going to college/ college auditions in the future

[ann reid]

If you “like” music, even quite a bit, you are in a good place to explore other potential options.

If music is your passion, the most important thing in your life, something that inspires and invigorates you like nothing else can, you will need to plan very carefully so that you are always able to regain your contact(s) with the level and type of music you NEED.

If you get too far way, you may reach a point at which a re-start may be VERY difficult. Take my word for that.

[gmck2102]

this is a more organized and concise phrasing of my dilemma


I've been doing a bunch of deliberating in regards to what I want to go to college for, and where in fact I would like to go. I know what I want to do (for now at least) say 15 years from now. I want to be a performer and play music all over the world, whether that be in a military band or in a chamber group etc etc. this means that i need to get really really really good at playing the euphonium

I understand that competition is high and finding a job along with a decent income would be really challenging, so I feel like I should have something to fall back on. My teacher Tom Riccobono has talked about majoring in music education, but in terms of being a band director etc, I have no desire whatsoever to be a music educator at this time. However the idea of teaching euphonium or low brass does sound interesting (I also have an interest in tuba and trombone)

What does sound very appealing to me is zoology. I am very enthralled with studying and learning about animals and how they function in their different ecosystems. For example, a dream job of mine would be finding and preserving endangered species.

What's causing so much stress at the moment is that I have a great desire to be a euphonium soloist, a position requiring a level of proficiency that seems light years away.
I know that with my current performance ability, auditioning and getting accepted into my current list of music programs is a reach. I know that I want to be in a low brass studio environment, take lessons, and play in wind bands in college, but can I do all that without being a performance major?


Right now, what I want to do in college is to get really good at euphonium and get a degree in zoology. then maybe try and get a degree in euphonium performance afterwards. The problem I'm having is that I now have no idea what colleges to apply to and how I could have some kind of double major or major minor combination that would fulfill the goal of getting really really really good at euphonium as well as getting a degree in zoology.


The issue I'm having is that I don't think that I'm good enough to be accepted as a euphonium performance major, and in my head at least, that's the only way I could excel at euphonium. I feel like if I went for music ed (which I don't really have any interest in) I may or may not be a part of the studio, and I would have to take education classes and try and learn all of the instruments and that would take up time spent practicing euphonium, which would already be being taken up by getting a zoology degree, which I want to get because I am very interested in it, and also because i need a source of financial income.

[Richard III]

This subject comes up all the time in a trumpet forum. For all the performance oriented people, I always ask the same question. Are you gigging now? Are you involved with outside groups making money? If not, why not? Are you not that interested? Are you not that good?

Second topic is college majors. People say they want to major in something they have some interest in. Are you doing anything in that field now? If not, why not? And with that interest, what is the exact job you would be training for? I don't mean some vague idea of a job, but an actual job. What does it pay? What kind of benefits do people earn with that job?

These are the kind of questions once answered can lead to solid planning.

[DaveBj]

Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana . . .

. . . also had a top-level pharmacy program when I was there in the late 1960s. Several of our top musicians were actualy pharm majors. If one's interests run in that direction.

[tokuno]

Can't hurt to contact your local Marine recruiter and ask about MEOP - Musician Enlistment Option Program.
My two oldest chose this path, in part to scratch the music itch, but also to pay for their own educations, serve their country, travel, and expand their life experience.
My daughter's still deliberating whether music will be more than a hobby in her future, but in the meantime the Marines have given her terrific experiences (she just came off a week's machine gun training that she loved), and are paying for her undergraduate degree (remote classes) while she's getting paid to play music and max her 401K contribution.
It's not soloing, but here she's with her section buds at a recent engagement https://youtu.be/1PNrZhT_OMc Notice the expert rifle & pistol badges she's wearing. This is the young lady who hated exercise, organized sports, and PE class, but is now working on her 3rd-level martial arts belt. We're thrilled & a bit envious of our kids' interesting opportunities.
And they have break-out bands, too - e.g. big band, brass band - that offer plenty of limelight to shine as a soloist.
Her older brother is in a similar situation: he got paid to play while figuring out that he prefers music performance as a hobby, not a career, instead of outlaying six figures in college costs to realize it. To the contrary, he has accumulated well into multiple six figures in savings (military doesn't pay great, but he's extremely frugal and the market has been going full tilt).
He just began his second enlistment and while his primary MOS is still music, he has found a passion as the resident IT specialist, crafting custom solutions like specialized databases & automation scripts, and thinks this industry will be his undergrad & future career.
Btw, he enlisted pre-Covid Lockdown, so he has enjoyed quite a bit of travel - France, Canada, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, Louisiana for Mardi Gras, and up and down the East Coast, and it looks like he'll get the posting to Okinawa that he requested - it's been a fabulous experience for him, as well.
Child #3 is a senior in high school and just submitted to the Naval Academy, but as his safety, he auditioned for (and was accepted into) the Marine Band on euphonium. He's a good player & dynamite sight reader, but nowhere approaching prodigy level. I think the Marines are unique of the services in that they recruit high school grads, so the playing level requirement might be not as high as you think. I encourage you to check it out.