Do you really need to go to music school to pursue a career in music performance?
TLC for the Uh-Oh Phone Call
I'll always remember that first "uh-oh" phone call with the dreaded words, "Mom, I'm sick." It took two months into my son's freshman year at music school for me to realize the one thing I never in a million years would have thought to do: find the closest source for chicken soup.
Music Tackles Bullying
Have you ever experienced bullying as a student musician? "Stronger," the anti-bullying music video from the Time for Three trio, is based on experiences each member of the trio had while growing up.
Studying Music in THIS Economy? Heck, Yeah!
It's easy to find gloom and doom perspectives about studying music and careers in music. There's plenty of concern about the US overproducing talented and well-trained musicians in relation to the number of available jobs.
Music Major’s Job Offer – What Would You Do?
This music major's job offer created a dilemma for him. What would you do if you were offered a job in your field before you finished your degree?
Time for Three Trio
Time for Three Trio calls itself a "classically-trained garage band." Members Nick Kendall (violin), Ranaan Meyer (double bass), and Zach DePue (violin) are receiving wide acclaim for their "category-shattering" originals and arrangements that combine classical, jazz, country western, bluegrass, and gypsy elements into groundbreaking mashups performed with outstanding artistry.
Performance Majors: Reimagining Classical Music
Classical music performance majors have inherited an enormous challenge: how to revitalize classical music to protect its legacy and insure its longevity.
Maria Schneider: The Ebb and Flow of Creativity
Internationally-renowned jazz composer and conductor Maria Schneider provides reassurance and inspiration as she talks about the ebb and flow of creativity in her own work.
Music Majors, Scholarships, and Early October Deadlines
Did you know there are early October deadlines for some of the scholarships specific to music majors?
Revitalizing You and Your Music
The hurried, stressful life of some musicians is antithetical to making beautiful music. As a trained classical singer and designated Linklater theater voice teacher, I know from personal experience that we are not at our best when we are stressed.
Maria Schneider: Life as a Composer
Maria Schneider guides students who want to become composers through some of the challenges of the profession.
What’s College Actually For?
In the larger context of a student’s future—a lifetime of work and family and community—what we see is a more compelling reason for attending college that fuels the more obvious one.
Maria Schneider: Becoming a Musician
Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Maria Schneider, shares insights and advice to inspire musicians as she urges music students to remember, when the going gets rough, what drew them to want to be a musician in the first place.
Professional Leave for Music Majors – How Will Your School Respond?
If you're a music major who gets an offer to perform that requires you to take a professional leave from school for a semester or longer, what do you do? How does the music school you worked so hard to get in to respond? What happens to your financial aid, including scholarship(s)?
Connect with Your Audience!
A musician’s ability to connect with his or her audience has everything to do with how well the performance is received and how likely it is that the audience will come back for more.
Gandhi-Inspired Fundamentals for Music Success
Hisham Dahud applies his background in music to the ten best-known Gandi one-liners about how to “do” life. The result is a handy list of timeless jewels set to the tune of music business.
Does Your Student Want to Major in Popular Music?
How would I feel if my student or son or daughter wanted to major in popular music in college? I found myself asking this question at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Association for Popular Music Education (APME) held in Nashville, Tennessee in June, 2012.
Answers to Questions about Your Music Student
When my son was considering schools to apply to for music, he quickly found that research on the internet and on schools' websites brought up far more questions than he had before he started. He realized that he needed to talk directly to admission folks to find answers.
Paying for Music School: Ideas for Cutting Costs
It's important to find out the cost of attendance at every school you plan to apply to without limiting yourself to the numbers right off the bat. There's still time to consider scholarships, merit awards, FAFSA, part-time jobs, loans, and miracles!
Want to Major in Bluegrass?
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) provides a list of schools that offer "College Level Bluegrass & Music Business Programs", according to Dan Hays, former executive director.