The Yale School of Music has approximately 200 students all with free tuition . My studio is limited to six graduate students. There is work study and some professional work in the area, so most of my students are paying very little.
To eliminate confusion, the Yale School of Music is only a graduate school. Although I teach the occasional outstanding trumpet student attending Yale College my job is teaching trumpet and coaching chamber music groups in the graduate school. Yale College undergraduates who want lessons, normally study with my graduate students.
I am on campus two days a week, I see each student for a lesson plus we have a required “seminar” which meets weekly for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This is basically a trumpet class in which we perform and discuss various topics.
Every student is required to be in a chamber music group. We usually have three brass quintets each semester so each trumpet student is in a quintet that is coached regularly by Scott Hartman, our trombone professor, Mike Roylance, our new tuba professor, or myself. In addition I have an early brass group of cornettos and sackbuts that meets weekly. I don’t expect everyone to practice the early brass too diligently unless they are so inclined, but we have the group to introduce our players to the instruments, literature and playing styles. I work with any student interested in the baroque trumpet as well. The school just acquired a new Egger 4 hole instrument and I have several of my own that are available.
Although the orchestra program has not been a top priority in the past at Yale, it is now taking on more importance and has improved greatly. The orchestra just received rave reviews at their annual Carnegie Hall concert. This year there is an exceptional repertoire for the brass, including Mahler 5, Til, Scheherezade, Rite of Spring, Symphonic Metamorphasis, among others.
Most students come to Yale for the MM Degree. We also have an Artist Diploma if you already have a Master’s and want more study. Our DMA program is very difficult to get into. There is a demanding test including history, traditional and 20th C. analysis and score reading. Very honestly not many brass players pass this test for the MMA although I have had two students succeed in recent years. If you are a MM student at Yale, you stay on campus for one more year for the MMA Degree. Then you go out into the world and create a resume and come back in 3 – 5 years for a recital and oral exam to complete the DMA. If you come from the outside already possessing a Masters, then after passing the test and audition you must stay on campus for two years for the MMA, then go off to create your resume for the DMA.
Although most weeks I am only on campus for two days, I see my students at Yale (with lessons, coachings and the trumpet class) more than at any other school where I have taught. This includes my time at Indiana, Manhattan, Eastman and Hartt.
One more issue is the audition process. We request a pre-screening recording with the application. This is becoming more important as the number of applicants has increased a great deal with the free tuition. This year we had over 40 trumpets apply and I had to reject a number of people based on the recording. In future years the recording is going to become even more important as we have a limited number of applicants that we can hear live.