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Double Bass College Auditions 2006

PaulCannon

PaulCannon

Jan 24, 2002
2,117
950
Frankfurt, Germany
www.ensemble-modern.com
Disclosures
NS Design / AER Endorsing Artist
#1
So, who else out there is on the college-shopping circuit? I'm applying to five schools this year.

Peabody: Sent a tape in on December 1. Still waiting for results.

Indiana University: Auditioned on January 14 and was accepted, presumably to study with Bruce Bransby.

Boston University: Friday, February 17. I don't know a lot about this school, but I've heard really great things. I'm hoping to get into Ed Barker's studio.

Curtis Institute of Music: Saturday, February 25. Yeah, I know...

Rice University: Yet to be scheduled. I sent a DVD a long time ago, and I'm supposed to hear back some time soon as to whether I get to go to the live audition.
 
#2
Sounds great. I'm applying to three schools.

I have MSM on March 5th...hopefull into Grossman's studio

Then I have Juilliard on March 6th...hope to continue with my teacher, Mr. Levinson

and

Lynn University. Shigeru Ishikawa is the faculty and he is a great player and a student of Levinson. The conservatory is rather new and up and coming but great things are coming out of there.

Good luck with your auditions. Sounds like you have things under control.
 
#4
I just found out I was accepted and awarded a very generous scholarship to Berklee College of Music last week. Apperently everyone was right when they said they had a good amount of money for Bass Players. I am being considered for full tuition, and hopefully that will lock things in so I can go there for sure next year. Wish me luck. And Good luck to everyone on their auditions.
Also, if anyone has a Berklee Audition coming up, PM me, I'd be happy to help you out, or give suggestions! :smug:
 
#8
Hey guys, when in Philly do check out "Tequillas" on 16th and locust just2 blocks from Curtis. The best authentic mexican cuisine on the east coast....

Other than that good luck at Curtis and be prepared for lots of stair climbing with your axe.

G
 
#10
I am green with envy at you people.

I have this impossible fantasy of quitting my crappy day job and going back to university to study for a degree in music performance/composition at one of the prestigious arts universities here. It would be an incredible experience to be amongst musicians again and being part of the thriving melting pot of upcoming and inspired talents.

After I graduated from high school many years ago I spent a couple of years studying and developing my chops at a music college as a pianist before going to university to study for a completely unrelated degree. It was an unforgettable experience that has come back to haunt me in recent years. But with a mortgage and other responsibilities I just can't quit my day job to go back to study in that capacity again. Besides, if I went back for a music degree, I'd want to do it as a bassist and my chops are definitely not up to scratch on this instrument.

Good luck with all your auditions.


*edited - taking my impossible fantasy up the next level to more impossible heights includes studying at Berklee or Juilliard.
 
#11
I just auditioned for UCLA over the weekend (as a transfer). Did well. Chris Hanulik gave me good vibes and pretty much told me that they wanted me in the dept, now I just have to find out if my meager 3.4 GPA will get me through with the main admission office (My ineptitude at caring about my GE could very well be my downfall.) You know, it's really unnerving playing cello suite material for a panel that has a cello teacher on it, cuz you just KNOW they're tearing apart every single thing about every single note. That's why I love obscure bass music, because if you mess up a little, the only person who will know is the bassist on the panel, and they probably won't care.

Anyone else here audition for UCLA in the fall? anybody?
 
#12
The only reason I'm applying to all those schools is because I'd like to have some backups for the New York schools. Otherwise I would have only applied to Manhattan and Juilliard. Had I known Mensch was about to pass away I wouldn't have applied to Mannes.
 
#14
PaulCannon said:
Curtis would be my first choice, although Rice would be just as great. Really, anything in a city would be fine by me at this point.
Click to expand...

Interesting to read this comment.

Oddly enough, I never lived or studied in a city that had a major orchestra - until I won my job. A "city" is not necessary unless you're "'jazz-giggin'".

First-person accounts of Rice University say 'it was a brilliant place to be'; great students who are very focused, great teachers who are even more focused, great orchestras with a brilliant conductor.

Curtis would also be an ideal setting.

IU is also obviously a very productive place to study.

I personally wish I'd been far enough along to go to any of those places for an undergrad, but I had not even had a bass lesson when I left high school!
I did IU for grad school, with Bruce Bransby, and it was the perfect fit. I even turned down far bigger scholarships at big universities, because it was clear that IU had the teachers, atmosphere, students and facilities to be The Right Place For Me.
 
#17
B. Johnson said:
What you have to realize, is that every city, college, teacher, etc. is going to have it's good and it bad. There are things about bloomington and IU that I love, and there I things about Bloomington and IU that I absolutely can't stand. I know the same would go for Rice. Curtis is a fairly ideal situation, low class work, great teacher, gigging in town to make money, great players galore, it's tough to find bad in curtis, but there is some if you look hard enough I bet. Als I am sayin is, I would pick college based on the teacher and forget the rest, at least for undergrad. When you're older and strapped down by a lot more things grad school might be a compromise, but study with the best you can in your undergrad. Know what I'm saying? What do you all think about this?
Click to expand...

Great advice. For undergrad, I would go for the teacher who will get me to my peak in a school atmosphere that will inspire me to get there. The city situation is great for gigging and networking, but undergrad, I believe, is all about getting chops and musical sensibilities in order. Lots of schools will do this.

IU is unusual because of its mammoth enrollment. 45+ bass majors and 1600 music majors last time I checked. One thing no one ever mentions about IU is that it is a GREAT place to meet hordes of other musicians and bass players to exchange ideas and hang out with. (And those informal social ties that you make in the undergrad can often become indispensable professional contacts 10-20 years later).
 
#18
And on the undergrad side of gigging...I would not advise taking every gig you can (unless you are paying your way to a big price tag school).

In any of those areas contractors know that they can get very cheap, very talented kids to play their gigs. Take some so that you can get your orchestra chops set, but during undergrad, your time is best spent locked in a room practicing. I think you will find that the guys who are gigging the most in undergrad are not always the ones who go on to killer grad schools or significant orchestras.

imho :)
 
#19
B. Johnson,

Which gig pays you $75 a service? because if your including gas and compensation for use of car into the total "per" service price, you are making it sound much better then it is.
If not, my bad, it just sounds like your including extra money into the service fee.

I understand where Ben is coming from, he's just saying that your best bet is to practice instead of gig in undergrad (generally)..... it's a loose statement to say these people that do are not going to move on.
 

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