CSSSA stands for the California State Summer School of the Arts, a 4-week competitive summer school program for high school aged artists. Founded in 1987, the program strives to be a diverse experience that supports students' pursuit of the arts. With an acceptance rate of 30%, it offers academic programs in animation, theater, writing, dance, film, music, and visual arts. Participating students earn 3 units of college credit.
The audition process for the music "major" is actually quite simple. The requirement is a recording of two contrasting pieces under 5 minutes total length submitted to the CSSSA online application portal in the early spring. In addition, there is a required essay about why an applicant would like to attend, and what unique skills each could bring to the program. I applied for both cello and trumpet, and for cello I played the Movement 2 Allegro of Bach's Second Gamba Sonata and Song Without Words by Mendelssohn. For my trumpet audition reel, I played Tu Solo Tu and La Madrugada, two traditional Mariachi songs.
Attending the 2023 CSSSA Program for music was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Along with making a ton of new friends and connections, the academic enrichment was engaging, with experts flown in from across across North America. A daily schedule started with breakfast opening at 7:00 am to 9:00 am. Classes started at 9:00 am, including Indonesian Gamelan with Hiro and Kayle, African Drumming and Dance with Kevin and Justin, and Composition with John. At 12:00 pm students had a lunch break, and from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm time was set aside to practice, attend studio classes, private lessons, and instructor office hours. Private lessons were once a week for every student. At 4:00 pm, Music Theory and Music Appreciation classes were held until 6:00pm, when we would break for dinner.
In Music Appreciation class, instructors rotated through with various topics such as the influence that African-American culture has on rock and roll, with instructor Stan, shape-note singing with David Elsenbroich, and musical interpretation with Ariel. Optional music ensembles of improvisation and jazz were held from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm twice a week.
At the end of the program, many performances were held in the main gallery (pictured below) and the Roy O. Disney Hall. Each day a newsletter was sent out through email called the Purple Blurb consisting of mandatory events for each discipline, and the menu of the day for the cafeteria. For music students, there was a guest artist series with visiting artists such as Mike Viola, Inna Faliks, Ric'key Pageot, and Joshua Finkel. In addition to the guest artist series, there were a few events such as arts advocacy day and a college fair for all students to attend.
CSSSA is hosted at CalArts in the Santa Clarita valley, convenient to the freeway and many students went on field trips in the LA area. They have a swimming pool, tennis courts, and always had vegan options at the cafeteria. The optional field trips included Disneyland, Into The Woods (a musical), and a trip to the Getty Center. There was a mandatory field trip for music students to the Hollywood Bowl, featuring the LA Philharmonic's performance of Rhapsody in Blue and New World Symphony. The dormitory rooms were arranged with three or four students to a room, and it was either two or three rooms connected by a shared bathroom.
Overall, the CSSSA experience was unique and definitely a worthwhile program. Highlights included meeting many new friends, guest artists of different backgrounds, getting to collaborate with other musicians such as a harpist, and trying non-western musical forms such as Gamelan and African Drumming. As someone who had never studied music theory, I was apprehensive about the level of difficulty I might encounter in the class, however the instructor David made it very approachable. I found it to be my favorite class by the end of the program, along with the jazz ensemble. It was a very non-competitive environment which felt like a breath of fresh air. I would encourage other high-school musicians or artists to check it out the CSSSA program. Their foundation also raises money for financial aid to support all attendees of different needs.