Becoming a performer and teacher

[journeyyourmind]

I am thinking of becoming a performer(piano), however, to balance things out I want to aquire a degree in teaching and maybe be a professor. My teacher and I are preparing to audition for a few prestigous conservatories/universities, and I wanted to know if anyone has information regarding what schools offer which programs and whetehr someone would be allowed to study in both directions. My voice instructor did the same thing(got a performing and teaching degree)so I know it's possible, but she didn't end up performing much. Any information would be great.

[zheer]

Yes, you can do both at UNI, study performance and teaching.WEll the UNI course that i have applied to gives that oppartunity. As far as making it as a performer well am sure you know what the standards are, they are very high.

[pianowelsh]

Dont know re specific schools in the USA but here in UK ALL conservatoires have very strong emphasis that you must be able to teach and play and so you have to take core modules in education and often a diploma which is concerned with the specifics of instrumental tuition including practical demonstrations of your ability.  This is all at undergraduate level. Im not sure but i get the impression you are looking at a postgraduate level course in education?? RNCM offer a course that does intensive teaching course for teaching in schools and group programmes and you can take a PGdiploma in performance concurrently.  I have a friend who is currently doing this as a violinist - by all accounts its pretty tough but excellent experience all round. You should contact their admissions department if you are interested.  Im sure other schools offer similar kinds of things. They have a good reputation however because they are liked to a prestigious university too.

[journeyyourmind]

Well if by post-graduate you mean after high school? I'm 16 and a sophomore in high school right now but just want to be prepared information-wise. I know the standards are high and I believe my teacher has a very good idea of what that standard is. However, she is emphasizing very strongly that I perform but I'm hesitant to jump into somehting like that so I wanted to also teach. I figured if I could teach I could always have something to fall back on.

And yes that sounds interesting, I'm happy to hear that there seems to be that opportunity in a variety of places.

Oh and also to clarify, I am mainly a pianist but I used my voice instructor as example of a career.