Visi Performing Arts Problematic

[Anonymous]

I will just say it... private school music programs aren't great. No matter how much they tried to pitch how great they were, as soon as we went to concerts as a visiting student, we knew. The schools are too small to draw a big enough talent pool to work with. The top publics are usually better for this. My dd attends private and the orchestra is lead by a great person, but there just aren't enough people to form an entire orchestra that is high level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will just say it... private school music programs aren't great. No matter how much they tried to pitch how great they were, as soon as we went to concerts as a visiting student, we knew. The schools are too small to draw a big enough talent pool to work with. The top publics are usually better for this. My dd attends private and the orchestra is lead by a great person, but there just aren't enough people to form an entire orchestra that is high level.

Also kids do so many different activities in the privates leaving no time to actually practice save a select few. A lot of jack of all trades, master of none kids who are stretched thin everywhere.

[Anonymous]

That’s a poor excuse.

[Anonymous]

The job listing is for one position that would be in charge of both music and theater. This is not in line with what other similar schools have. Many have multiple faculty members in these roles - theater director, choir director, theater tech director, etc. Don’t get your hopes up for big change with this kind of minimal staffing. One person can only do so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The job listing is for one position that would be in charge of both music and theater. This is not in line with what other similar schools have. Many have multiple faculty members in these roles - theater director, choir director, theater tech director, etc. Don’t get your hopes up for big change with this kind of minimal staffing. One person can only do so much.

Visi girls are generally smarter than those at the surrounding schools. It's fine if the theater program is mid.

[Anonymous]

Word is circulating that there are four finalists who are being narrowed-down. Apparently some of the girls are experiencing sample classes. I'm guessing they will have a slimmed-down but higher-quality program. Anything will be an upgrade from the current program. They need to clean house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Word is circulating that there are four finalists who are being narrowed-down. Apparently some of the girls are experiencing sample classes. I'm guessing they will have a slimmed-down but higher-quality program. Anything will be an upgrade from the current program. They need to clean house.

Looking forward to hearing about who they choose. Agree that anything is an upgrade and might be better to start smaller and build.

[Anonymous]

This is good to hear. The Fall production was bad. Spring musical was better (meaning there was some clear talent) but there seems to be some direction missing. Also, please fix the sound! There is no reason a school of that caliber with a healthy annual tuition has all of that crackling, static and popcorn noise. Even if the production was good, it is hard to hear. We noticed this during both productions. So a new sound system would be fantastic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is good to hear. The Fall production was bad. Spring musical was better (meaning there was some clear talent) but there seems to be some direction missing. Also, please fix the sound! There is no reason a school of that caliber with a healthy annual tuition has all of that crackling, static and popcorn noise. Even if the production was good, it is hard to hear. We noticed this during both productions. So a new sound system would be fantastic!

Visi moms. Classy all the way. As always.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is good to hear. The Fall production was bad. Spring musical was better (meaning there was some clear talent) but there seems to be some direction missing. Also, please fix the sound! There is no reason a school of that caliber with a healthy annual tuition has all of that crackling, static and popcorn noise. Even if the production was good, it is hard to hear. We noticed this during both productions. So a new sound system would be fantastic!

Visi moms. Classy all the way. As always.

Thank you! I’m not criticizing the girls - just the production.

[Anonymous]

No, the girls are the talent and your comment was unkind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will just say it... private school music programs aren't great. No matter how much they tried to pitch how great they were, as soon as we went to concerts as a visiting student, we knew. The schools are too small to draw a big enough talent pool to work with. The top publics are usually better for this. My dd attends private and the orchestra is lead by a great person, but there just aren't enough people to form an entire orchestra that is high level.

I'm completely OK with that. The goal is to have my kid get to play. I don't mind if some of his classmates are newer to the instrument or significantly better than my kid. If they are getting some experience and having a good time, that's great. If he went to a school that wouldn't let him be a part of it because he wasn't good enough, that would be a huge loss. This is a time of life to try things and have fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, the girls are the talent and your comment was unkind.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will just say it... private school music programs aren't great. No matter how much they tried to pitch how great they were, as soon as we went to concerts as a visiting student, we knew. The schools are too small to draw a big enough talent pool to work with. The top publics are usually better for this. My dd attends private and the orchestra is lead by a great person, but there just aren't enough people to form an entire orchestra that is high level.

I'm completely OK with that. The goal is to have my kid get to play. I don't mind if some of his classmates are newer to the instrument or significantly better than my kid. If they are getting some experience and having a good time, that's great. If he went to a school that wouldn't let him be a part of it because he wasn't good enough, that would be a huge loss. This is a time of life to try things and have fun.

+1

[Anonymous]

The quality of available talent in the Visi student body is quite high, as evidenced by the quality of their performances in the Gonzaga spring musical. It is fine for students to seek involvement in the great Gonzaga program, but they should also have a quality level of program on campus. I encourage continued insistence that the school retain a much higher quality staff and present significantly better program offerings in this area. We will never have taxpayer-funded theatre facilities or a large fine arts department, but we can and should do far better with the resources that are indeed available. We should adopt the identical attitude we have toward the other great opportunities provided to our daughters and turn this around.