Piano Forum

Piano Board => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: makivka on March 28, 2020, 05:38:39 PM

Title: Can I write a recommendation letter for this pianist?
Post by: makivka on March 28, 2020, 05:38:39 PM

I live in the U.S., and the pianist lives in Indonesia. We never met, but I've given advice and listened to many of his performances. I minored in music in a university. Would this be allowed -- for me, to write a recommendation letter that he would use to enter a university in Indonesia?

Please respond. This is the only community I can ask.

Title: Re: Can I write a recommendation letter for this pianist?
Post by: dogperson on March 28, 2020, 06:27:32 PM

You can write a recommendation, but I would not consider it to have any value based on your limited exposure.  In my profession, which is not music, when I am asked to recommend someone where we have had limited work experience, I have suggested to the applicant it would be better for him  to get someone else who knows him better for the recommendation. 

What I would not recommend you do is embellish your limited contact with him. You were not his teacher and any recommendation should  not imply that.  What I suggest that you do is write up a draft recommendation based on what you truly know, and then make a decision about whether it’s really helpful  or not to the applicant