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State Band Champions

collegemaster — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:17:04 +0000

Last weekend the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association held it annual conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The highlight of the Conference was the performances of the State Honors Band and Orchestra and the State Wind ensemble and Chorus. Much like Athletes, these performers had to undergo a selection process in which they competed against other students. From the District to the Region and finally being selected for All State Honors these students had to put in the practice time and deal with the stress of performing their best under the watchful eyes of judges. Congratulations to not only the All State performers but also to all the performers who put it on the line during the auditions!

March Madness in Music

collegemaster — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:15:56 +0000

The month of March is usually reserved for deciding championships in all if not most winter sports. However, it is also the month when students in the field of the fine arts are also preparing and performing at their best. Spring is not only the time for music festivals and PMEA Adjudications but also the traditional high school spring musical. So not only are high school music students and their teachers preparing for their own competitions but in many instances are also part of their high schools spring musical. All of this is done on their own time, in the evenings and on weekends, plus trying to keep up with their studies. It seems that March Madness is spreading!

Where Has the Money Gone?

collegemaster — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:42:12 +0000

Today Duquesne University announced that it was dropping 4 varsity mens athletic sports. Duquesne cited financial reasons for this move. What was not mentioned in the article was the real reason the University and others like Duquesne are more and more dropping non revenue (minor) mens sports. The University has to continually increase the men’s basketball and football budgets so that it can stay in the limelight. Women’s sports are untouchable because of the threat of lawsuits via Title IX. Thus the move to cut the non revenue men’s sports. If this trend continues within a short period of time a male won’t be able to participate in sports on a Division One level unless they are over 6 feet tall and weigh over 200 pounds. How soon will the other non revenue activities on campus, such as band, art, etc. be dropped because of the need for bigger athletic budgets? So much for a Universities civic mission to represent all the students.

College Competition Heats Up

collegemaster — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:19:11 +0000

Today’s competition for slots in all levels of high education has gotten tougher. With the use of the universal application and the addition of workers who are either laid off or looking to update their skills, competition for higher education slots has migrated to all levels of education. Schools that once had open enrollments are now capping their number of incoming freshmen and some schools are even cutting the number of students on campus. Even community colleges in some areas are looking to cap their numbers. This makes it imperative that students take advantage of every tool to make themselves attractive to colleges.

Best Students

collegemaster — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:41:24 +0000

I wonder if anyone has done any research about the percent of music students who attend college, their college quality point average and their graduation rate. I would think that colleges would want students with a background in music if for no other reason than to have students who are smart, dedicated, and disciplined. The same characteristics that students must exhibit in order to be a success in music (marching band, orchestra, etc.) are the same traits that are needed to become a success in college

Talking to Students

collegemaster — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:44:53 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to talk with some local high school music students about ways to increase their visibililty with colleges. Students need to realize that there is alot of financial aid available from colleges but that colleges don’t always have the means to find the students that fit the requirements for that financial aid. It is up to the students to make their information available to as many colleges as possible and to take an active role in contacting colleges that fit their requirements.

The best kept secret in college fine arts.

collegemaster — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:22:07 +0000

One of the best kept secrets in the field of fine arts is the amount of scholarship aid available to students who wish to pursue their love of the arts at a school of higher learning. Many colleges and universities that don’t offer a major in music have scholarships available to students who wish to enroll and continue their love of the arts. I firmly believe that there is almost as much scholarship money available in the field of fine arts as there is in athletics. The reason that we don’t hear about these scholarship opportunities is because the colleges don’t have a recruiting budget to aggressively pursue high school students who fit their needs. Many of the scholarships were bequeathed to the colleges as endowments that stipulated that all of the money had to be used for scholarships. This left little or no money to pay for recruiting expenses. Thus, many colleges simply wait until the students arrive on campus and then award the scholarships.