Dear Alma, I get poor value from my music school

From our agony aunt:

Dear Alma,

I am a student at a reputable music school pursuing an advanced degree. I am happy with the program and am learning a lot, but the one area in which I would like to focus – the orchestral program – has a lackluster conductor. There are often sub conductors, and we hear that our conductor is away long-distance biking. When he is there, he either runs the pieces, or stops and picks unhelpfully on individuals. The guest conductors are mostly students, sometimes fairly good, and local conductors of regional orchestras.

Signed,

Not getting my Tuition’s Worth

Dear NgmTW,

In my experience, both as a student and faculty member, there is never an across the board excellent school. Even the legendary teachers can be inconsistent, and sometimes a sabbatical replacement teacher can surprisingly change a person’s life.

NgmTW, you sound quite happy in general, and maybe it’s a blessing that the disinterested conductor is away pedalling himself out of his crisis. In the real world, an orchestra has many guest conductors, and the students coming in to conduct are probably pretty psyched to be there. Just learn the orchestra rep, practice until you collapse from exhaustion, and enjoy the strengths of your program rather than obsessing about the weaknesses.

Life is a mysterious bag of goodies, some good and some bad. Just reach in there and make the best of whatever you happen to pull out.

Questions for Alma? Please put them in the comments section or send to DearAlmaQuery@gmail.com

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