For context, we’re a private music school in the Philippines, and I have a 6th-grade student, Charlie, who has been preparing to audition for the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) for Grade 7. For those unfamiliar with it, PHSA is a specialized public high school for students who want to pursue the arts, including music. I started preparing Charlie for the harp audition back in June. Our school actually contacted PHSA ahead of time to ask about the audition requirements so we could prepare properly. At the time, PHSA replied by email saying that this would be the first time they would have a student auditioning for harp. They didn't yet have clear guidelines or logistics for the instrument—specifically, whether we should bring our own harp or whether PHSA would provide one—but they said they were looking forward to having our student audition. So we committed to preparing him. Charlie has been practicing diligently on our school's harp because, at the time, he didn't have an instrument at home. We also structured his lessons around the audition. Every Friday, he spends four hours at our school: two hours of music theory and two hours of harp lessons. The goal was to make sure he had both the instrumental skills and the theoretical knowledge necessary for the audition. Then, in September, Charlie's dad was finally able to purchase a harp for him. This was a huge deal for the family. Handmade harps can already cost around USD 1,000, while imported instruments can easily cost USD 5,000 or more. As soon as Charlie had an instrument at home, we saw significant improvement because he could finally practice consistently outside of lessons. It was clear how much the family had invested—not only financially, but also in Charlie's musical development. Then, two days after they purchased the harp, PHSA emailed us: "Sorry, we won't be accepting harp applicants this year. Alternatively, he might want to audition for piano this January." And honestly, we're frustrated. I understand that institutions can change their plans and that there may be reasons beyond our control. But from our perspective, we've spent the past four months preparing specifically for a harp audition, despite having contacted PHSA in advance precisely so that we could prepare according to their requirements. Now we're being told that there won't even be a harp audition this year. What's especially difficult is that the family had just made a significant financial investment in an instrument because we were preparing for this particular opportunity. The timing makes the situation even more painful. We've already informed Charlie's parents about the news. They said they'll talk to Charlie first, but they also asked what we, as his music school, think he should do. We haven't given them our final recommendation yet, because we're also trying to figure out what would genuinely be best for Charlie rather than simply reacting out of frustration. At the moment, we're considering two possibilities: Charlie could continue developing as a harpist and attend a regular high school instead. We would probably drop the intensive music theory component of his lessons since it was largely structured around the PHSA audition. Charlie could try to prepare for the piano audition instead. However, this would mean essentially starting over on a different instrument with only a few months to prepare, and I'm not sure whether that's the best thing for a 6th grader who has already invested so much time and effort into harp. So I'm wondering what other musicians, teachers, or parents would do in this situation. Would you encourage the student to stay with the instrument he's already developing a strong foundation in, even if it means giving up the PHSA opportunity? Or would it make sense to try to pivot to piano and see if he can still make the audition?   submitted by   /u/hehezhehezhehez [link]   [comments]