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Double Bass Who gets into Curtis?
- Thread starter ADissen
- Start date
I don't know all the info regarding percentages, etc., but I graduated from Curtis so hopefully I have something to add in this discussion.
I understand why Curtis' percentage of acceptance is low. Since Curtis operates almost solely off of the interest from a huge endowment, they receive a certain amount of money each year to run the school (and they raise a certain amount to offset inflation, etc.). The school can only have a certain number of students, and that number is actually around 165 I believe, although each year they give and take depending on circumstances.
The bass studio for a long time only had 5 students at a given time, but that number changed to 7 later on. So at any given time there are only 7 bass players at Curtis. School-wide this policy made it difficult in certain cases to pick a student because you would have several great, promising musicians, but only a certain number of spots to fill. Like orchestral auditions, teachers/departments had to pick the very best one. So sometimes there would be 3 great bass players, but only 2 spots available. I remember in one case there was a very promising bass player who got far in the audition process but was not picked, so this person attended another school for a year, auditioned again, and was accepted at that point. So yes, this does happen, and more frequently than not I believe.
Choosing the "very best student" can be subjective though. My advice to bass player wanting to get into Curtis is to make sure your basic bass-playing AND musicianship skills are fine-tuned. Make sure you have a good sound or sound production, good intonation, good rhythm, and a mature, developed sense of musicality.
Above all, DON'T BE A JERK. No one wants to teach an arrogant student, someone who thinks they know it all and doesn't need to be taught. My impression is that Hal likes to have a bass studio that gets along well with each other.
Hope that helps.
I understand why Curtis' percentage of acceptance is low. Since Curtis operates almost solely off of the interest from a huge endowment, they receive a certain amount of money each year to run the school (and they raise a certain amount to offset inflation, etc.). The school can only have a certain number of students, and that number is actually around 165 I believe, although each year they give and take depending on circumstances.
The bass studio for a long time only had 5 students at a given time, but that number changed to 7 later on. So at any given time there are only 7 bass players at Curtis. School-wide this policy made it difficult in certain cases to pick a student because you would have several great, promising musicians, but only a certain number of spots to fill. Like orchestral auditions, teachers/departments had to pick the very best one. So sometimes there would be 3 great bass players, but only 2 spots available. I remember in one case there was a very promising bass player who got far in the audition process but was not picked, so this person attended another school for a year, auditioned again, and was accepted at that point. So yes, this does happen, and more frequently than not I believe.
Choosing the "very best student" can be subjective though. My advice to bass player wanting to get into Curtis is to make sure your basic bass-playing AND musicianship skills are fine-tuned. Make sure you have a good sound or sound production, good intonation, good rhythm, and a mature, developed sense of musicality.
Above all, DON'T BE A JERK. No one wants to teach an arrogant student, someone who thinks they know it all and doesn't need to be taught. My impression is that Hal likes to have a bass studio that gets along well with each other.
Hope that helps.
finally, thats probably the best answer to the question ill get.
(you were so very close burgermeister, so very close)
thank you very much for the response
In the US, don't they have those double-programme deals where you can go to say, NEC and Harvard concurrently? I would expect that Atomic's reasoning for his choice would be similar to someone who would elect to enroll in one of these programmes: strong interest in two areas, want to have degree in both to be marketable in both, and want to have well-rounded education. This is just a guess, as I would not really be able to do both (I am not the best with time-management) and thus would not consider doing it.
I don't know if they are for post-graduate or undergraduate studies, but the idea of the programme is probably what Atomic is looking for.
But this is off-topic now...
But this is off-topic now...
