November 26th, 2024, 12:30 PM

I have lunch with Robert McCormick, who suggests for the thousandth time that I should return to school and pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts, both to open up a pathway to collegiate teaching and develop a new collection of artistic connections. This has been an oft-repeated refrain from Bob for the past three years, and despite my immense respect for my undergraduate teacher, I’ve been disinclined to return to school. It’s just a bevy of small reasons that turn into a tidal wave of reluctance. But today is different. The summer and fall have not turned out how I hoped. Projects have fallen apart and gigs have become sparse. So today, when Bob tells me one more time to look into a doctorate…

I listen.

November 27th, 5:31 PM

I’ve selected four schools I will apply to. They’ve been on my mind for a while, boasting personal connections or revered recommendations. Let’s call them Mountain West, Midwest State, Crossroads University, and East Atlantic. Each school has two applications, one to the graduate school and one to the school of music. The deadline for all these applications is December 1st, only a few days away. The graduate program application is easy enough, these seem to mostly be a rubber stamp that defers to the school of music. Letters of recommendation are generously provided by my past teachers, and I am incredibly grateful to them for writing letters within my impulsive three-day deadline. There is a problem with the music schools’ side: they want pre-screening tapes. I’m playing two shows a day for the rest of the week, there is no way I have time to even edit old footage, let alone record new pieces for submission.

Ignoring all requirements for repertoire, the only file I submit for pre-screening is 45 minutes and 38 seconds of audio from my unreleased album project.

November 30th, 2:02 AM-3:09 AM

Applications often ask for essays, encouraging one to describe various parts of your background or to elucidate them on your goals for the future. Sometimes they just want you to turn resume bullet points into a paragraph, and I unabashedly let ChatGPT do that for me. For the essays, in my rush and fervor to throw myself through this new door of opportunity, I write completely unhinged vignettes.

Generic Personal Essay (edited in various ways for each school)

My hometown had, and continues to possess, only four stoplights. It resides in the smallest county in Florida, where state prisoners make up a third of our population. Narrow roads walled in by tall pines dominate the surrounding area for miles. Yet nestled in this unassuming location was a single 4.3 octave construction of Honduran rosewood: a marimba. I first saw it while attending a school band Christmas concert, where a high-schooler (who would later become my valued teacher) performed Alice Gomez’ “Mbira Song.”  I was entranced, as I was about to enter middle school myself, and knew I wanted to try and become a percussionist who could play that instrument.

Now to become a percussionist is quite simple. Pick up sticks, mallets, maybe a triangle beater, perhaps your hands themselves, and begin to make sounds. Explore a new medium of impact and audio; embody rhythm, exhibit melody, experience timbre. I have discovered that continuing to be a percussionist is not so easy.

I was recently at the Arcata Gathering studying with superstar percussionist Steve Schick. We were a group of pre- or post-doctoral players, and the word I brought up that seemed to resonate with everyone was “endurance.” To continue to be a percussionist is to endure. Not any one specific event that threatens to shatter a profession, but rather to survive a death by a million cuts. Logistics, budgeting, travel, family, uncertainty, inconsistency. But Professor Schick asserted that despite the difficult lives of percussionists, the most beautiful thing throughout our careers is to be a student of music. I concur. My life has been directed and shaped by my desire to be a music student, and I will continue to be one. I hope to be one of your best.

East Atlantic Statement of Purpose

My purpose, as it has always been in my artistic life, is to raise a platform on which to construct my art. I have accumulated a decade of musical experience of the highest caliber, whether it be playing for an arena of 10,000 with The Who, competing at the Grammys with the Cincinnati Symphony, playing underneath the Pope’s balcony in the Vatican, or spending year after year with legendary singer Johnny Mathis. Typing these feats out seems unbelievable to me, for as I lived them they were murky and surreal, like walking in a dream. And yet in hindsight they crystallize into a mandate, a resounding instruction to turn all these disparate blocks into a solid monument on which to raise my banner.

My preparation for graduate study has been broad, beginning with countless solitary hours in the practicing room and ending in the largest professional arenas in the world. I have proven myself in concert after concert, class after class, to be a consummate musician. In orchestral environments, solo engagements, chamber groups, and across genre. I have particular interest in the marimba, specifically how the marimba and piano relate to each other, and my focus—when possible—will remain on creating powerful performances with that uncommon combination.

I fly to you to connect with the lifeblood of __________, to find faculty and township that can continue the mix of academia and professional experience that has defined my career so far. Faculty like ___________, with his countless years of professional and educational experience, and _________, who I share a resume bullet point with in __________, who can help me find my way into the future. I fly to you to help me create my platform, to help me weave the strands of my experience into a pennant of art that will last me a lifetime.

January 6th, 2025, 9:04 AM

“Thank you for taking the time to submit your application to the Crossroads University School of Music. The admissions committee has considered your application for admission to Percussion – D.M. for the Fall 2025 semester. After careful review of your application and pre-screening materials in consultation with faculty, I regret to inform you that we were unable to offer you an audition/interview.”

Welp, considering my wild essays and lack of prescreening tape, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad.

January 8th, 1:59 PM

I’ve scheduled all the auditions. Mountain West is coming up quickly on 1/25, with Midwest State on 2/8 and East Atlantic on 2/15.

January 13th, 11:45 PM

Today I organized my repertoire list and had my first practice session for my DMA auditions. Quite a late start, I’m well aware. Audition lists are often similar on several points, but I took some time to optimize what I could. I include the whole list here as a reference for others, along with how many times I played each selection through the three auditions.

• • • Marimba
      • Four Mallet-Isabelle Dances, Mvts. 2(played 2 times) and 4(2) by Steven Stucky
      • Two Mallet-Bach Partita No. 2 in d-minor, Gigue(3)

This covers two-mallet, four-mallet, Bach, contemporary, slow, fast, really anything the proctors may want to hear.

• • • Timpani
      • Etude: Hochrainer #33(2)
      • Brahms 1 Finale(2)
      • Tchaik IV H-L(1)
      • Beethoven 1 mvt. 3(1)
      • Beethoven 9 mvt. 1 Coda(0)

All two drum etudes and excerpts, as that is all I had access to. Timpani etudes are a tricky thing, I find them pretty boring, and was surprised that my Hochrainer was asked for twice. Frankly, I tried to set that etude up as a bait that no one would want to hear, and so when that didn’t work, well, I definitely hadn’t run it enough.

• • • Snare
      • Etude: Delecluse Keiskleiriana 1 No. 11(3)
      • Nielson Clarinet Concerto 28-32(3)
      • Shostakovich 10 mvt. 2(1)
      • Scheherazade mvt. 3(0)
      • Capriccio Espagnole mvt. 3(0)

Just a selection of snare excerpts that exhibit different styles. Snare parts I hate (Kijé) are excluded entirely.

• • • Xylophone
      • Messiaen Exotic Birds, 6-7(1)
      • Shostakovich, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Act 3 Scene 6: Reh 379-384) (1)
      • Stravinsky, The Firebird, 127-133(1)
      • Kodaly, Hary Janos, Mvt. 6 Beg-Reh 1(0)

Just a selection of xylophone excerpts that exhibit different styles. Mallet parts I hate (Porgy) are excluded entirely. A xylophone rag would be great to include, but was not necessary this time around.

• • • Tambourine
      • Britten, Four Sea Interludes Mvt. 4 10-11(0)
      • Dvorak, Carnival Overture(0)
    • Triangle
      • Bizet, Carmen Suite No. 2 Danse Boheme H-2 bars after I(0)
      • Dvorak, Slavonic Dance No. 10, Opus 72(0)
    • Cymbals
      • Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet, E-F(0)
      • Dvorak, Scherzo Capriccioso, Q-end(0)
    • Bass Drum
      • Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4, Finale(0)
      • Britten, Billy Budd, Act 4 Scene 4, 1594-1607(0)

I did not play any of these auxiliary excerpts, only one school had them on their list and they didn’t ask for them in the audition.

• • • Drumset(1)
      • Style Demonstration (Blues, Swing, Shuffle, Funk, Rock, Linear, Bossa, Samba, Salsa, Brush work)
      • Soloing/Trading Fours
    • Multi-Percussion(1)
      • Tompkins “To Varese” (Performed on basic kit setup, no cabasa/tambourine/siren/tamborin)

I have a friend who learned the entirety of Xenakis’ Psappha for graduate auditions, and then was never asked to play it. Demonstrating fluidity on drumset and using a drumset as the basis for a multi-percussion solo allows me to avoid the massive setups and fanfare of a typical multi solo, while showcasing an important freelancing and improvisational ability.

January 25th, 11:30 AM

Mountain West audition reflections from my journal:

2 mistakes on marimba, I don’t know, kind of just flukes, more reps will help. Timpani act much different at elevation! Be careful of misleading overtones.

Show more stylistic variation with timpani excerpts. A few moments I made an error I’ve made before-I get a little too into the instrument, head down, blinders up, a bit of drama, and the result for the listener is just unpleasant. Get out, get up, open, sensitive, a little lighter, and smart.

It’s immediately obvious my comfort level on mallets is different than snare, timp. Try to rectify that as quickly as possible.

Honestly-solid. Grade: B

Mountain West impressions

Beautiful area. I meet a current student for lunch, he is skeptical. I meet a former professor for breakfast, he is insightful. The percussion department is going through changes. The mountains are breathtaking. Our rental car was awful. The town is charming. Hiking is incredible. We drifted into snowbank.

February 8th, 11:20 AM

Midwest State audition reflections:

I didn’t have my beta blocker, didn’t turn out to be a huge problem. Initial feelings are good.

Bach/IV was just a little frantic, calm down be present, timps very resonant justsmalldirstondeleclusesnaresoundedSOweirdintheretimpetudesounds….fine?Nielsengoodwatchdottedrhythmsetc. etc. etc.

Very pleased, solid audition. Grade: A

Midwest State impressions

An odd airport hotel amidst asphalt and frozen tundra, with food-colored blue fountains and plastic ferns in a broad indoor space to mimic weather of a gentler temperament. Renewing old connections. A beautiful new music building. Odd residency laws. Fat squirrels. More ice sliding.

February 15th, 10:30 AM

East Atlantic audition reflections:

Felt it went well, but with a bad Bach (instrument just tripped me up) and some Delecluse mistakes (resetting my brain between “ready to be cut off” and “play the whole thing” caused a lapse). To rant a moment, they had me play NONE of the cymbals, tamb, tri, or BD excerpts I brought, No kit either. Definitely a swift and slightly rushed audition. Just feels awful to play Bach on a different instrument than you warm up on. Cut off timp etude kind of early, maybe they just realized how boring it was. Upward 4th intervals are an issue for me, I’m not confident in the tuning.

I’m not sure how this one will play out, some good stuff, some obvious mistakes. Didn’t get to play much. Grade: C

East Atlantic impressions:

Feels more like a hard northern city than a bright southern city. Narrow roads. Too much construction. Iconic campus. Disconnected zip codes. Nice suburbs. Unfamiliar chains. Aging music building. More old connections. Bib gourmand restaurants. Valentine’s reservations. My wife likes the city and the area. A car swerves to attempt to make an exit, fails, loses control and hits the opposite wall, clipping the bumper off the car in front of us.

March 14th, 5:18 PM

The first result comes back, and it is a surprising one. I will prompt the other two schools for a match, but when they delay too long in replying I will move forward without them.

“Congratulations! I am delighted to inform you that the East Atlantic University School of Music has recommended you for admission to the following program: DMA Performance Percussion

On behalf of the School and the University, I am pleased to offer you a funding package to support your graduate studies here in East Atlantic:”

Now, sharing these figures is in bad taste, and I apologize for that. But I’m writing this for me, for the past me that didn’t know what they didn’t know. Even as a high-schooler auditioning for undergrad, I had no frame of reference to predict if I could even make it into a small state school, let alone what a scholarship offer would look like if I made it in. So I’m writing this to share the information I wish I’d had, for the next percussionist that needs to navigate the uncomfortable world of graduate auditions, the next musician that needs perspective on their predicament. I won’t get into what these numbers mean to me, and I have no idea what they’ll mean to you. I won’t talk any more about the other two schools, or any more about why I chose this one. This is the final piece of calculus in the geometry of locating a school for a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance.

A DMA from East Atlantic University requires 45 credit hours. My assistantship offer will pay for 5 credits per semester for 6 semesters, 30 total. That leaves 15 for me to pay out of my pocket over the course of my degree. I am considered in-state for tuition purposes, which means the per credit cost is ~$850. I need to pay ~$2500/semester out of my own pocket to complete the degree. But the assistantship will also pay me ~$14,000/year. If I use that money to pay for all my credits, we finally arrive at the number I ask everyone to give me. I beg professors, advisors, and financial departments—anyone I have contact with from the institution—to tell me what the bottom line will be, but they are all incredibly skillful at avoiding this question. Finally, I get my answer:

They are offering to pay me $8013.64/year for three years to attend East Atlantic University and obtain my DMA.

March 31st, 2025, 2:28 AM

I accept.

Final Audition Stats

• Total Cost: $4833.10
• Flights: 10
• Miles Traveled: 8,870
• Hours Practiced on DMA material: 47
• Most transit methods in a day: 8 (Car, tram, plane, tram, plane, tram, shuttle, car)