<p>Hi All: My son is a hs senior interested in 5-year dual degree programs so he study both jazz performance (primary instrument is trombone but he is also studying piano & trumpet) and liberal arts. Oberlin and NYU are high on his list. We've heard that Northwestern may also be a good choice but being from the Boston area, don't know much about Northwestern's music school, in general, or its jazz program, in particular. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any information to share about Northwestern for a jazz performance undergrad?</p>
<p>I have just started researching Northwestern for jazz. New program, they grabbed Goines a talented jazz player from Julliard where he was running part of their program. Should develop into a good situation. How far along that path they are now it would be interesting to get some first hand information. I would expect it should be pretty good in the next few years. Great school, great music program.</p>
<p>Cambridge Mom, the undergraduate Jazz Studies major at Northwestern is a BM degree program, not BA. Don’t know about the program firsthand, but I think others have discussed it here, you might try a search of past threads for more info.</p>
<p>They still didn’t have full instrumentation last year. Don’t know about this year (the one about to begin at NU in a week). That would be a prime question to ask.</p>
<p>I saw that Nortwestern was offering anyone at the school a chance to be part of the jazz bands in order to fill spots. So they are not there yet. They are very much searcing for players to fill out the bands.</p>
<p>We had a disappointing experience with NU jazz auditions last year–it just didn’t seem as though the full commitment was there for jazz yet. I would definitely explore the details–how many students are currently in the program, how many accepted and enrolled this year. We thought it would be a great place to be on the “ground floor” of, but it just didn’t seem to get rolling. The music admissions staff–Deborah Trushke(?)–is fantastic, and will answer questions for you. It is hard to get to Goines via email, but she is a master. </p>
<p>A student MUST be accepted by NU undergrad AND the music school in order to enroll in the music school. This is not the same thing as a double degree. For jazz, you can apply for a DD in jazz/journalism or jazz/liberal arts as as well.</p>
<p>Wanted to plug for the double degree program at Hopkins-Peabody. The jazz program just underwent major reconstruction, and has snagged some great faculty. (Gary Thomas and Tim Murphy are gods among men.) Three of the six DDers in my year are in the jazz department, so it’s certainly doable . . . and being done. </p>
<p>But yeah, Northwestern’s groovy too, I guess.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your reply to my query about Northwestern.<br>
Shibboleth12 - Do you think Peabody is a good program for a jazz trombone player since it doesn’t look as if Peabody has any jazz trombone faculty?</p>
<p>I can’t testify to jazz trombone – I’d check with the department. I DO know, however, that we’re always looking for low brass jazz players, which would make your son’s application that much more attractive to the DD selection committee.</p>
<p>Shibboleth12 - Thanks so much for the advice. (And thank you to everyone who responded to my post). My son is planning to move ahead with his application to NW’s 5-year, dual-degree program.</p>
<p>We visited Nortwestern on Friday. My son is not a jazz musician, but the jazz program was mentioned during the music info session, with a reference to the new-ish director, from Juilliard.</p>
<p>As to permitting non-majors into the jazz bands – the general policy of the school is that non-majors are permitted to audition and participate in all ensembles. The school notes that there are talented and experienced musicians enrolled in the University’s other colleges and supports their ability to pariticpate.</p>
<p>I have very mixed feelings on Northwestern based on that information. Might be a great opportunity. Might collapse again. But Northwestern is a great school either way. Fortunately my son has a year to watch and see how it developes.</p>
<p>Without full instrumentation, NU is not really an opportunity in jazz at all. Jazz is not played in isolation, so whether or not Goines has pulled in a bunch of PT pros to teach, without enough kids on all instruments to form combos, ensembles or big bands, the program will continue to suffer. It hasn’t been pulled together in the five years since I have been watching it (with great hopes, I should add, as they named a new director), so I don’t expect a magic transformation this year. It’s a shame.</p>
<p>I also thought you all might be interested in the impressions of a parent of a friend of my son’s My son’s friend is also seeking a dual degree at a school that offers both academically challenging and strong jazz performance programs. He just visited Northwestern over the weekend:</p>
<p>“By the way, we just got back from Northwestern and learned alot -<br>
maybe unfortunately. Although the school is beautiful and in a great<br>
spot, the jazz program within Bienen School of Music is fledgling, to<br>
say the least. I have never been so UNDERwhelmed by an Admissions Dept<br>
info session: the woman did not know how many jazz students are<br>
enrolled, indicated that the jazz instructors are NOT full time<br>
professors and show up once a month the give lessons, and could not<br>
speak to my question of how the jazz program at Northwestern interacts<br>
with the jazz scene in Chicago (after spending 10 minutes talking<br>
about all the interaction with Chicago Philharmonic, etc.”</p>