Introducing "Music School Mythbusters": A New OnCampus Series
September 26, 2013We want your input! Send us a music school or career “myth” that you would like to see featured in this series via Twitter (@polyphonicorg), Facebook (Facebook.com/Polyphonic.org), or email (info@polyphonic.org). You have to practice four hours a day to adequately improve. The only stable jobs are in the orchestra sector….but there are no orchestra jobs. […]
Meet our New Video Bloggers
September 25, 2013This past week, we welcomed seven passionate young musicians as video bloggers for the 2013-2014 year. They bring their unique musical perspectives and experiences to the vlog, and this year, you’ll be able to follow their stories as they take on new positions, create new projects, oversee concert planning, perform throughout the country, and do […]
The Merits of Music
September 23, 2013Classical music has gotten a bad rap. It’s been deemed “elitist,” and the skills and efforts of its practitioners have been dismissed as inferior to those of people in other fields. This musician-bashing has become more prevalent since the economic downturn. Examples include a businessman’s claim that high schoolers can play as well as professionals […]
New Vintage Baroque: A New Take on a Baroque Ensemble
September 20, 2013New Vintage Baroque is a New York-based ensemble (see http://newvintagebaroque.com) which describes itself as a “vocal instrumental ensemble that explores the intersection of music, song, and story.” They perform music of the high Baroque alongside new commissions and contemporary works – an intriguing concept, and one that the New York Times recently wrote about in […]
Finding Common Sound: The Case for Cross-Genre Collaboration
September 19, 2013When you grow up in a family of classical musicians, you don’t get to hear a lot of pop music. After all, why would any self-respecting musician parent put on the latest Nickelback album when they could instead expose their children to Itzhak Perlman’s acclaimed recording of the Sibelius concerto? Such was the case in […]
Your Teacher is Online: Skype and the Future of Music Lessons
September 12, 2013It was an ordinary spring afternoon in my freshman year at the New England Conservatory, and like many of my colleagues, I was on my way to a lesson. All the necessary music was stuffed into my backpack, the tape in my tape recorder was rewound and ready for recording (yes, I actually used a […]
A Visit to Spillville
September 5, 2013Spillville, Iowa is not exactly a popular tourist destination. Located in the northeastern part of the state in the midst of endless cornfields, it’s the quintessential rural midwestern town: a main street with small, family-owned stores, a couple of sleepy neighborhoods, and a few churches as old as the town itself. But that’s as typical […]
Sign Up for Our Fall Webinars!
September 3, 2013We are thrilled to announce our exciting line-up of presenters for this year’s Polyphonic OnCampus webinar series! This fall, we’ll be exploring the art of performing at a high level, the process of applying to graduate school in music, and ways to build and expand your freelance career. We hope you’ll join us for engaging […]
5 Strategies for Efficient Practice
August 30, 2013It’s getting on towards the end of summer, and that means that those of us who aren’t already back at school will be soon enough. While this return, of course, brings many exciting things with it, it also means that practice time is about to get much more limited, just when there’s suddenly a whole […]
The Orientation Week Survival Guide
August 26, 2013Where did the summer go? It seems as though the festive spring season of graduations, parties, and end-of-year performances transpired only a week ago, yet my calendar is stubbornly insisting otherwise. The end of August is upon us once more, and for America’s youth, that can only mean one thing: it’s back-to-school season, that dread […]