Posted by Aubrey Foard on February 03, 2001 at 22:13:57:
In Reply to: Teachers posted by Curious on February 02, 2001 at 00:33:44:
I could give you a list of names that I think are great for the situation described by e-mailing you privately, but chances are no single tubist would agree with me %100. That's almost impossible no matter how closely their preferences match mine.
In choosing a teacher, the best advice came from my good old dad. He told me that when he was accepted into Tanglewood, he asked as many questions as possible of everyone and at the end of the six weeks at the festival, he had learned more of his instrument (bassoon), teachers, orchestral literature, and jobs than he had during most of his life. Incidentally, the question asking paid off when he was told of an audition for the Buffalo Philharmonic (Krypps (sp?) was conducting at the time). He took the audition immediately following the end of Tanglewood and won the position, launching his 30 year professional career. I applied this question-asking philosophy to my search for the perfect college and after numerous phone calls, e-mails, and questions asked of my private teacher, I finally came up with an extremely clear, concise answer.
So, Curious, to summarize: Question, question, question. Talk to every teacher you want to audition for. Usually, based on a single conversation, you can begin to narrow down your list. Then when you're done auditioning and you've won the audition at the college of your choice, don't stop questioning. Everyone. Your teacher, your professor, fellow students, etc. The more you know, the greater your chances are of succeeding.