Posted by Jay Bertolet on June 07, 2000 at 12:41:32:
In Reply to: No college? posted by Pete on June 07, 2000 at 06:43:58:
I faced this same choice coming out of high school. Being an arrogant and cocky kid, I could only see myself going to one of three schools if I wanted to be a successful tuba performer. Those were Curtis, Northwestern, and Michigan. Well, the year I graduated, Curtis didn't have any openings and Northwestern was having one of its occasional disputes with Mr. Jacobs so he was taking a year off. So my choices were go to Michigan or study privately with Mr. Jacobs without attending a school. I can tell you, it was a very hard choice but I decided to go to a school and get a broader education. Besides, there isn't much financial aid available for studying privately if you're not on a degree track! In retrospect, I'm very happy things worked out the way they did. I almost learned as much from my peers at school as I did from my teacher. And ensemble experience is SO important on the job as well as learning how to work with your colleagues.
If you want any indication of how your progress stacks up with what others are doing, why not take the first audition that comes along and see firsthand? You should get plenty of chances at such an audition to hear some accomplished players who can give you an idea of where the levels currently are at. Good luck Pete!
My opinion for what its worth...