The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Interlochen

 Last week I traveled to Traverse City, MI, to give a master class at the Interlochen Arts Academy.   I also attended a college fair on the campus for the IAA students.  I had never been to Interlochen before (nor had I ever visited Northern Michigan....)  so I had no idea what to expect.  The college fair was a lot more fun than I had thought it might be - there was an enormous amount of energy from all those music students and their parents, prowling from table to table and checking out various schools.  They were all laden with brightly colored flyers from the various schools they were considering, and there was a huge amount of noise as the admissions reps of the schools answered questions.

It got me thinking about all the complex factors that go into school selection for music students, and how they differ from non-music students.  The clearest and most defining difference is: the private teacher.  There are really no other disciplines left in education where the central mode of instruction remains a one-on-one mentoring relationship with a single teacher.  Outside of the arts, every other discipline has become something dealt with in a classroom format.  In the arts, you must be willing to weigh all the usual things people consider when choosing a school - location, size, campus amenities, reputation - against one thing: whether the private teacher is the right person for you to learn from.  This is why my number one piece of advice for all music students considering various schools is to find a way to meet with and get a lesson from the teacher they would be working with.  No matter how famous the school or lovely the dorms, if the teacher isn't going to help you achieve you best as a musician, your time and money aren't being spent effectively.

After the college fair, I rented a bike and enjoyed a lovely ride along Lake Michigan.  The next morning was the class.  The students played very well, both together (in a group run through of Beethoven 5th) and separately in various solo pieces.  Kudos to all, and lots of thanks to the students and their teacher, Derek Weller, for being such great hosts.  I also had a chance to teach three of the students after lunch, and we continued working on some of the concepts addressed in the class.

One more amusing incident to report:  Traverse City is famous for it's cherry orchards, and I purchased two jars of cherry jam for friends.  When I went through security, I was told that they were of course now prohibited in my carry-on and that I would have to check them.  I had only brought a carry-on and was afraid I would have to leave them behind, but the nice folks at Northwest found a little box that I could use to check them.  It was very funny to watch this teeny box come tumbling down the chute with all the suitcases, but you can all rest assured that America is safe from potential terrorist attacks using jam.