Junior Conservatoire

[2point4children]

Does anyone have a child studying at a Junior Conservatoire?

What is your travelling time? And how does it impact on your family life having Saturdays taken up?

We are considering it for our dd, but it would be 2-2.5 hours travelling time on top of all the hours there, so Saturdays would be written off.

Are there any other commitments on other days? For concerts etc?

Sometimes they do have a midweek concert or a concert on a Sunday but it's not that often.

Conservatoire is only worthwhile if you can't get the things locally or a good enough teacher - not all JD teachers are good or will be good for your child. It also depends why you want JD - does she want to study music?

She plays an endangered instrument, and I'm struggling to find teacher who is any good locally.

Having spoken to friend's in the know, the teachers that they recommend teach at our "local" conservatoire", but where they live, it is actually closer for us to go to the conservatoire than to them.

Then with the advantage of orchestra time, choir etc, then think if travelling distance is that, may as well take full advantage of the situation.

But if I find 2/3 times a month we have to go up midweek as well, I think we will struggle.

Sorry to clarify where the teacher's live, they are travelling in from the opposite direction from us, so rather than just having lesson with them, it's easier to get to conservatoire.

What instrument is it? There are some hot spots for endangered instruments that you may not know about where there are programmes set up within other Saturday music schools.

It's double bass, and if you know of places that is held at, I'd be very interested to hear, I didn't know about Saturday music schools.

Only just discovered conservatoires.

Ah, the double bass! My son is about to restart lessons at the end of this term with an RCM teacher - our son did get into a conservatoire but he has other Saturday commitments so he won't be going for at least another year, if not more.

Lots of councils or independent music groups run Saturday schools. Some of the council ones are fantastic and many of the county orchestras rival the famous national ones. Another way to supplement her current teaching is to go on a lot of summer or Easter courses. There is a double bass course www.bassclub.org.uk/index.php and there are many other courses either for strings or orchestra. The usual ones are: NCO, NSSO, NCCO, Musicale, Pro Corda. The amount of experience gained in one of these weeks makes up for, in some areas, a term at conservatoire.

What grade and age is your daughter?

There is also this: www.oxfordcelloschool.org/page16.htm

2point4 - I suggest you nip overto the extra curricular topic section and have a look there - there's lots on JDs over there.