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Hello,

I was wondering what Universities have DMA auditions for next fall

Thanks

A DMA in tuba?

In this economy?

Gary Ofenloch posted he has some openings at UNLV. He is a fantastic teacher!

russiantuba wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 6:00 pm Gary Ofenloch posted he has some openings at UNLV. He is a fantastic teacher!

Plus, if you get lucky at the slots, you can double your stipend!

A grad student in our brass band has applied for a DMA at Indiana. He doesn't know yet if he has been accepted.
For almost anybody, that is going to be "small fish in a big pond" though.

AvrTuba wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 5:41 pm A DMA in tuba?

In this economy?

Hey, everyone needs a hobby.

We forget how incredibly naive we were at that age.

UncleBeer wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2026 4:58 am

AvrTuba wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 5:41 pm A DMA in tuba?

In this economy?

Hey, everyone needs a hobby.

My 16-year-old granddaughter plays horn well enough to work in many per-service American orchestras - even as principal and (as fearless as she is) probably would do best as principal, as she plays as a principal player typically plays, and phrases as a soloist typically phrases.

She has exhausted all of the math courses that her school system (one to which her parents live in due to the quality of the schools) offers, and is studying math disciplines such as linear algebra and and others off-campus at universities in her city for credit. (Her city's school system may be underwriting this?) Her first PSAT test shows a fairly good chance at becoming a National Merit Scholar (not that far from a perfect score). Outside of her AP and college courses, her horn practice, and her scouting activities (she's a Life Scout and will achieve Eagle), she reads over 200 nonfiction and fiction books a year - outside of what he is assigned to read in school.

She has interviewed and auditioned at Yale. Not that she assumes that she would be admitted, but she's already visited the campus and met faculty members and such. The horn professor is interested in her, but there is no undergraduate music degree program at Yale, though her mother (a working oboist who studied at Eastman) reports that the Yale undergraduate orchestra (which they heard during their visit) sounds like a professional orchestra.
She didn't go there (not so much, anyway) to discuss studying music.
She went there interested in being a music MINOR, and majoring in MATHEMATICS.
Whether private or public sector, employers who hire people and pay them large salaries are looking for really top level mathematicians. It's not so much that they need those mathematicians to do mathematics for them. Rather, those employers need those people to do THINKING for them.
This one - being a remarkable child mathematician - has thought about it enough to realize that she has just as much of a shot at being hired as a musician as a lot of people and can continue to study it without becoming certified in it (as - though this isn't said out loud - when resumes are sent to orchestras, those sorting through them notice when applicants have continued to enroll in yet another and another school - to pursue yet another and another degree program, rather than finding employment as a player).

bloke "just sayin' "

Here, she was either 14 or 15 years old.

I ask students who are looking to do a Ph.D. with me "Do you really want to earn 20%-25% of an industry salary for 4-5 years and come out with fewer jobs you are qualified for versus having a MS?" I've never once had someone say no.. I was the the same way. Education and research was much more important to me than something as plebeian as money... thats why I work as an academic instead of in industry.. I assume music grad programs are the same.

Interestingly enough according to analysis down at my university factoring in reduced wages, lost retirement saving etc, it takes the average engineering Ph.D. 25 years to break even versus sticking with an MS because you loose about $400,000 in salary and benefits over those years but only have about a $10K/year differential in salary versus someone with an MS.

I wouldn't even know where to begin the analysis for DMA players. I don't imagine that DMA tuba players earn a lot more than MA/MFA tuba players unless you land a faculty position which are pretty rare...

Those in that age bracket should stop for just a moment and think about all the things money have done for them up to that point in their lives, consider a life without money, and then look at the skill set or discipline they are pursuing and decide whether they love it so much that they would do it as a volunteer, asking for donations of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

I've been with and without filthy lucre. With it is more pleasant, and allows me to be quite a bit more productive, and imaginative as well..

With only a belated BSEE (age 39) -- I am so way ahead of my stayed-in-music friends in terms of what I was able to achieve financially. I did it partly for financial reasons, not to "get rich," but because I could see I'd have no way to retire, would never bel able to afford a house, etc. It worked out for me because engineering was a much better fit socially and intellectually than music. Classical violinists are a very odd bunch. I find no engineers in the amateur strings but they are all over the place in amateur brass.