Besides being very impressed with the music conservatories at
both Carnegie Mellon and Oberlin, probably the biggest understanding
to come out of this college visit in Pennsylvania and Ohio
is that my daughter Jessi wants to study music more than anything
else. On the 5 hour drive from Kenyon College (Gambier,
Ohio) back here to the airport hotel (in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania),
she and I discussed priorities and options. That is, which of the
colleges Jessi has researched offer a world-class vocal conservatory
education as well as providing an excellent computer science and
humanities education.
Some of the best conservatories offer substandard training in
everything but music. Jessi is now reconsidering the list of colleges
to which she will apply before the end of December. The original
list contained several schools with good but not great music programs:
those are being dropped. The feeling of certainty, of belonging, that
Jessi described when touring the two music conservatories is what
really made the decision. She finds many academic subjects
interesting and her grades are uniformly high but only music gives
her that rush of joy.
I have no idea whether Jessi will be offered a place in one of the
several vocal conservatories to which she will apply, or even what
she will do with a background in opera and a singing knowledge of
English, Spanish, German, Italian, Latin, and French. It will be
fascinating to watch developments.
KatysBlog 