| wow, new eye opener. What kind of instruments they take? |
I'd certainly talk with your private teacher about your daughter's level and the teacher's expectation of whether she should have gotten in. As a pp stated, there are kids auditioning from all over, so it's very competitive. You might want to look at PVYO also. And my kid's string teacher mentioned Washington Asian Philharmonic Orchestra (https://wapomusic.org/?page_id=19) as a low-key alternative. (This was info from last year: "WAPO is a small chamber strings ensemble led by Dr. Shy-Luen Chen, we are looking for musicians of all ages level 4 and up. No audition is required") |
They didn't deny her a seat. They didn't offer her a seat and I know kids offered who were older so maybe your child isn't playing on the MCYO level you think they are. Many kids have been in private lessons for several years by 6th grade and the skill level is amazing. You also have to know how to sight read and many other requirements. They cannot take everyone and only have limited seats, especially depending on the instrument. Its absolutely not corrupt because your child didn't get in. When mine got in, honestly I was surprised. |
MCYO maxes out at $1090 for its top ensemble (less for the others, and it does offer financial aid.) It has three concerts a year. Last year PVYO was $550 and had two concerts. (I think at least in the past PVYO has taken January off?) |
https://www.pvyo.org https://mcyo.org https://www.dcyop.org |
OP here. My daughter has had private lessons for the past four years and her private teacher is the one who came to us and said she is ready to play for mcyo. We didn’t even know of its existence. She knew all the requirements forward and back and can sight read for the past two years. I am not saying they are corrupt but suggesting that they might be corrupt and that transparency is not there., including no feedback whatsoever. So other families can be aware if they are in the same situation as us. Also, u are surprised your child got in…this is what I mean there doesn’t seem to be consistency And transparency in the process. It’s seems like the have a hidden agenda for their results. Congrats on your child getting in! |
Maybe her in-person audition just wasn't that strong this time. It happens, doesn't mean the process was corrupt. Your post is so bitter. |
Ready to *audition* for MCYO. Just because she was good enough to audition, no guarantee she'd make the final cut. The competition is fierce, and there are many around here who've been playing since they were five. |
Your child's private instruction may not have been aware that MCYO made its program smaller due to covid. There are fewer seats for the 22/23 school year than there were for 20/21. This has created downward pressure across the region, with kids who might have made it into MCYO another year not receiving a seat, and then auditioning for a less-competitive orchestra instead, except that orchestra has also become smaller. Basically, it's a very hard year to audition, and if your child is a violinist, maybe one of the hardest years in recent history. |
My kid (now in college) joined MCYO soph year of HS, on an unusual instrument. But it's really competitive; if you don't play an unusual instrument, it's brutally hard. |
My child has been in a few years but thank you. There probably were not any spaces. |
MCYO doesn't seem like a smaller program. The orchestra's are very large. |
$1K is a lot of money for a lot of us and they also require private lessons, which you forget to mention. And, you pay for each concert. $550 is more reasonable. However, MCYO has a lot more staff and overhead. |
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My 10th grader didn’t get in, and she suspected it was probably due to her lack of higher-level audition skills. She’s been working hard and getting lots of praise and awards, but has mostly had video auditions in the last few years since she’s been playing at a more advanced level.
She made county honors bands in earlier grades, had one disastrous audition for state honors band which made her realize she how much she didn’t know, and since then it’s been all uploaded videos. She said she got nervous and totally flustered during the sight reading, which she normally does well at with her teacher. So she’s hoping her PVYO audition video will be more successful. And frankly, I’m not all that sorry about not having to pay those MCYO fees! |
Hope she gets into PVYO. The top group, and it goes also by grade level is extremely competitive and probably very few slots since kids have been in MCYO for years but some kids do move/drop out. The sight reading for some reason is a huge deal. Its a hard audition. She may have done better than she thought but it may have been a space issue. |