Re: College situation


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Posted by somewhat older guy on March 31, 2003 at 16:06:48:

In Reply to: College situation posted by Wooliteeuph on March 31, 2003 at 15:06:26:

My Dad was a manager of an "Order Clerical" floor (about 250 employees under him who involved themselves with all of the paperwork [mostly pre-computer age] related to catalog mail and telephone orders of merchandise stored in the warehouse floors and floors above him) in one of the several regional huge catalog warehouses for Sears from the 1930's through the 1970's. For the last ten years of his tenure at Sears, he was also the President of the Sears Credit Union in our city...a job the kept him up very late at night several nights each week.

If your parents are like my Dad, you won't get very far. My Dad had a good job, but generously helped my mother's parents with their finances, was trying to save for retirement, etc., and didn't consider himself the source of a ton of money for education. Further, he (actually rightly so) did not consider "Music" to be a very good business to pursue, though he was a very good clarinetist and had enjoyed his high school band experiences with his band director, J. J. Richards ("Emblem of Unity" and many other famous band pieces) in Kansas very much.

You can consider working VERY hard - combining what your parents are willing to contribute with modest (a warning) student loans and at least 25 hours per week of at least $10/hour employment. This means, if you are ABLE to obtain entrance to a high-tuition/high-reputation university or conservatory, you will work extremely hard and have absolutely no social life...a real time in your life for discipline.

I didn't go this route, I simply behaved as if I were attending a conservatory by working extremely hard to develop my skills, and attending as many master classes (not as common back then) as I could with prominent teachers.

Today, the old "phone call" routine rarely happens regarding winning orchestra jobs, and I doubt that practice was ever very prominent in the military band circuit, so "who you know" is not as important these days as what you can do .

My advice (knowing nothing about your situation): Practice your tail off PRODUCTIVELY, educate yourself about playing techniques (recordings, web info, MASTER CLASSES), and audition for ALL of the 5-8 week summer music festivals. These summer festivals are tremendous opportunities for musical growth and, if still important, "connections".


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