| Hi Stuart,
I'm happy to talk all day about CalArts. I believe that it's the most relevant school that I've ever been associated with.
I'm curious, however, to know why you want to pursue an advanced degree in music after a degree in engineering at such a fabulous school (humming "Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech but a hellofa Engineer" as I type)?
I'm all for following our heart and our dreams, believe me, but feel rather strongly that undergraduate degrees are to sample the breadth of a particular subject (if you're declaring a major) and advanced degrees are statements about where you'd like to plant your flag and make your statement. A MM (or MFA in our case) shouldn't be just two more years of undergraduate work and a paper to yellow, and it's also the wrong time to be addressing problems in your playing (no reason to go to school for that -- a good teacher and three hours per day should do the trick)
That said, CalArts is a fabulous environment for those wishing to take music forward. We study traditional music from the past to enable us to make more literate choices through chamber music, new composition, technology,improvised music, and in our own writing. It's a lousy place to study Bruckner (we choose not to have a symphony orchestra and devalue conducted ensembles). . . there are plenty of good places to do that sort of work (list upon request).
I was planning a thread about the under/grad statement above but have opened the can of worms here. Thoughts?
Best,
EC |