Duke Ellington instrumental kids

[Anonymous]

Have long had your kids been playing their instrument before they started at DE?

[Anonymous]

They have kids who are beginners—kids who didn’t make it into desired program so allowed to join instrumental to be at Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have kids who are beginners—kids who didn’t make it into desired program so allowed to join instrumental to be at Duke

That’s so weird. I thought these kids had to be fairly proficient musicians with a portfolio. Why would DE admit beginners? Nothing against those kids, but I’m just confused.

[Anonymous]

Possibly because they show promise, and/or are willing to commit to learning less popular instruments for the chance to participate in opportunities offered to the entire student body. I’d also guess that the admissions team might try to offer opportunities to students who haven’t had much access to instruction, despite their evident potential. If this is the case, I’d applaud that. Training promising young students from under-resourced public schools and communities is a goal that has at least as much value as taking capable students with all of the benefits that private lessons and extensive preparation can offer them — especially when it comes to receiving an in-state publicly financed education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Possibly because they show promise, and/or are willing to commit to learning less popular instruments for the chance to participate in opportunities offered to the entire student body. I’d also guess that the admissions team might try to offer opportunities to students who haven’t had much access to instruction, despite their evident potential. If this is the case, I’d applaud that. Training promising young students from under-resourced public schools and communities is a goal that has at least as much value as taking capable students with all of the benefits that private lessons and extensive preparation can offer them — especially when it comes to receiving an in-state publicly financed education.

Yes, I agree with this. I didn’t understand how the school worked, but your explanation here has a lot of value and makes sense. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Formally 5 years (and all the time).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have kids who are beginners—kids who didn’t make it into desired program so allowed to join instrumental to be at Duke

I don’t think this is true. All the instrumental students I’ve come across are highly, highly skilled. It’s a really competitive program to get into.

[Anonymous]

I wonder about this - got a middle schooler who is obsessed with the guitar and making great progress. Seems very likely to get good. But has only been on this for like 18 months.

[Anonymous]

I think some instruments are more competitive than others. When looking at the sign-up sheet for auditions, I seem to remember a lot of kids trying for guitar and piano (but I could be mistaken) and far fewer for some other instruments (clarinet, flute, French horn, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have kids who are beginners—kids who didn’t make it into desired program so allowed to join instrumental to be at Duke

I don’t think this is true. All the instrumental students I’ve come across are highly, highly skilled. It’s a really competitive program to get into.

I think this more likely that a kid will be invited to play a different instrument— think viola instead of violin or oboe instead of flute- than someone who applied for acting being asked to play cello…

The kids I know at Duke have been playing since kindergarten/ 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have kids who are beginners—kids who didn’t make it into desired program so allowed to join instrumental to be at Duke

I don’t think this is true. All the instrumental students I’ve come across are highly, highly skilled. It’s a really competitive program to get into.

I think this more likely that a kid will be invited to play a different instrument— think viola instead of violin or oboe instead of flute- than someone who applied for acting being asked to play cello…

The kids I know at Duke have been playing since kindergarten/ 1st grade.

+1. This makes sense to me. If a child has been playing violin for years but isn't quite up to making it into Duke for violin, they could still switch to one of the instruments that orchestra programs are always short on (viola, cello, bass, etc.). I did that switch in high school because my orchestra needed more cellos and had too many violins.