I've been perusing the forums for a month, and gotten a lot of good and disheartening advice from them. But I was wondering if anyone could advise me with my situation specifically.
I majored in Violin Performance at NYU, double minored in History and Art History, gpa 3.8, strong liberal studies component required at NYU. I've stuck myself in a practice room for the past 4 years and I admit I feel daunted at the thought of changing my studies (after taking a year off and gigging in NYC, just feels like my brain is decaying from playing christian rock and musical theater).
I took my studies very seriously at NYU, took classes mainly in European intellectual history and Slavic studies for the history minor, studied abroad in Prague, took a semester of Russian language, and I do have a lot of passion for the subject matter. I'm interested in studying the intersection between the development of music and critical theory that resulted from the fin de siecle to the mid 20th century (particularly in Eastern Europe).
I'm looking into history, comp lit, and musicology programs and looking for professors whose interests may match mine. I have the support of one history professor I took multiple classes with but my ego has been masochistically trodden down by Beethoven and Bach as an undergrad so I'll phrase this humbly... Would I look like a joke applying for a Phd? Could a good writing sample and SoP possibly pull me through or should I think about paying for a masters program? Would the switch from music to academia be taken seriously for these programs?
I'll take any and everything you brilliant minds have to give, thanks!
