Violin advice

[PotolBabu]

I have a 7 year old who loves the violin and works very hard. We are in western Canada on a work secondment till about summer 2020. He’s already taken Grade 2, finished all the Grade 3 syllabi and is starting on Grade 4. His teacher is in fact both Suzuki trained but now does the ABRSM syllabus so she mixes the two. He’s done Suzuki books 2 and 3 in about 6-7 months and is just starting on the Vivaldi in Book 4, alongside the Grade 4 material. He’s done the first Seitz piece and will be learning the Bach double as well over the next 12 months. Or that’s her plan.

His teacher’s aim is to have him at Grade 5 level for next summer plus finish book 4 before we leave Canada. He also plays the piano and is roughly at Grade 3 level but the violin is very much his first love.

So that’s the background. Also we are deeply non musical parents. Can’t read music and never played an instrument. So he’ll be just about 8 when we go back to London, hopefully doing Grade 5 that summer. His old teacher while wonderful never stretched his pupils- he only does the exam syllabus- no Etudes, no additional music. And only allows his students to take exams every 18 months or so. So progress is very very slow. After our Canadian teacher has exposed him to a much bigger repertoire (he’s also finished half of the first Wolfhardt book), we can’t go back to his old teacher, lovely man though he is. So not only do we need a new teacher but we need to figure out what kind of music opportunities there are for him. I know it’s lucky we live in London but our knowledge of music teaching and learning is so limited we have no clue what he should do next.

I have heard of the NCO. Is it worth auditioning for that or does he need to be Grade 7/8?
What about the RCM junior department? What standard realistically does one have to be to audition?
I have also heard about CYM and Guildhall on this forum. How do these compare and again, how does one even begin to prepare for auditions?
Our Canadian teacher (who is originally Russian) has no clue about this stuff and wants to know so she can prepare him over the next 12 months or so before he leaves for the UK.

Thanks so much for any advice anyone might have!

Working at around G5 at 8 will certainly give him a good shot at any of the London JD's. Also a good chance at NCO under 10s. The violin teaching at Guildhall, RAM and RCM is all of a fantastic standard- IMO you can't really go wrong with any of them, it's more about finding the one that is a good fit for your family as they all have very different atmospheres. We are at Guildhall and adore it - mine and DD's favourite day of the week! My personal opinion- GH has a more relaxed/bohemian vibe and the playing standard is a bit more varied. Perhaps a little less competitive to secure a place (although still very selective and they definitely look for a certain 'je ne sais quoi' rather than pure ability). GH applications open at the beginning of the year with auditions usually in April. They also consider applications outside of the main application period, but you may have to wait for a start depending on teacher availability.

Thanks. Good to know. We’ll have to be cognisant of timings as we are dependent on DH and my employer for our precise return date!

NCO applications open June/July with auditions in September/October and programmes start the following spring.

I have a feeling RAM/RCM applications and auditions follow a similar timetable to Guildhall. Although they don't usually have places outside of the main audition period except for rare/endangered instruments.

I see, thanks. We will apply for July 2020 then I think. He’s too young for our two local youth orchestras and his school one is so so. He’s a shy boy and can’t really chat about his music with his mates so I am really keen for him to have opportunities to play with other kids when we are back in London.