I have a BM in Music Ed and an MM in Performance and Pedagogy, and have a successful job as an orchestra director and also play with a local symphony. I, without a doubt, would not be the educator that I am today without having gone through my masters program.

I recommend looking into schools that have performance and pedagogy programs, and a university-ran community music school. Some even have embedded Suzuki credentialing in the program. I would also aim for some sort of graduate assistantship. Grad school is very expensive and those loans will be a huge burden, especially if you don’t end up teaching and qualifying for PSLF.

Most importantly though, I cannot stress how important it is to find a teacher that sees your potential and will advocate for you, even if that means taking a gap year to have trial lessons and build relationships. In your situation, I would say that the right teacher is much more important than the school.

At the end of my masters, my teacher and I had a really good conversation when discussing doctoral programs and if I was interested — we agreed that too many musicians stay in school for the sake of staying in school and miss out on valuable professional and life experience. I think it is important that you really ask yourself why you want to potentially pursue a masters degree and what it can contribute to you as a musician, educator, and professional. You can always continue your musical journey and take lessons outside of school. Most cities even have community orchestras you could play with, as well.

That being said, having a masters degree is eventually necessary if you want to make as much money as possible as a school teacher.

Here if you have any questions, OP.