Update: I have a lot of advice for aspiring music performance majors on the Contrabass Conversations podcast, including interviews with major double bass teachers like Paul Ellison, Kurt Muroki, Alex Hanna, David Allen Moore, Bruce Bransby, and many others. Check it out!
If you are interested in learning more about this subject, check out the follow-up post to this article here.
I have a B.M. and M.M. in Double Bass Performance from Northwestern University. Although I had a good financial package for my undergraduate degree and had a full-tuition fellowship or my graduate degree, I still owe tens of thousands of dollars in student loans for these degrees. I am glad that I did both of these programs, but if I would have one single piece of advice for an aspiring music performance major it would be to realize this:
Music performance degrees are completely superfluous to your pursuit of a music performance career.
I love college and learning, and this essay is really not about me.I wouldn’t trade my education for anything, and I am actually starting a new degree program in the next few months.I did not follow the advice I am giving here.Am I still happy?Yes.Am I a successful music performer?Some would think so.Am I at the top of my profession?No.
This advice is based on what I have learned playing with and speaking with countless individuals from major symphony orchestras. It is not advice on how to be a well-educated, happy, balanced musician and person. In fact, the advice I have may make you a neurotic mess, but it is, I feel, the way that a majority of people that land major professional symphony positions achieve this goal. If you want to play in the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra or Boston Symphony then follow this advice.
Also, although this advice pertains to all instruments, it is mainly about the double bass. It is also based on my experience and knowledge of the American orchestral audition system (not for solo instruments or non-U.S. orchestra auditions). Auditions in other countries may work quite differently.
Finally, if you ever plan on doing anything at all outside of music performance (and very few people are interested in only music performance, even professional symphonic players) then a quality, well-rounded education is essential. I have used my Northwestern degrees to better my life and I feel that having these degrees has really helped me. Still, I know that all of my playing achievements had nothing to do with where I went to school. I could have never have gone to college and only taken private lessons and be doing the playing I am doing now. Most of my colleagues have no idea that I went to Northwestern (or that I went to college at all).
#1 – Your private teacher is everything–college is optional
Does this mean that I shouldn’t have gone to college? Certainly not. I do, after all, have two degrees from a prestigious university, and I like to think that the education I have gotten from these degrees has helped me in my life. I feel that it is very important for a student considering a pursuit of classical music performance to realize that there is one (and only one) thing to consider—your teacher.
The quality of the music school, the location, the cost, the academic rigor (or lack thereof), the actual degree you are receiving—none of these things matter to a real student of music performance. To land a full-time salaried position in the insanely competitive field of classical music performance one needs to study from the best in the business, and there are only a handful of people for each instrument that qualify.
How do you identify these “super teachers”? Karl Olsen of the Louisville Orchestra has since 1997 kept a list of all the winners of salaried orchestral double bass positions and where these individuals went to school. Study this list:
Winners of all major US auditions 1997-present
This list comes from Karl Olsen of the Louisville Orchestra. Check out his posts at TalkBass.com (his handle is KPO), and check out Karl’s biography and teaching information here. Karl teaches at the University of Kentucky and is a valuable contributor to the double bass community. He has contributed countless helpful posts on that website about practicing and orchestral auditioning, and he keeps updating this list.
WINNERS LIST
December, 2005 Update:
-1997:
Minnesota Orchestra: no winner
-1998:
Cincinntai Symhpony: Boris Astafiev (Columbus Sym)
Oregon Symphony: Jason Schooler (Cincinnati Conservatory of Music)
Minnesota Orchestra: Matthew Frischman (Curtis Institute)
Utah Symphony: Asst. Principal audition was won by Corbin
Johnston, a student of Lawrence Wolfe and Edwin Barker (In addition a section bass position was won by Tom Zera (Juilliard) at the same audition)
-1999
Los Angeles Philharmonic: David Moore (Houston Sym)
Louisville Orchestra: Kingsley Wood (Peabody Conservatory)
Houston Symphony: Ali Yazdanfar (Peabody, Rice)
New York Philharmonic: David Grossman (Student of principal/Juiliard)
Colorado Symphony: Jonathan Burnstein (Rice U.)
Charleston Symphony, Principal: Charles Barr (Curtis)
National Symphony: Ali Yazdanfar (Houston sym.)
New Mexico Symphony: Kathy Olszowka (Indiana University)
San Antonio Symphony: Zlatan Redzic (I.U.)
-2000
Kansas City Symphony, 1-year spot: Ju-Fang Liu (I.U.)
President’s Own Marine Band: Eric Sabo (Arizona State U.)
Seattle Symphony: Jonathan Burnstein (Rice, Colorado Sym.)
Buffalo Philharmonic: Edmond Gnekow (I.U.)
Tulsa Phil, principal: Dan Johnson (Iowa?)
Dallas Symphony, principal: no winner?
Columbus Symphony: Jena Huebner (Peabody)
Houston Symphony: Burke Shaw
Cleveland Orchestra: Charles Carleton (Juilliard/Curtis)
San Francisco Sym., principal: Ali Yazdanfar (not retained?!)
-2001
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra: Kingsley Wood (Peabody, Louisville Orchestra)
Alabama Symphony: Long Luo (Juilliard)
Oregon Symphony: no winner (for 2 spots!)
Florida Philharmonic, principal: Shigeru Ishikawa (member of section )
Louisville Orchestra: Karl Olsen (I.U., U-Wisconsin)
Cleveland Orchestra: Eric Harris (principal St Louis) won, then left for SanFran;
…the runnerup Charles Barr (Curtis), got the job.
Montreal Sym., principal: Ali Yazdanfar (now going back to National)
-2002
Charleston Symphony, principal: Scott Pingle (Manhattan)
National Symphony: cancelled; they welcome Ali Yazdanfar back
Baltimore Symphony: Mark Huang (Nashville Symphony)
Oregon Symphony: Paul DeNola (I.U., U.S.C.)
San Francisco Sym., principal: Eric Harris (not retained?!@#!?)
-2003
Indianapolis Sym., principal: Ju-Fang Liu (I.U.)
Boston Symphony: Ben Levy (Rice U., New England Conservatory)
Calgary Philharmonic: Jeff White (I.U.)
Grant Park Orchestra: Andy Anderson (I.U.)
Nashville Symphony, principal: Joel Reist (member of section)
resulting section spot was offered to runner-up, Ryan Kamm (I.U., Boston)
Louisianna Philharmonic: Colin Corner (I.U.)
Naples Philharmonic: Matt Medlock (Boston, Rice)
New York Philharmonic: Satoshi Okamoto (San Antonio, Juilliard; student of principal)
Louisville Orchestra, principal: postponed
San Francisco Sym., principal: Hired noone again!?
San Diego, Principal and Asst.Principal: Jeremy Kurtz, principal(Curtis, Rice), Susan Wulff, Asst. (member of section, USC)
-2004:
San Fransisco, Principal, YET AGAIN!:Scott Pingel, on a Trial Year? Ira Gold, runner-up?
Chicago Lyric Opera: Andy Anderson (I.U., Grant Park)
Vancouver Symphony, associate: Colin Corner (IU, Louisiana Phil)
Detroit Symphony, Principal: No Hire….
San Antonio Symphony, Asst. Principal: Doug Balliet (Harvard)
Louisville Orchestra, Principal: Burt Witzel (Curtis Institute)
St Louis Symphony: (2 positions) audition delayed finished until May 2005
Winnipeg, Principal: Merideth “Bob” Johnson, I think, was the winner?
-2005
Ottawa: National Arts Center, Principal: Ben Jensen (I.U.) not retained after trial weeks?
Milwaukee Symphony: Principal AND Ass’t Principal: Zach (?) = assistant?
Detroit Symphony, Principal: again, not even any finalists?
St Louis, 2 positions: Sarah Hogan (IU, Rice, SLSO 1-yr sub!) and Dave DeRiso (Rice, New World, SLSO sub-runner-up!)
Grand Rapids, Principal: Joe Conyers (Curtis)
Alabama: no winner?
Metropolitan Opera Association: Dan Krekler (IU, Minn., MSM)
Seattle: Joe Kauffman (UNT)
National Symphony, 2 positions: Ira Gold! …other position remains open
Calgary Philharmonic: Tom McGary (IU)
Florida Orchestra: Aaron White (SMU, Duquesne)also 1 yr. Asst.Principal here in Louisville!
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Principal: Tom McGary (IU)
Ottawa N.A.C... Joel Quarrington appointed principal? confirmed? not on website yet?
Detroit Principal 3x – still in trial weeks?
2006
Minnesota Orchestra: Ass’t: Fora Baltacigil(Curtis), Section: Colin Corner (IU, New Orleans, Vancouver)
Kansas City Symphony: Jeff Kail (IU)
Do you see any trends? Notice how over half of the people on this attended Indiana University, Boston University, Rice University, or the Curtis Institute? Study at these schools—that’s the simplest way to be successful. Ed Barker, Hal Robinson, Bruce Bransby, and Tim Pitts have a proven track record of turning out job winners, and being in one of these four bass studios at some point in your study is a very good idea.
If you do not study at these schools, can you still get into the Chicago Symphony as a double bassist? Absolutely! Notice that even though a preponderance of successful candidates went to these four schools, there are many other schools represented. It is possible to succeed regardless of where you go to school and study with. These four schools are simply the four powerhouse bass schools at the moment.
Understand that intelligence and music performance ability do not have to go hand in hand, and neither do traditional education and music performance development. When an orchestra holds an audition the only thing that matters is your playing ability. Education, personality, communication skills, and virtually every other skill that traditionally factors into a job interview process don’t matter for an orchestra audition. This is something that is difficult for non-musicians (like parents, relatives, and friends) to grasp. No one cares where you went to school! Do you like to shoot rats at the dump and scream obscenities at people? It’s all good if you can play a great audition.
#2 – Study with a professional orchestra player if you want to play professionally
Examine the above list one more time. Do you see many teachers known as soloists on that list? I sure don’t. Bass players wishing a career in orchestral performance need to study with people who either are or have been in professional orchestras. If you want to be a bass soloist, great! Starbucks is always hiring (aspiring bass soloists can get a head start by downloading their application here), and I’m sure those expensive degrees and those Bottesini showpiece chops you developed will help you there.
#3 – Put your instrumental development before everything else
Classes don’t matter. Again, I personally do not agree with this at all. I am an educator, and I got a ton out of my various music and non-music classes that I put into use every day, but the unfortunate truth is that going to Music Theory class will not help you to land that salaried orchestral job. It just won’t. It will make you better educated, well-rounded, and better able to comprehend what you are playing. It also will likely make you a better colleague, a better educator, a more valuable member of the musical community. Many of my job-winning colleagues never went to class. I always went to class (seriously—I don’t think I ever missed a single class in my undergraduate or graduate study). I am jobless. Draw your own conclusions.
#4 – Do whatever it takes to study with and interact with the best in the business
If you aren’t studying with the best of the best, find a way to take some lessons with them anyway. Does it seem crazy to drive from Chicago to Houston for lessons every month or from Atlanta to Houston every week? Well, you had better get used to it, because that is what the audition circuit is like, and if you aren’t willing to do it there are 50 other people playing your instrument that are willing (and doing it right now). You never know when you will get that one golden nugget of information that will fix that shift, bow stroke, tonal snafu, clarify that phrase, or relax that one particular back muscle that is standing in your way. Take every opportunity you can to play for the best of the best.
Double bass teachers tend to be fairly approachable, and the best teachers teach at summer institutes and do master classes throughout the year. Go to Aspen! Go to Tanglewood! A huge percentage of successful audtionees have done these programs at some time.
#5 – Be prepared for a long, hard road
I know many colleagues who did all that I described above and are still jobless. Friends of mine have been auditioning for years without winning a job. Sometimes they make the finals and don’t advance out of the first round the next time. Be prepared to sacrifice family, friends, happiness, and financial security to take auditions. I auditioned for the Minnesota Orchestra last year, and there were 140 candidates. Guess where the two winners had gone to school? Indiana University and Curtis.
Auditions cost a lot of money, particularly for bass players. The expense of flying with a bass, renting a car, and getting a hotel room can easily surpass $1000 per audition. Some auditions make you wait four or five days between the preliminary and final rounds. None of these expenses (at least for the preliminary round) are covered by the orchestra. Expect to lose a lot of cash auditioning.
#6 – Resources
Luckily, you are not alone on the path to a music performance career. Although the road can be long and frustrating, at least there are a lot of resources devoted to this subject:
1. Don Greene – Performance Success
Many musicians have found success with Don Greene’s methods. Don has an innovative way of teaching coping skills under pressure, and many musicians have found success incorporating his methods. Check out his books here.
2. Douglas Yeo Trombone Website
This is probably the oldest and best audition resource site out there. I have been reading Doug’s articles since 1997, and I find them extremely insightful and helpful.
His whole website is full of literally hundreds of articles and resources. Here are some of the most helpful:
What makes good teachers and students
3. TalkBass.com
Check out the TalkBass.com forums for great audition news and advice. Thinking about a particular school or teacher? Ask your question in the forums and you are bound to get some great advice.
4. Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood Music Center
Audition and participate in these festivals if you can! I wish someone would survey the audition winners on Karl Olsen’s list and see how many of them participated in either Tanglewood or Aspen. I am sure it would be over 50% of them.
Tanglewood Music Center Website
Check out the follow-up post to this article here.
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Good Lord! This was, without doubt, the best post you’ve written. Though none of my students plan on orchestral positions, I want every one to read this. And I completely concur. For me, college is paramount, but it is not tantamount to a career as a professional.
Thanks!
I find this post useful. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much for the comments on my music performance degree post. It’s a fallacy that these degrees actually help one to land a music performance job. In the classical music performance world your teacher is the most important thing, and they really shape your future. If you want to study with Bruce Bransby and he decides to teach exclusively at Apple Valley Community College, you go to Apple Valley Community College.
I appreciate all the comments, it’s great information for aspiring bassist like myself. Thanks.
Thanks for checking this post out! I am glad that you were able to find it–hopefully my new organizational scheme on the sidebar is making it easier to get to these posts.
Thanks for this fantastic post. I agree with you re the degree thing to an extent; but there are truthfully other factors to consider. I doubt many full-time orchestras would even invite an applicant who had no post-high school education completed (unless perhaps that applicant was a current student of musicians in that section, or his/her playing exceptional and well-known.) Time at a conservatory or university gets you more than just a degree and a vague understanding of the early motets of Josquin dePrez… you gain invaluable experience playing in the ensembles of a fine school. I wouldn’t have half the clue I sorta have without regular orchestra rehearsals with Otto Werner-Mueller, for example, or being pushed to the limits of my abilities in lots of contemporary chamber music playing (something you RARELY get paid to do professionally, or even scrounge a pro-bono opportunity to do– best to get on that horse in college or at festivals.) I also feel like you learn at least as much from your peers and colleagues (good and maybe bad, too) as from your major teacher. Being at a school with an inspiring studio and excellent non-bass players just adds to the tools you can bring to the table, because you learn to play music (even if just the opening bars of Don Juan, a la audition) from and along with talented peers. Festivals are a great place to learn the rep, work with top-notch teachers and also interact with the current generation of motivated and talented players. Yes, the bulk of your learning and the tradition you inherit is from your major teachers. But other skills which are helpful– imperative, for most of us mortals– can basically only be acquired in an environment where others’ skills are also being fostered.
Is it worth $45,000 a year or whatever the hell top schools are charging nowadays? Ask the graduates two or five years into loan payments! Go where the scholarship is, as well as the teacher/bass studio/fine ensemble opportunities. I would say that if more than two of those qualities are seriously lacking, you’re going to the wrong school for you. But as I see it, you gotta go to school in our orchestral industry, at least for a partial Bachelor’s.
Great points, Kate. I may put this excellent comment up as a separate post for others to read. It is a very perceptive comment and very true.
Thankso so much for this post! This and the links within are really useful resources. I am a flute player planning on majoring in music performance, and I am just freaking out about college a little, haha.
-Kelsey
This a really amazing article. It definetely scared the crap out of me though! You know what they say (paraphrased) “the best music teachers are the ones who try to convince you to get out of the business.” I actually read this article a while ago on Jason’s facebook blog, which didn’t include the major audtion winners list. After I saw that list, I immediately decided to give up classical bass and I clicked on the link for the Starbucks application. The fact that the application was real gave me a good laugh. Still, after that laugh, I realized that our parents are right in thinking that we’re crazy for chasing this dream. I know that sounds dark, but think about this logically for a moment. With as many career choices as there are out there, who in their right mind would focus all their time and energy on the one with less than 50 FULL TIME job openings a year in the whole country and tens of thousands of people competing for those positions. It’s really silly when you take the art and compassion (obsession) out of it and put it in simple terms. Who would do this!
I understand there is a lot of steady teaching and gigging work out there for those who are really determined. Luckily for me, I don’t have all my eggs in that basket. I also have decent jazz and electric chops. I guess I’m just freakin’ out. If Jason hasn’t had to fill out that Starbucks application yet than I might be able to survive despite my costly obsession with the bass. I kind of a younger guy, who is only a few months from getting his performance degree at DePaul. Thanks for providing me a place to vent J.
-B
Jason, congratulations on your wedding (what a handsome couple!). I love your advice to bass performance majors. My son, a h.s. senior, is searching colleges now. He prefers jazz, actually, so I wonder if your Big 4 universities (Rice, Boston, e.g.) are best for jazz too. More so, my young bassist wants to produce new jazz cds — he’d rather go live in Milan to study the industry with Nicola Conte than go to college at all. If he weren’t so busy with homework I’d make him read every one of your posts, Jason. You’re amazing.
~Carol, mother of a bassist
Thanks so much for the feedback, Carol! It’s great to hear that your son is planning on setting out for music school and a career in the world of jazz. While I think it is valuable to take statistics like those mentioned in this post into account, I certainly still think that one should pursue music if that is their passion. I love it, and I’ve got no regrets (well…..not many, at least) about my choice to go into music.
Having as complete an understanding of the ins and outs of the professional music business and learning about paths forged by musicians from older generations is so valuable, and I love how people are able to so easily share their experiences like we are here on this blog.
My feeling has always been this: if tales from older musicians are enough to scare people off from pursuing a career in music, they probably haven’t been “bitten” by the performance bug hard enough anyway and may be happier in another field of endeavor. Those who are not fazed by statistics and tales like many on this blog probably do have that inner drive required to succeed, and they will hopefully take these and other such posts, articles, and tales as helpful advice and food for thought.
I love music and being a musician. It’s a tough life for most musicians, and people should be aware of this, but it can also be a very rewarding life, and people should go for it if they really feel that genuine passion and drive to create music.
Thanks, this has really help influence my thinking of what the best colleges are for bass. Are you sure its Pitts and not Ellison too at Rice?
Man o man! I wish I would have read this back in my university days when I was studying at Central Washington University and taking lessons with Barry Lieberman. My life would have been much easier. However, I could never regret my education. I still play full time..but let just say that i’m in nursing school as well 😉
Thanks again!!!
I really appreciate that there is someone out there that is willing to try and explain the truth about the music world and open it for discussion. I am a student of Robert Black’s at the Hartt School in my Junior year of my bachelor’s degree. I love performing music but I know it is a very rough world. All I wish is to make some way of living by playing any music. Personally, I don’t want to be in one of those top 10 orchestras. The stress, effort, and ego destruction doesn’t seem worth it for me. I wasn’t raised in Russia playing bass since I could walk. I don’t know many people that go to big time concerts anyway. To get a good seat is at least $100. The friends that I know who love art, support good music not just because it is written by someone famous. I love the tradition of orchestral music and I try my best to play well in school. We sound terrible compared to one of the big time orchestras. In fact, I don’t know the repertoire at all. Even listening to Beethoven symphonies is a new experience. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Beethoven Symphony performed by a professional orchestra. Many bassists studying classical music think their only way to get by is orchestras. I’d say it is the most obvious route to take. I am interested in any ensemble that wants a bass player and who wants to make great performances and who will help me get food water and shelter. There has to be some way to do what I love and survive. If anyone can give me that opportunity, I would take it. Are there lesser orchestras that can help a bachelor get by performing music with out brutal insane people working with him? I studied with Kurt Muroki for a couple summers and he said, “The majority of top orchestras are miserable.” It seems I would be better off starting my own orchestra. Why don’t student conductors and musicians just start things on their own. There are enough of us. It would seem that this would be more exciting and would renew an old art. Who cares about a huge fancy hall. Fancy acoustics might sound better but who are you playing to? From what I understand, a lot of old rich people that groan at the sound of anything that isn’t Beeth, Brahms, Bartok, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, etc. etc.. People need to take chances and make things happen. Go make your own music. Beethoven doesn’t belong to big orchestras or old people. If you perform it well enough, people will be moved. There are people out there (LIKE ME) that want things to be stirred up a bit. Classical music isn’t as rigid as the schools and orchestras want you to think. Mozart was a complete goof off and joker. So was Haydn. Granted they did a lot to please a court but whenever they could they would try to play jokes. They were rock stars, they took chances. My parents told me I had to go to college, so I play music in college and now the college says the only way I can get by is through some orchestra that I’ve never seen before? I’d rather miss a few meals while I’m in my twenties than be miserable when I’m fifty. Some people get lucky and have it all under their belt but I don’t think I’m one of them.
I also agree that this blog is helpful in some way to open one’s eyes about the harsh realities of music performance and the competitiveness thereof. But I have to agree with Nathan, that as long as I am playing music and making some type of career out of it, I will be genuinely content with that. I am a senior in high school and I am preparing to go to college as a music performance major, with my instruments being french horn and piano. Just the anticipation of being able to play my instruments on a higher level gives me the good chills, because I know that if I do what I love, then everything else will pay off. I also agree that those top ten orchestras are way too overrated, and people want leaders. I really like the idea of a student-run and organized orchestra! The reason being that it would be different and new, and that’s what people want to see. Just give me a few years to catch up, and you’ll have yourself a french horn player in the orchestra! In all seriousness, from my knowledge of the music world, it is not for the weak or lazy, but if you really care about what you do, then you will succeed in your own time.
I too followed the potential professional orchestral bass player path. I started out in NYC studying with Homer Mensch then transferred to IU to study with Sankey (dating myself) and then Bransby. But, after many years of seeing my classmates and others vie for the few positions available decided to branch out on a different career direction.
That does not mean I don’t play and perform any more. Just the opposite, with the variety of musical options available I am as busy as I want to be, playing all different types of music from classical to jazz. Just because I am not a “full-time” professional does not mean I approach my rehearsals with any less zeal or practice.
The bottom line is one can enjoy the benefits of being a musician without the stress of trying to make it a career. I feel I am still playing at the top of my game, and actually enjoying it.
Wow. I’m the mom of a 15 year old boy who wants to take double bass lessons. We thought it would be great to see him learn a new instrument (he already plays electric bass and guitar quite well) and thought joining a youth orchestra would be a good way to spend his time in a team setting.
You’ve scared me from considering this. Perhaps we’ll just stick to hockey. It sounds like nothing but frustration comes to a bassist who aquires any proficiency. It sounds like there are way too many bassists already and he would dealing with intense competition just to be part of an orchestra at all as an adult. Was it worth it for anybody out there? Should he just stick with rock and roll and keep jamming in the basement, when he’s open to classical and jazz?
Or is the cost for the instrument and lessons just going to lead to frustration down the road in an overcrowded area?
The 1998 Utah Symphony Asst. Principal audition was won by Corbin Johnston, a student of Lawrence Wolfe and Edwin Barker (not the Utah Symphony principal). In addition a section bass position was won by Tom Zera (Juilliard).
Jason, why do you say to study at Rice with Pitts or Bransby at IU? Are you sure that the students had these teachers or were some of them from Hurst and Ellison?
Just to throw it out there Indiana accounted for 33% (17 spots) of the positions won. Rice and Curtis tied for second place with 13% (7 spots) each. Also Eugene Levinson had two students win seats at the New York Philharmonic. How do you get lessons with him?
Good article, but, yes, all the names I recognized from my IU days were students of Larry Hurst.
I am clearly a little behind the times, as I’m reading this for the first time almost 5 years after the posting. That aside, I really think this is a great article for the aspiring classical performance major, both because it gives them awareness of the intense competition that is out there, in addition to the (very useful) advice about schools and the importance of individual teachers. Lucky for me, I got the chance to study with former MN Orch bassist Jim Clute, who has made it his goal for the past 50 odd years to place as many students as possible in orchestras (and I think he has done so with about that many). At the first lesson, he told me right off the bat that I had to study with a teacher that would place me in an orchestra. At the time I had not given much thought to an orchestral career, but here I am a year and a half later, off to IU on scholarship to study with Larry Hurst, who has definitely one of the better track records for placing students. If anyone could enlighten me on the differences between Hurst’s and Bransby’s teaching styles, that would be great (I’m primarily studying with Hurst b/c of my private teacher’s recommendation and he plays french bow). Well, I’m rambling. It really comes down to the big 3 when you want to win a job and that is natural talent, good teaching and a shitload of practice.
Wow! Thanks for the Starbucks link!
Jason,
I am not familiar with any music/musician or performer; however, my son who is a Junior in HS is interested in pursuing a degree in music performance. Actually he is looking into going to DePaul University. I noticed that you mentioned that you teach in DePaul. I am wondering if you can help me understand if this article is still informative today as it was when you wrote it. Do you have other suggestions? or Updates? Thank You, NK
Hi Niete! I think that the advice still fairly relevant. I’d recommend checking out my podcast Contrabass Conversations (http://contrabassconversations.com) for some more contemporary thoughts about music schools. I did an interview with both Alex Hanna and Rob Kassinger (the two bass teachers there), so that would be good to check out if he’s thinking of going to DePaul.
I am moving to San Francisco in a couple of months, so I won’t be at DePaul anymore, but if you have any more questions you can email me at doublebassblog@mac.com.