Who gets into Curtis?

[ADissen]

Simple question

[professorslinky]

Originally Posted by ADissen

Simple question

I do

[ADissen]

oh okay now i know

[Michael Glynn]

The simple answer to your simple question: really, really good bassists get in to Curtis.

You just have to be one of the very best high school bassists in the country to have a chance to get in. Fortunately for the rest of us, there are plenty of other great schools and teachers around.

[Cory Palmer]

It's not just high schoolers that audition at Curtis. The cut off age for entrance into Curtis is older than high school age. I think it's 21. For most other instruments it's 18. At least that's how it was when I auditioned there 8 years ago.

[jgbass]

Seems so ridiculous that a university or convervatory would have a cut-off age like that. How limiting. Thank goodness there are other fine schools that give someone over 21, or 18, a chance to develop into a fine musician.

I had to reply to this comment because I am well past 40, a proud AARP member, and ISB member too, and learning and growing like crazy at my university.

Do these univerisities hold on to some kind of archaic concept that someone's brain stops developing after age 18-21????

I guess this is a whole other can of worms, maybe deserves its own thread.

[sibass89]

Curtis' age cutoff is 23 but there have been frequent rumors that Roberto Diaz is removing the age gap as early as next year.

[Calebmundy]

I thought you had to be 55 to get into AARP.

[ADissen]

So bassists right out of high school shouldnt even bother?

[jgbass]

Originally Posted by Calebmundy

I thought you had to be 55 to get into AARP.

50

[Alex Jenkins]

Originally Posted by ADissen

So bassists right out of high school shouldnt even bother?

you should. even if you won't get in. it's a good experience to have. hal and edgar are great guys to audition for.

[Peter Ferretti]

I had actually heard from a couple people at the school that the age cutoff was lifted this year. Someone might want to call Chris to confirm or deny that.

[Minibass]

So would Hal's expectation of your audition differ depending on your age, or would he still take the best player?

[Dr_Atomic]

I think he'd probably take the best player, but I'm sure there are a lot of factors in his decision.

To give an example from the oboe auditions, a friend of mine was third in line for admissions to Curtis on oboe (they took two people) and the two people the ended up taking were at the maximum age for getting in. So they took the best two players without regard for differences in experience-level based on age.

[ADissen]

has anybody known anybody that went to Curtis that had studied music performance at a college before they auditioned for Curtis?
For example... Go to a sort of "unknown" music program at a state school (Maryland) with a good teacher (Robert Oppelt) and then audition for Curtis with a couple more years of experience?

[thedbassist]

Originally Posted by ADissen

has anybody known anybody that went to Curtis that had studied music performance at a college before they auditioned for Curtis?
For example... Go to a sort of "unknown" music program at a state school (Maryland) with a good teacher (Robert Oppelt) and then audition for Curtis with a couple more years of experience?

My teacher Mike Hill went from the University of Minnesota and then transferred on to Curtis, but honestly the main thing is how you hard and smart you work at becoming a better bass player. What matters most is your playing, not the schools you've attended.

[Alex Jenkins]

Ranaan Meyer went to Manhattan School for two years (?) with Tim Cobb then transferred to Curtis. Like dbassist said, what matters most is your playing.

[Dr_Atomic]

He's a Cobb student?? I didn't know that. Awesome! Way to represent, Ranaan Meyer... that just made him way cooler.

[ADissen]

so did the age limit get removed????

[Peter Ferretti]

I don't know. Go call Chris Hodges and ask. I don't think it really matters for us. Our age cutoff is 23. By that time, people are already doing their masters. And it's not like you aren't competing against that group of people for spots in other studios at other schools. Meaning that once you get to a certain level at certain schools and in certain studios, teachers will say I am taking X amount of students, regardless of their year. I would be surprised if Hal didn't do that.

You also shouldn't be worrying about the competition at curtis. There is not really any time for that... you should be so confident in the way you play that there is no room for error in your audition, because the audition is pretty much the only thing that matters.

Keep in mind this is all coming from a person who got rejected.. so I'm probably not the best person to be commenting. Oh well.