If Money
didn’t Matter
Universities, Conservatories
and
Brass
Instrments
The
advantages of education, particuly music education, are incresingly becomng
more elusive. Tuition for American universities, conservatories and music
schools is just out of reach for many, if not most, students. Lones are
available for some but the the burden of paying the lones is heavy and long.
The situation is exacerbated for those who are studying
advanced music performance and require high quality instruments, which are expensive,
very expensive, but are necessary to
benefit the optimum of what higher music education offers. All these costly
realities combined can create economic situations that are extremely difficult if
not impossible to live with.
There are alternatives that should be
examined.
There are alternatives to the prestigious music schools in
the USA that many students espier toward. Tuition of these alternatives may be as
low as 10% of what the famous American schools require. There are Music schools
in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and France where the teachers
are great and show excellent results. Even with the living expenses and the
required “Beer money”, the costs are far less than the prestigious schools in
the USA.
There is a much deeper reason for turning to study abroad
than just tuition costs and shopping for the best deal. Studying abroad will
open your view to the world, which means much more than just a high quality
music education; it is an education of life, learning another culture, another
mentality, another language and other broadening aspects.
In our search for high quality music schools and
instruments we are all, in fact, shoppers, shoppers who insist on excellence.
For example, excellence in leather goods with the prestige of famous labels
such Gucci or Yves Saint Laurent, which certainly are of the highest quality
but also carry a very expensive price tag. However, on the Piazza San Lorenzo
in Firenze (Florence), Italy, one can buy leather goods of equal or higher quality
at a much lower price than the high-end labels. The same situation exists with
universities, conservatries and brass
instruments.
Welcome China,
to the brass instrument market. There are now Chinese instruments available for
those who are looking for new instruments but simply don’t have the funds to
buy the popular “high-end” brands. As Japan did many years ago, the Chinese
brass instrument makers have very successfully copied many of the most popular
brass instruments in the world market with excellent results. Some of these
copies are now being modified with improvements that are superb. These
instruments are available now at about 25% of the price required today form the
bigger and established world makers.
There are countries in the world where musical talent is
huge but economics make it impossible even to dream of purchasing a high-end famous
brand instrument. Even at 25% of the high-end prices it’s very expensive in the
poorer countries but the dream can be possible.
This is not an add for Chinese brass instrument makers; rather
it’s an alert for students who do not have the funds to consider buying an
instrument with a major brand name. There are options available that cost less
that are also high quality.
Roger Bobo, August 12, 2917, Oaxaca, Mexico
