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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,955
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We are pretty high up there fore sure, also high up on the list of most unhappy cities. I can see it, nearly all my friends have lost any sense of idealism, and passion, in most cases feeling that life is over in their mid 20s. In the late 1970s I declined a job offer as General Manager of the Evansville Symphony Orchestra - partly because I decided that orchestral management was not the best career choice for me - but also because during my visits to Evansville I felt a deep sense of "isolation" from the rest of the world. You've obviously had a good experience there - which is great !! But you would probably be wise to relocate to (or near) a larger metropolitan area for your graduate studies - just to have that type of experience as well.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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We are pretty high up there fore sure, also high up on the list of most unhappy cities. I can see it, nearly all my friends have lost any sense of idealism, and passion, in most cases feeling that life is over in their mid 20s. In the late 1970s I declined a job offer as General Manager of the Evansville Symphony Orchestra - partly because I decided that orchestral management was not the best career choice for me - but also because during my visits to Evansville I felt a deep sense of "isolation" from the rest of the world. You've obviously had a good experience there - which is great !! But you would probably be wise to relocate to (or near) a larger metropolitan area for your graduate studies - just to have that type of experience as well. Actually what you touch on here is how I feel as well. I have talked with friends many times especially after the Unhappy city stuff came out. "Isolation" is the perfect term for it. Our orchestra is decent overall, but overall we are isolated, and pretty self sufficient. It works, sometimes the economy here has not been the worst, but at the same time, it feels that everything happens outside of town. We are not really "close" to many things. Only about 90 minutes from Louisville. I go to school in Terre Haute indiana, it feels a lot like Evansville sometimes, but part of life there is going up to Indianapolis which does have a bit more to it. At least in the arts.
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Joined: May 2005
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OK - you're in school at Terre Haute - not Evansville - got it !! An Army buddy of mine taught piano at the University in Terre Haute from 1967 to 2007. Through my job I used to visit arts groups in Terra Haute (traveling from Indianapolis) in the late 1970's. My impression of Terre Haute was pretty much the same as Evansville.  Fortunately there is more going on in the arts in Indianapolis. Visiting a city like Indy is not quite the same thing as actually living there. Hope you will be able to relocate to a more stimulating community in the future !!! 
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Joined: Jun 2008
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As random as it sounds, my biggest problem was my weight...I am definitely too fat, and have been working on that aspect on getting a healthier lifestyle, which helps with energy, focus, appearance even.
Getting away from Evansville will help with that. It must be the most obese city in the nation. We are pretty high up there fore sure, also high up on the list of most unhappy cities. I can see it, nearly all my friends have lost any sense of idealism, and passion, in most cases feeling that life is over in their mid 20s. It's not all bad. The museum has a pretty decent art collection, and I liked the planetarium. The riverfront is beautiful, the Clean Water Act did the river a lot of good. But on my visits back, there really is a layer of depression over the city. Especially in the winter, when everything becomes one shade of gray, from the ground up. It's best days are in the past it seems, now that industry has left. Good luck with your search. edit: If I was going to move back to Indiana to live, it would be in Bloomington. (I wouldn't call them nightmares, but occasionally I have these disturbing dreams that I've moved back to E'ville.)
Last edited by Plowboy; 05/13/13 07:14 PM.
Gary
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As random as it sounds, my biggest problem was my weight...I am definitely too fat, and have been working on that aspect on getting a healthier lifestyle, which helps with energy, focus, appearance even.
Getting away from Evansville will help with that. It must be the most obese city in the nation. We are pretty high up there fore sure, also high up on the list of most unhappy cities. I can see it, nearly all my friends have lost any sense of idealism, and passion, in most cases feeling that life is over in their mid 20s. It's not all bad. The museum has a pretty decent art collection, and I liked the planetarium. The riverfront is beautiful, the Clean Water Act did the river a lot of good. But on my visits back, there really is a layer of depression over the city. Especially in the winter, when everything becomes one shade of gray, from the ground up. It's best days are in the past it seems, now that industry has left. Good luck with your search. edit: If I was going to move back to Indiana to live, it would be in Bloomington. (I wouldn't call them nightmares, but occasionally I have these disturbing dreams that I've moved back to E'ville.) I had the pleasure of working at the Museum here for about 8 years, as a volunteer. I started when I was 13, and stopped when I was 21. I have a lot of fond memories of that place. Helped out with camp ins, put on many of the science demonstrations, and was shown how to operate the planetarium(highlight right there). I think my picture is still up on their website. I also got lucky enough to perform a solo piano recital there. In their big room with most of the paintings. It was a very nice experience, and good atmosphere for a recital. I had a pretty good turn out as well.
Last edited by jdhampton924; 05/13/13 07:28 PM.
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... and was shown how to operate the planetarium(highlight right there).
Now THAT is cool!
Gary
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Joined: Nov 2009
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Why has no one mentioned Curtis or Juilliard?.... Maybe this is an OK place to bring this up...... I've been surprised to never see any discussion here of the 3 conservatories in New York City: Juilliard, Mannes, and Manhattan. (Maybe there's been some discussion but I'm pretty sure it hasn't been much, at least any time lately.) I mean, all the time we have discussions comparing all kinds of other things, like composers or pieces or pianists, and this seems like a natural thing that people would want to be comparing too. Maybe there's an assumption that it's just an easy thing without much to be said: Juilliard is the place, the others aren't, and you only consider them if you can't get into Juilliard. Maybe to some extent that's true but I know it's not the whole story. And I don't know a lot about this, but I'd be interested to see discussion of it some time....
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Joined: May 2009
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Do you really need a doctorate in piano performance if you want to perform for a living? Are they going to pay you via assistantships or grants or are you going to go into debt to get the diploma? If you're going to have to finance it for yourself, I'd say skip it.
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Juilliard is the place, the others aren't... Many would disagree with you on that - for example, I know many who believe Curtis to be a better school than Juilliard. Probably we have members here who attended these schools...why don't we ask them?
Regards,
Polyphonist
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Juilliard is the place, the others aren't... Many would disagree with you on that.... Did you stop reading my post right there? ( I disagreed with it!) And besides, I wasn't talking about comparing it with Curtis, only with the other conservatories in NYC.
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 9,328
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Juilliard is the place, the others aren't... Many would disagree with you on that.... Did you stop reading my post right there? ( I disagreed with it!) And besides, I wasn't talking about comparing it with Curtis, only with the other conservatories in NYC. I see. I did the evil maneuver where you pull out a tiny piece of someone's post and take it out of context, and then argue against it.  Sorry about that.
Regards,
Polyphonist
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Do you really need a doctorate in piano performance if you want to perform for a living? Are they going to pay you via assistantships or grants or are you going to go into debt to get the diploma? If you're going to have to finance it for yourself, I'd say skip it. Well my plan overall is to pay using assistantships and grants, and those will factor into my decisions heavily. You don't really "need" much. I have had it argued(pretty well actually) that I didn't need my Bachelors or Masters. It is my personal goal, and something I want to do with my life.
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,093
1000 Post Club Member
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OP
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,093 |
Why has no one mentioned Curtis or Juilliard?.... Maybe this is an OK place to bring this up...... I've been surprised to never see any discussion here of the 3 conservatories in New York City: Juilliard, Mannes, and Manhattan. (Maybe there's been some discussion but I'm pretty sure it hasn't been much, at least any time lately.) I mean, all the time we have discussions comparing all kinds of other things, like composers or pieces or pianists, and this seems like a natural thing that people would want to be comparing too. Maybe there's an assumption that it's just an easy thing without much to be said: Juilliard is the place, the others aren't, and you only consider them if you can't get into Juilliard. Maybe to some extent that's true but I know it's not the whole story. And I don't know a lot about this, but I'd be interested to see discussion of it some time.... While I don't agree that it is just Julliard. The idea that Julliard and company are a level of schools that some people do feel that way about. It is like when I had to work on Scriabin Op 8 No. 12. My biggest problem was a mental block from hearing it played so well by performers like Horowitz. It became a, "I won't be able to play this near that, and that is how most people hear it, why should I learn it?"
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