Hi all,

I am in the process of researching schools and finding out about teachers for when I apply for grad school next year (fall 2010). My list of schools is a work in progress. I have a few teacher considerations that people have recommended to me, but otherwise I haven't met any of these people or have an idea of where I think I have a shot. Also, I'm trying to find places that offer significant financial assistance or assistantships, so if anyone has any additional school/teacher recommendations, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, any comments (or PMs) about my list of schools and teachers would be great.

Northwestern University - Alan Chow
University of Missouri Kansas City - Jane Solose, Robert Weirich
University of Colorado at Boulder - Doris Pridonoff Lehnert
UNCG - Andrew Willis
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music - Michael Chertock
University of Michigan - Christopher Harding
University of Maryland - ?
Catholic University - ?

Still looking for "safety schools" if that exists in music, so if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

I can certainly say only great things about Alan Chow. So count one vote for Northwestern!

At Michigan, look at Skelton also. At UMD, I had some classes with Rita Sloan, and she's very good. I've also met Gowen and remember him as being very personable and intelligent.

I'll also put in a plug for the school in my backyard - the University of Iowa. I know all of the faculty here, and would be happy to recommend them. (As for who you study with, it mostly depends on what you're looking for in a teacher - feel free to PM me if you have any questions.)

I also know and can easily recommend Jack Winerock and Steven Spooner at the University of Kansas.

Two smaller schools that might qualify as "safety school" choices - Daniel Horn at Wheaton (near Chicago), and Andrew Le at Hope College (Holland, MI). I don't know much about their music departments, but I have a great deal of respect for both of those teachers.

I just took a look at their website and saw this:

"Lied Center Concerto Performance

All undergraduate and graduate piano majors with the recommendation of a member of the KU piano faculty perform a complete concerto movement with the KU Symphony Orchestra in the beautiful Lied Center. This unique opportunity for KU piano majors has been an annual event since 1997 thanks to a generous gift from Dave and Gunda Hiebert."

So if I understand this correctly, there is a concert with just pianists playing concertos with the orchestra...and you don't have to win any competition to do that?? Do you know roughly how many piano majors enroll there? I'm curious about how that works.

I got my master's from UNCG and I can say that Andrew Willis is an amazing pianist and a great teacher. He's also great if you're interested in learning more about early keyboard instruments, starting with the clavichord. I would also highly recommend John Salmon.

They have a beautiful Kawai in the main recital hall as well as great Steinway. When I auditioned two years ago, they had the Kawai out and it was lovely to play on. Let me know if I can be of some help with questions you may have regarding the piano program at UNCG.

The McGill University in Montreal (Canada) has a very big music performance program (in a gigantic school of music). I don't think the master's students get any financial support, but that may depend on the situation (audition results, etc.) though I cannot be sure since I don't study performance. The doctoral students get a break in tuition (same as Quebec resident rate) though. Sorry I cannot say much about the piano teachers at McGill since I don't know any. The early music program is pretty good, and I think the best thing about this program at McGill is that you can get connected to other kinds of music studies if you want to. They do all kinds of music related research, including computer synthesis to music perception and cognition. And at McGill you don't have to know any French.

What a worthless post!

Most schools of KU's size have between 30 and 50 piano majors. (A full studio is around 15-20, so take the number of piano faculty and multiply by 15.) Most of the midwestern state schools have a similar number (Mizzou, Nebraska, UIUC, probably a few more at UMKC since it's a conservatory, and Iowa has about 50 last I checked.)

Oh, and regarding financial support: generally speaking, I find these two things to be true:

1) In this economy, almost all of the schools in the US have decreased scholarship budgets. Private, public, parochial - they're all having problems. It's not just music, either. All programs are affected, and many schools are raising tuition and fees as well.

2) There is always money for great students. If a school decides they really want you, then they will try very hard to find a way for you to attend. Schools also use scholarship students for accompanying, so if you have some accompanying experience and can sight-read, your chances of financial help are greater. Also, look outside the department and ask about different programs. For example, many Texas schools waive out of state tuition if you receive a $1000 scholarship.

Jose Ramos Santana is at Catholic and he's pretty good. At Maryland, I hear that Larissa Dedova is pretty good.

Thanks all for your comments.

I'm wondering if anyone can comment on the politics of getting trial lessons from more than one teacher at one university if you are undecided. I recently heard that it's a bad idea to "teacher shop" at a single school because then you won't be taken seriously and no one will want you. I guess the expression "teacher shop" sounds bad in itself, but I am wondering, how are you supposed to know who you might be interested in studying with before you even get a chance to interact in a lesson???

For a couple schools, I'm pretty set on one teacher, but how am I supposed to figure out the rest without actually getting a chance to work with the teacher? Also, I'm thinking about this in terms of contacting teachers before I even apply/audition so that I can put myself closer on the radar.

Can anyone comment on this? Is this a ridiculous notion? It seems like I'd have to guess to respect this idea and go off only third party comments to see who I should contact first--then it's kind of hit or miss for the school.

It is tacky to go teacher shopping at the university, but ask around for feedback on the different faculty members. You might hear some great things and some really horrible things so you'd know who is worth studying with and who is worth avoiding at all costs. The other thought is to see if you can check out classes offered by the other teachers.

At UMASS-Lowell, the piano faculty teach other piano courses such as ensemble playing and acommpaning. I'm currently studying with Bonnie Anderson, the department chair, for my piano lessons, and piano ensemble with Thomas Stumpf another faculty member. They are both really great pianists, and this has given me a chance to trial who I will want to study with for the rest of my time at the university.

Hope this helps.

John