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Hello everyone,
I was accepted to both Chautauqua and Brevard Summer Programs. I received between half and one-third of my tuition from both, so (including airfare), the costs are comparable. It basically all depends on the teachers now. Here are the piano faculty members at Chautauqua and their websites and schools:

Rebecca Penneys
Eastman School of Music
www.rebeccapenneys.com

Joel Schoenthals
Eastern Michigan University
www.music.emich.edu

Steve Laitz
Eastman School of Music
http://theory.esm.rochester.edu/
steve_laitz/
Nicola Melville
Carleton College
http://webapps.acs.carleton.edu/curricular/
musc/faculty/

John Milbauer
California State University
www.csuchico.edu/mus/faculty.html

Here are the teachers at Brevard:

Andrew Cooperstock
University of Colorado at Boulder

Julian Martin (July 16 - July 22)
The Juilliard School

Bruce Murray
Brevard Music Center
Brevard College

Marilyn Neeley (June 21 - July 17)
Catholic University of America

Craig Nies
Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University

Douglas Weeks
Converse College


I would appreciate any recommendations and information.
Thanks!
P.S. I have to make a decision in the next day or two.

I dont know of the teachers... however.... I am seething with envy that you can go to Chat. IT is an amazing place. I have spent many a summer there! I never went to the summer program, because my parents would not send me...

Chatauqua is wonderful, and life changing. That I do know.... Good luck in your decision.

I think that I will be going to Chautauqua. I wish I could have gotten some feedback about the teachers at Chautauqua vs. Brevard, but I think I have decided to take from Rebecca Penneys at Chautauqua. I've heard some good things about her. I'm sure I'll have a wonderful time and get so much done!

Denise, thanks for the feedback about Chautauqua. I hear it is absolutely beautiful up there! What did you go there for, if you weren't there for the summer program?

I heard Penneys in a masterclass at Chautauqua about 20 years ago when her trio - New Arts Trio - was very new. I believe they were artists in residence then. She was a little on the nasty side to a couple of the participants - which I think is uncalled for in a masterclass.
I'm not sure how she is in 1-on-1 lesson situations, or whether she's mellowed over the years.

I agree with Nieciebiggs. Chaut. is a great place. Lots of cultural activities. Concerts, lectures, opera everyday. Hope you find time to practice. Good luck.

My family spends 4th of July week up there. When I still resided in NY, I went every summer, and my highlight was going to Chat. Inst. I always wanted to go! My Piano teacher recommended I audition, and when my mother saw the cost involved, and i was NOT my average costing summer camp.... (at the time, I went to Girl Scout came to the tune of $60 a week, and Chat was over 2k for the summer I believe.... it was about 20 years ago...) it was way out of their budget. I would walk past the practice cottages just to hear kids play

You will love there I am sure... so pretty and so much to do... just dont let the onslaught of activities pull to much from your practice time... becuase they are sooo absolutely inviting.

The other teacher I am considering is John Milbauer. I believe he is a former student of Rebecca Penneys. He seems to be good also. I can handle rude teachers most of the time. I've had a few of those, but I don't especially like them. I'm sure I could survive, though!

Of all the teachers listed, my favorite is Andrew Cooperstock at Brevard. He's wonderful!

Oops...just noticed you've already decided on Chautauqua. Um...I've heard okay things about Schoenthals and mixed reviews on Pennys.

Give us more than 48 hours notice next time!

Thank you so much for the feedback, everyone. My teacher and I decided on Chautauqua today for several different reasons, which I won't go into right now. One of the reasons, however, that I settled on Chautauqua was the fact that they have lectures on practicing skills, preparing for competitions, etc. These seem like they would be very helpful. I'm sure I'll enjoy everything!

Kreisler, alas, I too wish I could have given more than 48 hours notice. But I did not know until Saturday whether I'd been accepted or not and how much financial aid I had been offered. And then I was out of town until Sunday, so this had to be a somewhat quick decision.

I am sending in my reservation forms this afternoon!

I've heard mixed things about Chautaqua, like Pennys only teaches in Masterclasses, and you have to study with one of the other teachers, which are all her former students. I've heard that Schoenhals is pretty good, from someone who went to Chautaqua last summer. They weren't blown away by him but he is good. I've heard that a lot of people don't like Pennys though, she says weird things, like I heard she told a student that had trouble memorizing music to go see a psychologist to fix it.
Chautaqua will at least have good weather, as compared to Brevard, which is in the mountains and is very humid. I went to Brevard for 4 summers when I was in high school. Brevard's living conditions are pretty bad too, cabins with tiny rooms where 4 people are to a room and there is no air conditioning, also the food is so bad. Also I noticed that Brevard lost two of their best piano faculty-- Barbara Lister-Sink and Marina Lomozov. They do however have Julian Martin there part time.
Chautaqua is also a much smaller program than Brevard, they have maybe 20 piano majors there, and it is harder to get into Chautaqua than Brevard. Brevard has about 70 piano students of more varying ages and levels.
Well, good luck this summer.

ishldbpracticing88 I can give you perhaps a little insight on BMC. I attend Brevard College during the academic year and will be going to the Music Center this summer. My Professor during the academic year is Bruce Murray. I have had experiences with Andrew Cooperstock and Doug Weeks in past summers. What sort of information would you like to know?

Andrew, thanks so much for the offer.
The deadline to get all of my commitment forms in and everything is past. I settled on Chautauqua, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it and accomplish a lot.
Thanks for all of the information!