Will it be too late to change my major into piano performance? (Any comments)

[cardinals]

Hi, nice to see you. Let me ask you a question or look for your suggestions, comments, advices, etc, on the following…

I am a graduate student in University of Cincinnati, and I am a business major. I started to take piano lessons when I was 8 years old, but have no experience of having formal educations in music, haven’t attended any music schools or programs, haven’t been tutored by professors, and so on and so forth. I just spent 2-3 hours every day practicing the piano, and since 10 years ago, learned by myself as a hobby, and that’s all…

But now I am considering switching to music as my major…and the problem here is that all programs in music require at least three letters of recommendations from the professors or instructors in music. Some of them even regard any previous awards in prominent competitions as very important. Since I’ve been purely amateur in this field, I have no one who can write the LORs or no experience of being awarded in any kind of competitions. In this case, do you think there are any ways to contact the professors here to take the lessons or whatever to make up for this?

Also, I would like you to judge if changing my major into music is going to be a feasible choice. There are just a few recordings uploaded to my blog in a community of piano lovers, and I didn’t have enough time to practice each of them…for example, I spent 1 week for the Black Key etude, and 2 weeks for the Etude Op.10-4, because of the short breaks between the quarters…

You can just go to the blog https://blog.naver.com/hhsschoi to listen to my playings…

I know that there is something to be improved, I would like you to tell me if the gap (technical and/or artistic) against the piano majors can be overcome if I spend more hours on these over longer time periods…

I will welcome any comments from you guys (especially those majoring in music or professors/lecturers in music. Plz help me…

[jlh]

You learn new pieces fast in that case!

Be careful of rushing in the first couple pages of the black key etude. 

I would say based on these recordings, you stand a fair chance of competing with other prospective piano majors for admission. 

HOWEVER...

You will need more variety of repertoire to be competitive.  Assuming you're applying for an undergraduate degree, most schools require a classical sonata (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc.), a piece from the Baroque, such as Bach, etc., a 20th century piece, like Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, or later, and a romantic selection, such as these etudes.  What do you think about possible repertoire for an audition?

[cardinals]

I am pretty unsure at this point, but the performance program in the University of Cincinnati requires

1) Sonata from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert (All movements), and
2) Two pieces from different schools.

so my plan is going to be like

1) Beethoven's 26th sonata Op.81a (Les Adieux) - all movements
2) Chopin's etude (Op. 25-11 or 10-4), and
3) Prokofiev's 7th sonata (3rd movement only) or Toccata (Op.11)

but honestly, I haven't made any detailed plan on this...

[jlh]

I am pretty unsure at this point, but the performance program in the University of Cincinnati requires

1) Sonata from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert (All movements), and
2) Two pieces from different schools.

so my plan is going to be like

1) Beethoven's 26th sonata Op.81a (Les Adieux) - all movements
2) Chopin's etude (Op. 25-11 or 10-4), and
3) Prokofiev's 7th sonata (3rd movement only) or Toccata (Op.11)

but honestly, I haven't made any detailed plan on this...

That repertoire is easily competitive with other college applicants.  In fact, I played the Op. 81a sonata for my undergrad auditions, and the Toccata for my graduate auditions...

GOOD LUCK!  If you have any other requests for advice, don't be shy in asking!

Josh

[cardinals]

Thanks. I will appreciate your kindness...

[prongated]

I am pretty unsure at this point, but the performance program in the University of Cincinnati requires

1) Sonata from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert (All movements), and
2) Two pieces from different schools.

so my plan is going to be like

1) Beethoven's 26th sonata Op.81a (Les Adieux) - all movements
2) Chopin's etude (Op. 25-11 or 10-4), and
3) Prokofiev's 7th sonata (3rd movement only) or Toccata (Op.11)

but honestly, I haven't made any detailed plan on this...

...these are harder than what the majority of the piano students in my uni will ever manage in their lifetime...

...You can do it!