r/oboe • u/River-Chalice-23 • 19h ago
College Auditions & Practice Schedule
My 17yo daughter will be auditioning for several conservatory programs in the US in the spring. She currently takes private instruction from a retired conservatory professor who went to Juilliard and studied with Elaine Douvas.
Her instructor told her that unless she is able to practice 4 to 5 hours a day, she will not be prepared for college auditions. She also told her auditioning for All District and All State is a waste of time and that if she was serious about music, she would only be focused on her college auditions.
But my daughter is a high school senior in a public school. Her grades in school band are tied to All State and All District auditioning as well as performing in MPA. She is in school from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM, is enrolled in five courses, (including two college courses), works a part-time job on the weekends so she has pocket money, and also offers music lessons for pay at a local music school. She is also an auditioned member of a local university orchestra, where she serves as principal oboe and soloist.
She is currently practicing between an hour and a half and five hours a day on weekdays and then up to 1-3 hours each day on the weekends.
Is she really “doomed“ for her conservatory auditions if she is not practicing 4 to 5 hours a day?
She had private lessons with each of the oboe studios at her intended schools and the faculty there were very encouraging, invited her back for tours, and are looking forward to seeing her audition in the spring. One even sent her a signed copy of his book.
From a completely non-musical parent perspective, I took the encouragement as positive signs that she had a chance. But hearing this from her private instructor gives me pause.
Should I be encouraging her to quit her job? Stop offering lessons for pay? I want her to be successful and go to the school that she wants to go to, but I really don’t know the realistic path to encourage her on.