Sorry I wasn’t clear. The undergrad voice program is in the college, not the conservatory, at Bard.
Oberlin around 20 a year, give or take a few.
D is headed to U Maryland Opera Studio for MM
What is chchpu?
@singingdaughter - my D also pursued a college list with a dual interest in strong academics and vocal training, but she is very much considering a career in music. I think your daughter should think hard about the degree(s) she wants to pursue before going on to schools. My opinion (take it for what it’s worth) is that a student who has all but ruled out a professional music career is not best placed in a BM program or any kind of conservatory. She would be out of step with her cohort, and devoting a fair amount of her class schedule to classes that are practical and preprofessional for singing, rather than exploring areas that could help her in whatever career she ends up choosing.
She’d be better served to find a BA program in English (or whatever) at a college with a solid voice faculty and no conservatory. She could still get quality classical voice training, but would have a lot more flexibility in class selection.
Free advice, guaranteed to be worth what you paid for it.
@singingdaughter , to answer your question about programs in the South (should she wish to expand her territorial reach), we found both Furman and University of Miami (Frost School of Music) had excellent VP programs, had very good merit aid, and were open to double majors. Vanderbilt (Blair School of Music) was full of bright kids pursuing double majors, but academic merit aid is stingy. There are other schools, like Rhodes and Emory, which have voice programs but they were more geared to students who were, for example, premed, but wanted to continue taking singing lesson as well. Trinity (TX) looked interesting but we did not ever visit. My son actually chose Florida State over Miami, U of Southern California, and Furman; but that was due to a specific teacher and scholarship program.
@singingdaughter - cschpu is my College Confidential screen name - compmom was referring to my post earlier on this thread 
Doing some more research, and just found that Northwestern has an excellent dual degree program in music and the liberal arts - the music degree would come from their Bienen School of Music, and Bienen looks quite strong in voice and opera. There are lots of performance/study opportunities at Bienen for students who AREN’T in the dual degree program, too - so a person could major in English at Northwestern and still do a bunch of Bienen study in voice. music.northwestern.edu/academics/double-major/music-liberal-arts
vistajjy, are you saying that Frost School of Music allows a double major with one of the majors being outside the School of Music? Usually we suggest double degrees. I would be curious about any conservatories or schools of music that allow a double major (with music and an academic subject) versus a double degree. Sometimes there is a double major within the BM, for composition and an instrument for instance.
This comes up often in this forum: a kid wanting to do music and something else, and most often the suggestion is a double degree or doing music “on the side.” I am curious how it is possible to do a double major in a BM program that also includes a major in something else. I don’t see how that is possible.
Or were you referring to a double degree? I just want to check my own info here since I post info for others.
@compmom , I recall Frost being supportive of it, and we ran into current voice students who said they were doing it.
But as you know, the devil is in the details. At the end of the day, a VP BM degree still requires a fixed, large number of credits. Getting a double major would likely require lots of AP credits going in, summer coursework and excessive credit loads. Much easier if getting a BA instead of a BM.
Usually it is a double degree. Interesting.
If you come to Ohio, check out Baldwin-Wallace University
“The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Music degree is for students you have a strong interest in music but do not wish to pursue a performing, therapy, or teaching career. This degree includes private lessons, ensemble participation, and other classes in music. Students who choose this major often plan to earn a second major in a non-music area or to major in Arts Management.”
There are many many schools with a BA in music, that include lessons, extracurricular performance and classes in music (1/4-1/3 of total classes). There are many many schools where you can major in something else and pursue music with lessons and extracurricular performance.
The presence of a BM program (conservatory or school of music) on the same campus has pros and cons that need to be investigated.
The location of the school may be relevant in terms of teachers available. For some schools, performance faculty may be drawn from the surrounding area and are not on f/t faculty. Also, students can find their own.
There are many ways to do this.
Hmmm - Frost sounds like Blair in this regard. “Blair majors have the flexibility to complete a second major or minor in another undergraduate school at Vanderbilt (and this is a requirement for Bachelor of Musical Arts students.) All Vanderbilt students with two majors receive only one degree; for Blair students this is the Bachelor of Music degree or a Bachelor of Musical Arts degree. Because this is not a dual-degree program, it is completed in four years. Please note that computer science and engineering science are the only second majors available to Blair students in the School of Engineering.”
This is really good to know! It is tough to combine music and a science but it can done. It is really helpful to see BM programs that do allow for a double major with one major in a different school within the university.
I just posted on the Double Degree Dilemma thread (reread the essay and again appreciate its excellence) that the idea of a double major within a BM program that involves, say, oboe and music history, is covered in the essay but not a double major with music in one school and another subject in another school. This IS possible but not done that often. The scheduling conflicts and course requirements for science and music can conflict but for some kids, especially those with AP credits and ability to handle a large workload, it is feasible.
I also noted anew that David Lane makes a distinction between the experience at a conservatory (and I would say he means freestanding conservatory) w/their intense focus on music, and a school of music at a larger university, with classes in liberal arts and STEM with students majoring in a variety of subjects. I have tended to view BM programs as all being “conservatory”- type programs. And of course some conservatories ARE on a campus with an academic college (Oberlin, Lawrence, Ithaca etc.) versus university school of music. Still the terminology can be confusing so I use the term “freestanding.”
People add so much to the knowledge on this forum all the time; it is always evolving. I am going to change my view of options as a result of these recent posts on double majors
Following this with interest! My daughter is also looking for a LAC for what she refers to as the “all of the above” music major. She wants to study all facets of music without specializing in vocal performance or composition or something specific. We’re looking at a lot of those same schools.
So here’s my question: what about the B.A. at somewhere like Frost, U of Maryland or Ithaca? In those cases, the B.A. degree is within the school of music (as opposed to U Michigan, where it’s in LSA). Are you a second class citizen in those situations if you’re not pursuing the B.M.? Is one better off sticking with a LAC? Would love some input!
Thanks!
I would ask the schools, whether on a tour or with a phone call (avoiding students answering the phones). This is something to really watch out for but it varies so much among schools.