need advice from music teachers or musicians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a piano major, but majored in music education and ran my own studio for awhile. It sounds like you have a decent teacher if you are entering local competitions. I would talk to the twacher about the desire to branch out and see what their input is. I would also think about what a more intense/well-known teacher might get you. In middle school, when it became apparent that I was headed towards music as a profession, I switched to a well-known university professor for my lessons. She opened up doors for me that other teachers could not have. She had connections that got me going to master classes internationally. She provided advice for auditions that was tailored to the teachers at that school because she knew them. She knew which teachers were retiring (thus changing the studio and making me hesistant to apply to the school). I think it made a world of difference in my ultimate college selection and scholarship.

I also second attending an intensive summer music camp such as Interlochen. It gives you a taste of what living and breathing music (and competition) is 24-7. It also is fun to be around people who are passionate about music. It also provides opportunity to explore other opportunities such as jazz piano, composition, and accompanying.

I totally agree with this. I am an amateur musician, but my sister potentially could have gone professional. She learned a ton about what she likes (and, more importantly, what she doesn't like) about the life of a professional musician (classical in her case) from going to Juilliard pre-college and learning from the teachers there, virtually all of whom are working musicians at the Met Opera orchestra and the NY Phil. She went to Tanglewood for a few summers and just became really involved in that world. She decided to not go to a conservatory because she wanted a college degree (aka the option to do something other than be a professional musician, which many of the Met Opera musicians told her can get pretty boring after awhile, when you're playing many of the same pieces year after year).

Anyway, I'd say that if your kid is serious about being a professional musician, being around as many professional musicians as possible is really important to not only learning the craft, but understanding the pros and cons of that life.