Double Bass Graduate School Opinions

[BigBopper]

I did a little looking around, but I couldn't figure out where to place this thread. This seemed about as appropriate as the auditions page I guess...

Anyhoozle, I'm looking at some graduate schools, notably Cincinatti, Carnegie-Mellon, USC, UCLA, and Colburn, and I've only visited Cincinatti (which I loved!) so far. I'm in the scheduling process now for the other schools, but I was hoping that I could get some opinions from people as well. I realize auditions are hard and blah blah blah Colburn blah blah blah but I mostly just want to know what people think about the areas these schools are in, the teachers, and the faculty. I just graduated from a school which was not heavy on music performance (like 10 performance majors and all the theory majors you could ask for)so basically everything else is an upgrade, but I would love to be surrounded by a student body that cares about performing as much as I do more than anything!

Thoughts? Facts about where I should of actually posted this or if this redundant? Please let me know!

 

[mpdd]

don't go if you have to pay for it, the fine people of the great state of ohio paid for my graduate degree, too many of my friends went to big gun schools and are now still in debt up to their eyeballs 15 years later

 

[Cory Palmer]

Check out Duquesne University since you are considering CMU. Micah Howard and Jeff Turner both teach at Duquesne. It's just Micah at CMU. Jeff is also the orchestra director at Duquesne. I've been very impressed with the results that he's gotten out of the orchestra and the programming is great. I'm not too sure how the academics compare between the schools. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has an amazing bass section and orchestra in general.

 

[ILIA]

don't go if you have to pay for it, the fine people of the great state of ohio paid for my graduate degree, too many of my friends went to big gun schools and are now still in debt up to their eyeballs 15 years later

So were you able to win an audition after your free training?

 

[mpdd]

i'm a sculptor, yes

 

[mattgray]

I'll make a plug for Indiana; if you went to a school that was small with performance, IU would be a great place to get a much broader musical view in one location. There's roughly 40 bassists alone there; 1,600 total music students. There's a lot of opportunity for performance with 7 different orchestras, including a baroque and contemporary ensemble. The school brings in great faculty and there's over 1,000 performances, masterclasses, recitals, etc. a year. Mr. Bransby is a fantastic teacher, and they should be picking a permanent replacement for Mr. Hurst, who retired last year. It's a big school, and the numbers can be intimidating, but it's really a great place. Bloomington's in close proximity to Cincinnati, Louisville, and Chicago, and is a great town in its own right.

 

[twbassman]

I am currently getting my MBA at Syracuse University! Good school, pricey though. My company pays tuition, I pay for everything else.


Good luck. I live in Cincinnati, the program is the iMBA program.

 

[ThumpPlunkJunk]

I'll make a plug for Indiana; if you went to a school that was small with performance, IU would be a great place to get a much broader musical view in one location. There's roughly 40 bassists alone there; 1,600 total music students. There's a lot of opportunity for performance with 7 different orchestras, including a baroque and contemporary ensemble. The school brings in great faculty and there's over 1,000 performances, masterclasses, recitals, etc. a year. Mr. Bransby is a fantastic teacher, and they should be picking a permanent replacement for Mr. Hurst, who retired last year. It's a big school, and the numbers can be intimidating, but it's really a great place. Bloomington's in close proximity to Cincinnati, Louisville, and Chicago, and is a great town in its own right.

I've talked to a couple people about IU--the biggest criticism I get is the size of it. They've said it can be overwhelming and you can get lost in the shuffle if you're not suited for the environment. Other than that, I've heard nothing but positives about it.

 

[Jimnastix]

For a left field choice try Penn State -the professor there Rob Nairn is a great teacher and highly versatile player who also teaches baroque bass at Juilliard, and has great connections around the world . there are plenty of playing opportunities around, especially as a Grad student.
The assistantships are also pretty generous.
The only possible drawback is living in central PA. But it's only three hours to NYC or Philly or Pittsburgh, so it's not like you're in Alaska...
Worth a look IMO.

 

[weary gill]

I'm almost done at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and I've had a great experience.

 

[bcarter]

I've talked to a couple people about IU--the biggest criticism I get is the size of it. They've said it can be overwhelming and you can get lost in the shuffle if you're not suited for the environment. Other than that, I've heard nothing but positives about it.

sorry, but i've not heard that criticism yet or experienced it. yes, my theory classes are 50 people deep, but i'm not here for that. we all get great attention from our studio professors with plenty of opportunity to perform in masterclasses (2 a week) and repertoire and audition prep classes… not to mention that any day of the week you'd be hard pressed not to find anyone around to play for. i don't feel like i've been neglected at all.

 

[Peter Ferretti]

I'll make a plug for Indiana; if you went to a school that was small with performance, IU would be a great place to get a much broader musical view in one location. There's roughly 40 bassists alone there; 1,600 total music students. There's a lot of opportunity for performance with 7 different orchestras, including a baroque and contemporary ensemble. The school brings in great faculty and there's over 1,000 performances, masterclasses, recitals, etc. a year. Mr. Bransby is a fantastic teacher, and they should be picking a permanent replacement for Mr. Hurst, who retired last year. It's a big school, and the numbers can be intimidating, but it's really a great place. Bloomington's in close proximity to Cincinnati, Louisville, and Chicago, and is a great town in its own right.

I've talked to a couple people about IU--the biggest criticism I get is the size of it. They've said it can be overwhelming and you can get lost in the shuffle if you're not suited for the environment. Other than that, I've heard nothing but positives about it.

sorry, but i've not heard that criticism yet or experienced it. yes, my theory classes are 50 people deep, but i'm not here for that. we all get great attention from our studio professors with plenty of opportunity to perform in masterclasses (2 a week) and repertoire and audition prep classes… not to mention that any day of the week you'd be hard pressed not to find anyone around to play for. i don't feel like i've been neglected at all.

I agree with Matt and Brenton. Having spent time in a very small musical environment (NEC), and now a very large musical environment (IU), the people that claim they get 'lost in the shuffle' within a place like IU are probably going to get 'lost in the shuffle' anywhere else. The difference being at a place like Jacobs, you can actually blame the size of the school on your inability to stand out. If you can't hack it here, I'm willing to bet you won't be able to hack it at any of the smaller conservatories either. You certainly won't be neglected by the teachers at Indiana. The 90 minute lessons I receive every week seem to be more than generous.

I imagine you will have a difficult time a single bass player here (that puts in the time) that would agree with what you said. I certainly haven't found one.

 

[Tom Gale]

Let me plug my grad school Northwestern U. I got my M.M. many moons ago. I was looking for a master's without any Ed credits. Had enough in undergraduate school. Great school!
Tom Gale

 

[404usernamenotfound]

Let me plug my grad school Northwestern U. I got my M.M. many moons ago. I was looking for a master's without any Ed credits. Had enough in undergraduate school. Great school!
Tom Gale

The teacher there, Andrew Raciti, is great- I almost went there this year.

I'd also plug my school, the Cleveland Institute. Both the teachers here are excellent, and its relatively light on class load, or so the grad students tell me. I study with Scott Dixon, and he's fantastic.

 

[davidzgeorge]

My undergrad teacher also felt that you shouldn't pay for grad school. Look at state schools with good music programs. They often have more money to give out, in the form of assistantships - like the University of Maryland for instance...

 

[lyla1953]

don't go if you have to pay for it, the fine people of the great state of ohio paid for my graduate degree, too many of my friends went to big gun schools and are now still in debt up to their eyeballs 15 years later

My company paid my MBA...best investment they ever made!

 

[millertx]

Jeff Bradetich is at UNT, you might want to check it out, as they have a very large bass program.

 

[flowinowen]

I ended up at a small music school an hour outside Asheville NC. I was the only bass performance guy, and ended up with 20+ gigs a semester(Not counting the gigs that were outside of school). Make sure you check the area the school is in. If I hadn't moved, I had a comfortable playing career lined up.