So, in the unending quest to maximize chances of an easy transfer to a 4-year music program from the 2-year one I'm almost finished with, I'm finding that many music programs require 1-2 years of a combination of Italian, French, or German.

I've got 4 years of Russian behind me, and a lost fluency there that's long gone... I can manage in Spanish in restaurants and well enough not to get beaten up if I go to the relevant part of town. I'm even still pretty fair at my old Latin. Yay church. :P

I can understand the reasons behind these requirements, but, versus say, Chinese or Japanese which would be useful, or more Spanish or Russian that would be fun and also useful, I'm having trouble deciding which to go for.

So: Of the three, which would you pick, and why?

I'm curious.

So far I'm thinking:
Italian:
PRO: Cool cuisine, cool poetry, cool opera, cool art. "Vaffunculo". Short journey from spanish.
CON: No one to speak it with. #20 in the world's top 30 languages by speakers.

French:
PRO: Cool cuisine, cool poetry, cool opera, cool art. Canadian immigration credits.
CON: No one to speak it with. Weird pronunciation issues. Difficulty of mastering accent in a way that's meaningful. #18 in the world's top 30 languages by speakers.

German:
PRO: Family heritage. Cool cuisine, cool poetry, coolest opera, and passable art. Important in the EU. #10 in the world's top 30 languages by speakers. Strong german-language furry community.
CON: Difficulty of mastering accent. Umlauts. No one to speak it with. More cases for nouns than either of the others.

...