that was really great. One of the faculty that performed was William Preucil, who I got to have a lesson with. I really really liked him. He was very nice and had some constructive criticism. So far CIM and Eastman had been my favorite schools.
Then it was on to Oberlin. They had a great campus since the conservatory was part of the college. I liked their facilities and they had the coolest organ practice rooms(not that applies to me but they were still really cool). I had a lesson with Marilyn McDonald while I was there. My first impression of her was not the greatest. She kind of scared me, and was a bit rough around the edges. She did have some constructive things to say to me and she liked my violin, but if I had to choose right now, I probably wouldn't want to study with her for four years. She also gave me the impression that she played favorites which I don't like. A plus for Oberlin though was that it had this great Chinese restaurant like four doors down that was really good and cheap.
So that was what I did over spring break. I missed two extra days of school, and I'm still catching up on work, but I think it was really great to get a head start and look into this stuff. Anyway, when it comes time for me to apply, I hope I get accepted to one of these places, preferably more then one so I have a choice :)
Last week over spring break I got the opportunity to go visit some music schools back east including Berklee, New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Oberlin Conservatory. I got to go to new places and experience new things. I had never been to Boston, so I got to go see all the historical sites and of course go shopping haha. I went to visit Berklee there and I realized that it wasn't the place for me because they focus more on jazz and contemporary music, and their string dept. didn't seem too impressive. That night we got to go see Spamalot(the broadway version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It was soooo funny and we had a really great time.
New England was better. It had more of the vibe I was going for. They had a great concert hall. I got to have a lesson with one of the professors, and she was really nice and gave me some things to work on. Though I might still apply there, I think it would be a better school for a graduate program.
Rochester, NY and the Eastman School of Music was my next stop. We got there the day before our tour, so I got to go and sit in a studio class lead by Charles Castleman (my teacher's former teacher). I heard some great violinists. One even played a piece that I have played (Symphony Espagnole By Edward Lalo). After the studio class, Mr. Castleman invited us(my parents and myself) to his office to talk with him. I couldn't have a lesson because his schedule was booked with rehearsals for an upcoming concert. It was really great to talk with him. He was very nice as well, and he gave us more of a perspective of the school as well as some of the others. He said that I played well which made me feel good(I had sent in an audition cd for his summer program, which I got rejected from because all of the previous year's participants were returning so he couldn't reject them). So we went on our tour and the school seemed like a place I would want to be. They had a gorgeous concert hall! The dorms were fairly recent too so that was a plus. I also liked that they have the connection to the University of Rochester. With a bit of spare time, we drove down to Lake Ontario (the weather had been really nice everywhere so far). It was beautiful.
Our next stop was Cleveland to visit Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin Conservatory. First though we HAD to stop at the rock and roll hall of fame. It was really awesome. They had so much stuff in there. My favorite things were the costumes, instruments, and the hand written lyrics they had from different bands. One disappointing thing was that the Pink Floyd exhibit was getting redone so we didn't get to see it. Other then that it was really fun. CIM was located right next to Case Western University so I really liked the college campus vibe. When we were there they were undergoing expansion construction, so it wasn't the prettiest looking place at the moment, but it is exciting that they were building a new recital hall and other stuff. We got to hear a faculty concert that was really great. One of the faculty that performed was William Preucil, who I got to have a lesson with. I really really liked him. He was very nice and had some constructive criticism. So far CIM and Eastman had been my favorite schools.
Then it was on to Oberlin. They had a great campus since the conservatory was part of the college. I liked their facilities and they had the coolest organ practice rooms(not that applies to me but they were still really cool). I had a lesson with Marilyn McDonald while I was there. My first impression of her was not the greatest. She kind of scared me, and was a bit rough around the edges. She did have some constructive things to say to me and she liked my violin, but if I had to choose right now, I probably wouldn't want to study with her for four years. She also gave me the impression that she played favorites which I don't like. A plus for Oberlin though was that it had this great Chinese restaurant like four doors down that was really good and cheap.
So that was what I did over spring break. I missed two extra days of school, and I'm still catching up on work, but I think it was really great to get a head start and look into this stuff. Anyway, when it comes time for me to apply, I hope I get accepted to one of these places, preferably more then one so I have a choice :)