A few weeks ago, an applicant to our undergraduate program in music composition emailed me, complaining that he was rejected without an explanation. I wrote him back an email that seemed to answer his questions, but I then did something I had never done: I offered him a free lesson.
He came today for his lesson. We talked for a while, I looked at some of his new pieces, and he reminded me what pieces were in his application. Here were his problems, and these problems were common to other applications:
1. He didn’t have any performances by people; all of his “performances” were computer playback. He doesn’t participate in the musical process. I told him to GO to that oboe recital instead of partying with his friends; befriend performers and offer to write pieces for those you admire.
2. Besides UCLA, he applied to three other schools, known for the modernist tendencies. I told him that it was unlikely that he would be admitted to those schools, writing the way he writes. I encouraged him to not be disappointed because the teachers he would be working with there, would not approve of the music he is writing (nor did I see any interest on the student’s part to embrace their esthetic).
3. His music had no performance detail, other than notes and rhythms: no tempo, no dynamics, no articulation. No description as to how the piece should go. I sang one passage and showed how it might be faster or slower, or louder or softer, or with different articulation to make the point; and each, a different musical utterance.
But the component most lacking, was being involved with other musicians. Music is a social art, and if you don’t like people, you are in the wrong art. Young composers can’t just sit at home at their computers, churning out music for no one. Music must be for warm bodies; for live performers who play music by living composers for a live audience.
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On second thought: I disagree. Music CAN be for live people and such, but it is just fine on an iPod, a personal home sound system, or as a pre-canned soundtrack for dance, theater, movies and such. I do feel strongly that experience with real instruments and live performers is invaluable.
It’s audition time at UCLA and many other music schools and departments around the world. Students have their hopes up that they will be beginning careers as world-famous musicians, and that schools should be so lucky to have the opportunity to train such talent. Parents assume that their children will get in, because, after all, they are THEIR children.
Alas, they do not all get in. There are limited vacancies, and, as often happens, a few people just a little better in one way or another, inch to the front of the line, nudging out the others.
It is normal for parents and students to be angry about rejection (such a strong word, but I guess that’s what it is). It is common to want to know what they “did wrong” so that they can be better prepared if they apply again. Schools are normally not in the habit of critiquing every student’s application, and students and parents are angry or frustrated not ever knowing what it was. More often than not, people make up or imagine excuses for why they did not get in, and that helps deal with the blow.
Students that don’t get in need to realize that it was a small group of people — sometimes 2 to 4 individuals — who have ranked the applicants, and made the decision. It does not mean the whole school hates you, or thinks you are stupid, or wishes you ill will, it’s just that there were limited slots, and not enough to accommodate you. Yes, there are sometimes embarassing American Idol moments, where a student has no idea that they have no talent or potential for being a musician. They can either continue to live in delusion, or realize that it would be better looking for a different career. Many times, the responsibility of breaking this news falls to the juries, auditioners, and music schools that have to make that decision. Don’t kill the messenger.
Just as parents are thrilled over their child’s first steps, any inkling of musicality makes them think their child might be the next Horowitz. When parents find out that musicality is common in many people, but doesn’t necessarily mean their child gets to have a career in music, it can be a bitter pill. Both parents and child need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, take a deep breath, blink a few times, and realize that a rejection notice wasn’t the end of the world.
This is tough for anyone, but essential for moving on and rethinking about what you want to do with your life. Music isn’t going anywhere, so you can keep it in your life forever. It’s just that you won’t be making your living from it. And that’s ok. Being a musician is a tough life, even for outstanding musicians.
So, if you didn’t get into the school you applied to, it’s not the end of the world. In my humble opinion, it is better for a school to be honest about rejecting a students, than to admit any student and fool them into thinking they have a chance for a career in music, when all the school really wanted was the tuition money.
I’ve always been torn, and erred towards the side of abstaining from socializing with students; although many of my fond memories in college were hanging out with my profs.
Last night, one of our students, who has tremendous herding abilities, got a bunch of our class to go to an Italian restaurant in Sherman Oaks (Spumoni), owned by one of our classmate’s father. It was a lovely evening; the host was generous and a man with a large heart. His daughter wasn’t able to be there as she was in rehearsal for the upcoming opera. We all had a good time and a wonderful meal. Daniel came with me, and a musicology professor, her husband and kids, were there as well.
One must be circumspect about the fine line between friend and teacher, which is similar to being Chair, and being your colleagues’ “boss” while tryng to still be friends. After being in a position of power (teacher, Chair), there is an awkward transition back to being an equal, or a “civilian” as I like to call it. My approach has been to be consistent in both situations. Be the same person with the same values and same honesty.
I think I’ll update my opinion about hanging out with students.
Thanks to Gary Philo for finding this most interesting interview. (Halsey Stevens is the interviewer.)
One of the interesting confessions here is that Schoenberg refers to himself as an “amateur painter” with no technique; and that he is, as of this interview, no longer a painter.
OMG! Greg Brown (the fiddle player in this photo) just sent me this picture. It is the Yahara River Valley Boys, a bluegrass group I played with from 1972-4 in Madison Wisconsin. The photo looks vaguely like the Flying Burrito Brothers. Are these wholesome lads or what?
L-R: Roger Bourland, Ed Fyffe, Jamie Shelton, and Greg Brown.
OakWebWorks Tickets published a Top Ten Classical Music Blogs list recently, with an interesting selection. Yours truly came in at number three. The company that made this list sells tickets to all kinds of events around the US. Here is the criteria, as listed in my notification email:
How frequently the site is updated
Features
Quality of the writing
Originality
Relevancy
The age of the site
Unique information offered & overall usefulness
Other factors & our own personal opinions
I’ve reblogged their top ten list here for your information.
Sequenza21
It’s easy to read and easy to navigate. Sequenza21 has the tagline “the contemporary classical music community” and the blog is updated by a team large enough to be a community. It’s a great place to learn about everything that’s going on in the world of classical music.
The Standing Room
The Standing Room tackles classical music with a well designed blog that has lots of links, lots of information and a sense of humor. Their reading room is a great feature.
RogerBourland.com
Roger Bourland is a composer and music professor who does a little blogging on the side. Granted, his status within the classical music community elevates his blog (which can stray off topic) but there’s enough information and great videos to make up for it.
The Omniscient Mussel
Colorful and energetic, The Omniscient Mussel features several entries on some of the world’s greatest classical music. In some ways it’s what you might have seen had the internet be around in the times of Brahms. The blog has tons of features and links, including a weekly contest.
Thirteen Ways – Adventures (In New Music) With eighth blackbird
Thirteen ways is a blog written by eighth blackbird, a Grammy award winning chamber music sextet. Their simple blog contains news, behind the scenes action, reviews of their concerts, as well as observations and musing on other topics from the world of classical music. It’s a very fun blog.
Parterre Box
Parterre Box is stylized and glamorous, but still a very informative blog about opera. It’s billed as a “queer opera zine” and is updated by La Cieca, the site’s “cultural doyenne.” The highlight of the blog, besides La Cieca’s witty writing, is a section called “unnatural acts of opera.” Check it out.
Classical Convert
Classical Convert features the tagline, “classical music for non classical people.” This is the blog to start with if you’re new to the classical music world. Blogger Ben is a solid writer and among his blog’s many features are primers to classical music. Only a subpar design keeps this blog from ranking higher.
Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog
Yes, it’s a blog dedicated to the double bass, but it’s full of great features like double bass news, stories, downloads, podcasts, and history lessons. Jason’s friendly and inviting blog is a good read whether you play a double bass or not.
Think Denk
Jeremy Denk is a concert pianist and while his blog is fascinating and insightful, his entries are few and far between. Apparently, he spends most of his free time practicing instead of blogging—what’s up with that? Still, his blog is a wonderful glimpse into the life of a world famous classical musician.
Oboeinsight
Patricia Mitchell blogs in a conversational style and she does so very frequently. While Patricia is an oboist, her site encompasses the entire world of classical music, not just the oboe. She admits her site is cluttered, but even so, Oboeinsight is a good read with lots of information, features and links.
The aforementioned blogs are worthy of a visit and a bookmark. Each site has a different design, each site approaches classical music from a different perspective, but all the sites have one thing in common… a passion for classical music.
For some odd reason, after 25 years of teaching, I’ve stumbled upon a good way of teaching students how to write melodies that “go” with given harmony. I have been introducing new chords every week, and with each assignment I have students write short chord progressions, and then compose a melody against one of the progressions. Instead of writing for piano or SATB, I have them writing for string quartet — this teaches them the backbone of the orchestra, and introduces the alto clef as well.
As I grade their papers I have to communicate to them why certain melodies “go” and certain don’t. If you have, say, a G major chord, the melodic fragment that glides atop it should express G major-ness, or be an obvious part of the G major chord. When a student puts a melodic fragment that outlines, say, a D tonality, I’ll bracket that part of the melody, pointing out that it’s D, and not G, while I bracket the harmony, pointing out that it’s a G harmony. The student then sees that there are two conflicting sonorities happening simultaneously.
Now, we adult composers know that one CAN mix a melodic fragment that belongs to a different harmony, and it can sound perfectly good, or better, exotic, or mysterious, or modal, or far away. But for beginners, I’m keeping the training wheels on so that a G major chord gets a G major melody. We then look carefully at the “in” notes and the “out” notes and whether those notes fall on strong or weak beats.
I just bought a used copy of GAY AMERICAN COMPOSERS Vol.2. It’s a terrific repackaging of old CRI recordings. Based on this collection, I like gay composers.
I read the program notes, expecting to read something like “…Harry Partch first knew he was gay when he hit on the TA in his biology class…” but no. The notes were rather straight ahead — to use the wrong analogy — although one bit poked out by, of course, Virgil Thomson.
When Virgil Thomson met Ben Weber for the first time, he remarked, “I understand that you are a serialist composer.” “Yes,” replied Weber. “And I understand that you are a homosexual,” Thomson continued. “Yes, ” Weber again replied. “Well,” Thomson sniffed, “which is it? because you can’t be both.”
