Expert: David Froom - 8/5/2003

Question
Hello! I am a pianist at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and I would very much like to study in Europe for my post-graduate studies. However, I am not as familiar with the schools in Europe as I am with those in North America. Could you tell me what are the most prestigious institutions are? And where the best faculty are located? I also would like a school that is known for playing a lot of contemporary music. Thanks for your help.

~Brendan Nguyen

Answer
Hi,

I would think, especially for post-graduate study, that you would choose by teacher, rather than school;  and that you would choose to study in a place where you had at least some of the local language.  

If your first and only language is English, there are great places to study in England:  Royal Conservatory and Royal Northern Conservatory are two that leap to mind, though I don't know the faculty explicitly.  England is very much a new music country.  I suspect there would be much within these places.  And if not, London especially, though also Manchester (where the Royal Northern is) are both great places for new music generally.

To broaden your search, you should peruse the lists of judges for the big international competitions, and find out where these folks teach (it is usually listed).  And, of course, maybe first, ask your teacher -- and if your teacher doesn't know or can't help, ask them who they think might know.  Also, ask other Oberlin faculty, especially the composers.  I'll bet Jeffrey Mumford (who is a good friend of mine, and who teaches at Oberlin) would be full of ideas about how to help you.

Another way to get a handle on this is to go to a big summer festival, either here or in Europe.  There you will meet a lot of international students and teachers, and you can grill them on who the great teachers are and where the great places to study are.  Or you can look at the younger of the internationally trained emerging artists are, and see, from their bios, whom they studied with and where.

But you should also know that a LOT of European pianists want to come HERE to study, especially at the more famous schools like Juilliard or Yale.  But maybe it is a case of the grass being greener . . .

Good luck, and I hope I have helped a little,

David Froom