Conservatoires

[rogueantimatter]

Would anyone like to join me on a thread for parents (or anyone with interesting info) of DC who are at, starting in sept or applying to conservatoires?

I'm envious of the MT/acting thread

DS will start Guildhall to do a BMus in jazz (bass) is September. I'm thrilled for him but very nervous. And of course the costs are eyewatering.

His sister started a BMus at RCS a couple of years ago.

Roll up, roll up all welcome.

That's absolutely fantastic Carl. Well done your DD - and her parents .

When's the final round?

That's absolutely fantastic Carl. Well done your DD - and her parents .

When's the final round?

Thank you.

Very proud of her. Though to be honest, she has put in very little work to get this far. It's not at all like music or dance with hours of practice. Raw ability, with that ability being quite strange, I guess.

We don't know when the next round is, they'll email nearer the time. Though we've told them that DD will need notice to get there (though not why). April seems likely. Full day audition next time!

Fantastic news.

Thank you.

I mean the odds are still high. I think it's about a one in five chance of receiving an offer at the next round. Silly really.

She's just heard from one of the boys who attended the last round and DD thought was brilliant ( the process took place in front of other candidates ) but he was unsuccessful.

He says he will take a gap year and reapply.

Is RADA her first choice HE option? Or has she not made up her mind yet?

Good question bobo.

I think she would like to attend, but because of the odds, she's very reluctant to think about it. She hadn't, for example, looked at accommodation or anything.

She's also sitting on an offer from Oxford for English, but is being rather tight lipped about that, as its AAA which might not be doable. Her applications to US colleges are still ongoing.

She is the proverbial ostrich at the moment.

Yay. Very well done. How exciting.

MrsJayy - yes Scottish students bring in hardly any funding to RCS compared with other students so they're in the minority. The jazz course takes in just one student for each instrument - enough to make a small jazz group for each year. I don't know if that's all the jazz dept are allowed to take or whether they feel this is the best way to work.

Guildhall apparently takes up to 40 jazz students each year. I'd think it must be more inspiring to be among more students who play the same instrument. But it might reduce the number of performance opportunities. I don't know.

x-posted - what a very clever DD you have GetaHaircut

rogue bless you.

Actually, she's not the most academic kid really. She grafted for good GCSEs and AS grades. Plus she went to very good schools.

She wouldn't have been the kid you'd think would get the Oxford offer. But she has a very creative mind. And is pretty obsessed with plays and films. I suspect Oxford found her a little bit interesting.

Dd has said if she doesn't get in RSC she is going to do HND and apply further afield

But I'm not certain she'll get those three A grades because she currently can't spend all her time working and isn't getting much help from school ( she's out of school at the moment).

Well done to your DD GetaHaircut. How exciting for her!

Thank you.

Do you know something? People both total strangers here on MN and real folk in life have been lovely about this application and her success so far. Not a sniff of sour grapes.

Oxford, not so much.

Dd1 has a music/audio engineering degree she was working for a while but work dried up, she is now in the emergency services hoooge jump

My dd will be, but she's only 13, so a while off for her yet.
She knows which school and what course, has met the teachers and has some lessons with some of them/ attends masterclasses there.

Then she changes her mind and wants to take a different instrument/ genre so we'll have to wait and see.
For one it would be London, the other would be Manchester.

I can comment on your point about letting them follow their dream, I think you have to let them, or they'll never forgive you. That's what my dd said, anyway.

Will he go back to sound engineering mrsjayy?

Salty

Look at the Piano Summer course at Chets, they also allow other instruments such as sax if you take the Jazz option.
The teachers re great, he might like it so much and want to stay

Carl

I'm so pleased for your dd, that's a huge achievement for one who struggles, I know from my own dd, who would never get into Oxford.
You must be so proud of her.

Going back to the Jazz musician and income, it isn't great.
We have had a very frugal life together and when older dc were little dh taught in some schools, some really good, some not as good.
Now, he has the occasional musician ask for lessons on Skype and they come from all over the world.
We get free holidays and treated like royalty, but not a huge amount of money.
He does Jazz gigs mainly in London, New York, Paris but will help out if the well known Big Bands need a dep in England.
I suppose if we needed more money and when we have, he's done arrangements, recorded cd's, sessions and composing Jazz study books.

She and maybe im not sure she seems to be enjoying her new job she only has a few months left as a trainee

I expect people are just more excited about RADA than English at Oxford, Carl. Obviously both are great possibilities but drama school is much more unusual and fun for people to think about.

You can probably tell what I think your DD ought to go for, had she the choice .

Getahaircut Wow RADA is amazingly difficult to get into. Some candidates take years to get In. DDs boyfriend got onto the foundation acting course there after two years of trying but has tried to get onto the full time course for the past two years and had no luck. The very best of luck to her!

DD has been practising all day- one of the things she has to do for The RCS recall is devise a short performance piece - the instructions are a bit vague - just said to be creative. On top of the two monologues, two MT songs and one pop song she also has to perform on her instrument ( plays the guitar).

Then For her Trinity Laban audition on Monday She has to choreograph and perform a dance so has had to sort that out today too as we are in Glasgow all weekend.

It's such a lot to prepare with all her A Level stuff too.

Busy weekend purple Glasgow is a great city though.

See I have heard that but my other DD went up to visit the design school a few years ago and she said it was awful! We are hoping to soak up some culture- off to the symphony for a bit of Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky on Saturday night!

I don't really want DD2 so far away ( we live in south East England) but it would be an amazing place to go if she were fortunate enough to be offered a place. (18 places- 9 girls so highly unlikely!)