<p>As a prospective voice student, I am wondering...</p>
<p>What are Carnegie Mellon's peer music institutions?
What are the general strengths of the music department?
What are positive/negative aspects of the program?
Anything else you know about their music program (vocal music, in particular)?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hey,
I am also a prospective voice student. As CMU is known for their drama and engineering, I had a lot of the same questions. I visited at the beginning of April and really enjoyed my visit, which is why CMU is my first choice and why I'm attending their pre-college this summer.
I got a tour of their facilities and I really enjoyed it. They have great acoustics in their recital halls and in their hallways. Their practice rooms are open late, although there aren't as many as there would be in a conservatory. But, because the program is conservatory-style, I really enjoyed the feel of it. The music program there is like a family, everyone is very closeknit.
I met with a voice teacher there who was amazing - Douglas Alstedt. He not only heard me sing, he told me what songs would be best for my voice for my audition in the fall, what my strengths and weaknesses were, but he also sat and just chatted it up with my family for about an hour and a half. Needless to say, I was beyond impressed at how much time he was willing to spend. The drama/musical theater department is split from the music school, but most voice teachers are willling to let you sing in both genres.
The only negative I found was that freshmen do crew instead of auditioning for their shows(as in the musical and the opera for that year). They think its a good way to give you an all around experience, which is true. And the voice is also not ready to sing at its best. You can still audition for a cappella club and student-run theater projects and things.
Voice students also have to go through a preliminerary audition via CD before you actually are invited to audition.
That's all I know, it's not much, but yeah, that's about it.
Hope that helps!
Stacey</p>
<p>Hi,
High quality program... Sadly, exceedingly expensive (unless significant scholarship funding available). I would refer you to "taxguy" posts regarding projected yearly costs (greater than $50,000/yr), as well as the real financial burden going forward of loans of this magnitude. For one entering the arts this should be a very important consideration. </p>
<p>Regards... drd</p>
<p>CMU's "peer institutions" would be any music conservatory or very strong music program (like Indiana U).</p>
<p>List of colleges and university schools of music in the USA
<em>Berklee College of Music (Boston)
Boston University School of Music (Boston)
Cleveland Institute of Music (Cleveland)
Colburn School of Music (Los Angeles)
Crane School of Music (Potsdam, NY)
*</em>Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia) (*above all the others)
Depaul University (Chicago, IL)
*Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY)
Five Towns College (Dix Hills, NY)
Florida State University College of Music (Tallahassee)
*Hartt School of Music (West Hartford, CT)
*Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (Bloomington, IN)
*Juilliard School (New York)
Lionel Hampton School of Music (University of Idaho, Moscow, ID)
Longy School of Music (Boston)
Manhattan School of Music (New York)
Mannes College of Music (New York)
Moores School of Music (University of Houston, TX)
New England Conservatory of Music (Boston)
Northwestern University School of Music (Evanston, IL)
*Oberlin Conservatory (Oberlin, OH)
*Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, (San Francisco, CA)
Shepherd School of Music, Rice University (Houston)
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, (Cincinnati)
University of Illinois School of Music (Urbana, IL)
University of Michigan School of Music (Ann Arbor, MI)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music (Greensboro, NC)
University of North Texas School of Music (Denton, TX)
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music (Los Angeles)
University of Texas School of Music (Austin)
Westminster Choir College of Rider University (Princeton, NJ)
Yale University School of Music (New Haven, CT) </p>
<ul>
<li>Probably best known. You can't really fall in love with any of these schools though - so I wouldn't research any of them to death. Most are very expensive, and if you have to take expenses into account then you will have to apply to an array of schools.</li>
</ul>
<p>+++Voice Major+++</p>
<p>hey there+++ as a CMU grad alum I can tell you that the program is amazing+++ they'll push you ++it's more of a conservatory environment+++ the vocalists are outstanding+++ Doug is a wonderful artist and a great human+++ contact him personally+++ it's always a plus+++ if you so decide you won't regret CMU +++ also RE: cost ---- the FinAid is usually quite generous for very talented musicians - I enjoyed a full ride plus stipend and additional research assistant (paid) positions++ $$$</p>
<p>Many consider CMU's MT program to be stronger than their VP major...</p>
<p>weenie:
Where did you get that wonderful list from? Happy to see most of my choices on your list too.</p>
<p>Have you any comment on Berklee College of Music (Boston)? Many posters here (in other threads) do not consider Berklee to be a 'real' college! I went there last year for a tour and was impressed with the busy environment, but been advised it lacks status - despite fact that some good current film composers have been there. My boy wants to be a famous composer too!</p>
<p>Richard
Hong Kong
(Boy a Junior in MA boarding school)</p>
<p>Richard, Berklee is a little bit of an anomaly in the music school world: it really works for some students, and for others it is just too big and requires too much independence. Piano players and guitarists number in the hundreds there. At most other music schools, there may be 10 or fewer on an instrument--in the biggest schools, there could be 20. There is no real cohesive student life there--housing is scattered around the neighborhood, etc. Generally, I think Berklee's film scoring and technology departments are two of their best offerings. That's the buzz. Performance majors have a huge number of colleagues vying for ensemble spots and teacher attention. My son is a jazz performance major down the road at New England Conservatory of Music. The environment is small and intense--I think of the instruction as tutorial when he describes the way his classes run. It works for him. Berklee would have swallowed him whole. He would not have been able to comfortably seek out the serious peers to play with. </p>
<p>I wonder if your son could spend a day shadowing a student at Berklee to see if the environment would be right for him. It's definitely, in my opinion, a unique school that could be just what he wants or just what he doesn't.</p>
<p>Again to correct a popular misconception that the above list reiterates, Yale School of Music is a grad level and above program, not and undergrad option.</p>
<p>The Yale undergrad music disciplines are academic music BA's, in the fields of theory and history. There is no performance track at Yale, and the undergrad instrumentalists do not study with Yale SOM faculty. </p>
<p>Yes, there are excellent opportunities at Yale for music undergrad pursuits, but realize Yale and Yale SOM are not the same.</p>
<br>
<p>Jazzzmomm: I wonder if your son could spend a day shadowing a student at Berklee to see if the environment would be right for him. It's definitely, in my opinion, a unique school that could be just what he wants or just what he doesn't.<</p>
<br>
<p>A very good idea! Understand exactly what you mean and such a day would certainly be useful. I will contact Berklee and see if it can be done this March when I join the boy for visits. I can take in a movie or two at the fabulous Loewes (sp ?) cinema while he is busy. :)</p>
<p>You are also steps away from the Boston Symphony Hall and NEC's Jordan Hall (which is free!) </p>
<p>I hope Berklee will accomodate you. UMass offered to allow my son that opportunity, but it's a very small and personal music department. At the very least, they should let him into classes to see how they are run.</p>
<p>hey, ad- when you say grad alumni, do you mean you went to grad school for VP, or undergrad, or both? Guy or gal (unless I missed it!) and did you get a sense while you were there of how frequent fabulous financial help is? Sorry to be so money obsessed, but it's the big issue.</p>