Teaching
OVERVIEW
- Zeltsman teaches full-time at merged institutions Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music. See below for descriptions of each school's percussion programs.
- Auditioning for BCB or BCM is a separate process. Enrolled students are able to cross-register for some courses between the institutions.
- Zeltsman also teaches two weeks per year as a Guest Artist at University of Michigan.
- She also teaches as a guest at various schools and seminars.
Boston Conservatory at Berklee
BM in percussion; graduate degrees in percussion, marimba, & contemporary classical percussion
Our teaching approach recognizes the breadth of the field of percussion. We educate well-versed, well-rounded musicians, while celebrating individualism and students' desires to develop special interests. The percussion faculty is (L to R): Sam Solomon, Kyle Brightwell, Nancy, Matt Smallcomb and Jon Bisesi. Once enrolled, students may opt for private lessons with one professor, or divide lessons between two faculty members. Many students utilize elective credits to enroll in specialized percussion courses at Berklee College of Music.
Our department consists of 22 to 28 students: roughly half undergraduate, and half graduate-level. The studio is a close-knit, diverse group who are very supportive of each other. The majority are percussion majors who benefit from numerous performance opportunities including orchestra, wind ensemble, opera, theater and dance productions, percussion ensemble, chamber music, and composers' concerts alongside learning solo repertoire. Marimba majors typically focus on solo playing, mixed chamber music, and mallet ensembles. Graduate-level percussionists accepted to CCMP (the Contemporary Classical Music Program) typically collaborate and perform exclusively with "contraBAND": that program's mixed instrumental group.
Our graduates go on to varied professional careers as orchestral musicians, versatile freelancers, chamber ensemble performers and directors, solo recitalists, theater musicians, middle-school and high school teachers, and university and conservatory professors. Several solo performers have been winners at major international competitions. Below are answers to frequently asked questions. Please contact BCB Admissions, or any percussion faculty directly, regarding other questions.
• No audition pre-screen is required.
• Applicants who are unable to travel to Boston to audition in person may submit videos.
• Scholarship awards are primarily determined by audition scores.
• We offer no Teaching Assistantships (as all students study with our faculty). But school employment opportunities include two Percussion Department Assistantships and "Work/Study" jobs in Concert Services, Audio/Visual, the libraries, and campus offices. (Sometimes T.A.s are needed in Music History and Theory.)
Founded in 1867, Boston Conservatory is the oldest performing arts conservatory of its kind in the United States, and one of the first to admit Black and women students. Institutional Fact Sheet | BCB Photo Gallery | BCB 360 Campus Tour | BCB Admissions
Berklee College of Music
BM in percussion - performance &/or other majors
Students are accepted based on their audition on their principal instrument. By the end of their second semester, students declare a major (or two) from 15 possible majors.
The Percussion Department consists of over 35 faculty members with various specialties, and over 500 students who entered on one of six principal instruments: Orchestral Percussion, Drum Set, Hand Percussion, Marimba, Vibraphone or Steel Pan. (As far as we know, Berklee is the only institution in the world that offers specialized study in marimba at the undergraduate level.)
About Berklee | Berklee Percussion Faculty | Undergraduate Programs | Graduate Programs | BCM Admissions
