<p>Having just made a decision on S2 who has enrolled as a music major for this fall, I now turn to S3. Currently in 10th grade I have mixed feelings about him considering pursuing music in college. Unlike S2 who has known for a long time that music Ed was his path, S3 is leaning towards performance as he sees himself in a college setting.
The dilemma: he is equally proficient and equally interested in jazz and classical. Does anyone know of a QUALITY music program where he could study both jazz and classical?
I feel like I should really know then answer to this by now!!!😊</p>
<p>Try Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. Great LAC with an incredible music program. My friend’s son is going there for bass and he plays classical, jazz and rock (different instruments, of course:)).</p>
<p>Check out Oberlin as well. My daughter studied double bass there and was able to do principal applied lessons with the classical bass teacher and secondary lessons with the Jazz bass teacher (in addition to applied lessons in viola da gamba, hand percussion and Indian raga-based music, all taken from top-notch teachers). They are very supportive of crossing genre boundaries.</p>
<p>The classical trombone teacher is the principal trombone of the Cleveland Orchestra, Jim DeSano. The jazz trombone teacher is Robin Eubanks. For someone interested in both classical and jazz, that would be quite a combination. He would most likely have to decide which would be his principal teacher (i.e. for full hour weekly lessons) and which his secondary (half-hour lessons). He should make direct inquiries just in case either of them is already so maxed out with students that they are not accepting anyone but majors in their own department.</p>
<p>Eastman has a program where Jazz musicians can spend a semester (or maybe it is a year…sorry I forget) as a classical musician. This means that they have their studio with a classical professor and also that they are in orchestra and chamber groups rather than jazz ensembles that semester.</p>
<p>At NEC it is possible to split your studio between a classical and Jazz teacher. I don’t know what orchestral possibilities are open for Jazz musicians. But I do know that classical musicians join student formed Jazz ensembles or get involved with the contemporary improvisation department to create and do new music all the time. My son’s private teacher for classical Bass is a Jazz musician. He went to NEC undergrad and grew interested in Jazz while he was there. The nice part about NEC is that you have Berklee down the street and if your child is social then they can find opportunities to play and jam with Berklee kids. My son’s bass teacher then did a second Bachelors at Berklee, majoring in education as well as Jazz. Doing both will make your son a desirable private teacher. We chose our son’s bass teacher partly because he could work with our son on Orchestra and Jazz material. That makes him unique in our area for our son’s instrument. </p>
<p>MSM was much more rigid and when I asked about the possibility of our son continuing his classical training they told me that it was not possible. </p>
<p>I don’t know about Juilliard as my son did not apply there. But when talking to people I learned about some Jazz musicians who went to Juilliard as classical musicians. One of them told me that at one point he spoke to a leading Jazz professor at MSM about transferring because he decided he wanted to switch to Jazz. The Jazz professor asked him who he was studying with. The Jazz professor told the musician to stay where he was as there was no better person than the guy he was working with to teach him how to be the master of his instrument. He then went to MSM for graduate school.</p>
<p>Thank you all!!! Will check them all out. Problem with S3 (maybe because he is an S3!!!) his grades are not stellar so some of those schools may be more than a reach.
But as I’ve learned from S2 (who got the best offer from his #1 and reach school) never be afraid to reach!!!</p>
<p>It depends on the school - some of the conservatories consider the audition all important and do not put much weight on the grades. If his grades are solid but not stellar, that would be perfectly fine at a lot of music schools.</p>
<p>Lawrence is kind of interesting. They are a test optional school. There is the Conservatory and the College. The Conservatory is for hard core music majors. But, you can also major in music from the college. Audition for the Conservatory, but not for the college. Think BM for Conservatory, and BA for the college.</p>