Call for Faculty, Alumni, and Current Students of Collaborative Piano Programs: What Makes Your Program Worthwhile?

Over the last few months, I've been receiving a lot of input regarding the types of articles that readers would like on the Collaborative Piano Blog. By far, the biggest number of requests have been for recommendations for the most worthwhile collaborative piano programs in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

To put it bluntly, there are a lot of very fine young pianists who are interested in applying for collaborative piano programs in the coming year, but are having difficulty navigating the huge amount of information available on the internet. Finding the right school can be a career-defining choice, and if you've associated or have ever been associated with a collaborative piano program this is a great way for you get the word out, both from faculty, your current students, and alumni. I'll figure out a publishing schedule once I start receiving submissions. 

Here are some things you can write about in your submissions - these can be tailored from the point of view of faculty, current students, or past students in a program:

• What makes/made your collaborative piano program meaningful and worthwhile in terms of your artistic development?
• How did the specialization/generalization of the program help to build your skill set?
• How did the size of the school of music (large or small) help to create a worthwhile experience?
• What was it like working with faculty in your program?
• What was it like collaborating with singers and instrumentalists in the program?
• What kind of work is available for graduate/teaching assistantships?
• What are some of your most memorable experiences?
• How did your program help with getting you work in the profession?

How to send your submissions

Please submit your submissions to collaborativepiano [at] gmail dot com in the body of an email, with all formatting (including hyperlinks) already done.  Please do not send PDF, Word, or Pages files, as these take forever to transfer the formatting to html. 

Please DO send the following:

• hyperlinked text to relevant pages on your university website, YouTube videos about your program, or your own website
• images
• honest, first-person language about what the program means to you
• multiple submissions if you've attended more than one program and would like to talk about all of them
• links to your own current projects/employment if you're a student or alumni

Please DO NOT:

• put me on your university's mailing list
• get Marketing to do your submissions
• send press releases
• send submissions about non-collaborative piano programs
• send negative information about programs you've attended

A huge thanks to the folks who suggested this idea and I look forward to posting lots of submissions over the coming weeks and months!

(Photo by Ryan Jacobson on Unsplash)