Peter Kapourales (left) and Ian Perry (right) both received very welcome letters from their colleges of choice. These two high school seniors study with CMA co-owner Joel Greenberg and have spent the better part of the last year preparing for competitive music auditions. Now they get to relax a bit before the next phase of their music careers begin!

Peter Kapourales will be attending the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM) as Music Education major. His instrument of focus will be classical guitar. In order to be accepted Peter had to audition for both the Music Education and Classical Guitar departments. Balancing music education projects at his high school (Sycamore High School) with guitar technique and repertoire was challenging at times, but Peter was dilligent. His hard work paid off and he gets to attend one of the worlds most famous music schools!

Ian Perry has been accepted to the Jazz program at Northern Kentucky University. Although Ian participated in high school jazz band and was attending jazz jam sessions locally, he was not yet familiar with the skills an audition committee would be looking for at a university. He soon learned that his foundational skills were very strong, but the new skills would take a lot of work to develop. Students preparing for auditions and high pressure performances often find they are learning not only new music, but more efficient ways of practicing. This is not only important for a successful career but for a busy career! Ian also continued to attend jam sessions and got feedback about his progress from other musicians. It all paid off when he gave an impressive audition and was accepted to the program of his choice at NKU!