Pre-college music programs in NY/NJ/Philly
My 10-year-old violinist daughter would like to get more serious about her playing, so we are researching the opportunities available in the NY/NJ/Philly area. She already plays in a local youth orchestra, but she would like more opportunities to perform solo repertoire as well as chamber music. She also needs to work on music theory, so I was particularly interested in some of the weekend programs that cover both performance and theory.
I would be interested in general advice as well as suggestions for specific programs. Her repertoire is not sufficiently advanced for Juilliard at this point.
Replies (4)
Temple Music Prep in Philadelphia has a Saturday program that is very well respected. I'm not sure if they are offering theory classes right now, but they have chamber and string orchestras on several levels. Their auditions are in September. Settlement Music School in Philadelphia is less of an organized all-day program, but they are a great resource. They have string orchestras on several levels and an excellent chamber music program. They also have theory classes. At Settlement the program is a la carte, so many families do the Temple program on Saturday, but also take classes at Settlement. Both schools offer competitive scholarships for advanced students.
Thank you both for your suggestions. The collective wisdom on this site is tremendously helpful for those of us who are new to the music world, and I really appreciate it.
With regard to Temple and Settlement, how would their orchestras compare to the PYO and PYAO (I think I have the right acronyms)?
Temple and Settlement's orchestra are chamber orchestra (strings only), so their repertoire is different from PYO and PYAO. Your daughter would be old enough to audition for PYAO, the Sunday orchestra, which is for students ages 10-18; PYO is for high school and a few college students. They are full orchestras, run by the same organization. Often students belong to both a PYO/AO orchestra and a chamber orchestra through SMS or Temple.
Your daughter might also be interested in the Musicopia chamber orchestra, an El Sistema-inspired chamber orchestra that meets in downtown Philadelphia on Tuesday nights. Contact me if you want more info about Musicopia.
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May 2, 2010 at 05:19 PM ·
The two top ones are MSM and Juilliard. The program at MSM is much more well established and is twice as large as the Juilliard program, and they employ more teachers, so they are able to accept a greater range of different-leveled students.
I do not recommend Mannes.
The School for Strings is another viable option.