<p>Any comments on music at Harvard, especially composition? Thanks...</p>
<p>I believe there are some old threads on this subject with comments by Harvard students.
The small Harvard-NEC program includes a couple of composition students.</p>
<p>I seem to recall some of the older posts from WindCloudUltra, MahlerSnob and fiddlefrog as being hotbeds of composition info. You can try searching.</p>
<p>Don't go to Harvard for composition, go to an actual music school</p>
<p>Would it be possible to expand on this? Do you say this from personal experience? Composition is a little murkier in this situation, than it would be for an instrumentalist, or maybe not..?</p>
<p>Money is an issue. Our daughter is deciding between Harvard and 3 conservatories (Oberlin, MSM,NEC) and would prefer a conservatory. But with the new financial aid initiative at Harvard, she can go there practically for free. Two of the conservatories offered good merit aid, but will still cost $35,000+, and Oberlin is in the middle. We were even thinking she could do one year at Harvard to save money and then transfer!</p>
<p>The main issues we anticipate at Harvard are less time for music, lack of opportunity to have pieces played, and perhaps less freedom to compose in one's "own voice." We would arrange for a private teacher outside of Harvard if needed, or she could do the joint Harvard/NEC program, although that might be for people who don't sleep!</p>
<p>I tried the search as suggested above, but for some reason it is not working. Will keep trying.</p>
<p>We are doing visits and talking with people in "reality" as opposed to online, but this site seems very helpful. So any info is appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Composition at NEC is first rate. I would choose it, for pure academic/musical reasons, over the other choices (money aside).</p>
<p>I have no idea about Harvard's composition program, but have heard a number of their ensembles (wind ensemble,jazz ensemble, an orchestra or two), and have been terribly underwhelmed. We have heard far superior high school groups. </p>
<p>Harvard/NEC is tough to coordinate. You do have to be nearly superhuman, but the kids managing this really are (we know two), and are thriving (even if they are very tired).</p>
<p>Your daughter has tough, but wonderful, choices! Good luck in sorting it out!</p>
<p>Harvard-NEC takes about 5 students per year; it is almost unrealistic to take it into account. Your daughter could, however, try to find a teacher at NEC. The music department at Harvard is excellent, but is an academic department, focused primarily on music history. There are composition professors and graduate students, too, however. There are also students who devote themselves to music as an extracurricular activity, at a high level.
Oberlin's double degree program is very doable, if that is what she is considering, and if strictly conservatory oriented, there is still the opportunity to take stimulating academic courses. And it has the TIMARA program as well as composition. There is no end of performers to perform the pieces. There a some students who have chosen Oberlin over Harvard for those reasons. You might try to negotiate for more financial aid.</p>
<p>Our daughter has no interest in a double degree, honestly. Even though she likes history and literature a lot, she is very focused on music. She chose Harvard as the only college to apply to because it has the highest proportion of music to liberal arts courses, 50:50,that she could find in a college (!), and she also studied last summer with a very good composer who went there (and because of the aid).</p>
<p>We did not realize that conservatories did so little financial aid. The merit aid is appreciated, but it is still tough. The comp. prof. at Oberlin invited us to ask for more merit aid, if it made a difference in her decision, which we will certainly do.</p>
<p>We will spend the next few weeks visiting Ohio, Boston and Cambridge, maybe NYC, and figuring this all out. After all the effort in the portfolio, applications and auditions, we have the strength for this last gasp!</p>
<p>We welcome any and all comments in the meantime. Anyone want to buy our house?! </p>
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>Do you mean that the music department has a lot of requirements at Harvard? It does. Look at the description of the program (written in a daunting tone, I thought), which is a general music major, as at other non-conservatories (e.g., UC Berkeley), but has less performance and harmony/aural skills-type requirements than some. It would not be conservatory-like. But it is now one of the best music history-theory departments in the country and is well-funded (for graduate students, especially). Historically, it has produced some famous composers, including John Adams. Harvard has substantial core requirements, too. If your daughter wants a conservatory, she might resent the distractions. On the other hand, Harvard is prestigious and well-located for music opportunities and the price is apparently right...</p>
<p>She can always go to a conservatory for graduate school, after she has obtained her virtually free Harvard education. To me, this would be pretty easy--Harvard.</p>
<p>compmom, in terms of the post search, try advanced search (within the music major forum only), type composition, and click search titles only. That should cover the parameters you want (it's how I did a quick scan). A small bit of info on Harvard music in general, and few detailed posts about NEC's comp program in the dozen or so threads that will come up.</p>
<p>I don't know if you had considered it, but the joint Harvard/NEC program may well work for your D. She's already in at both schools, and it's just a matter of both ok'ing her for the joint program. It's a serious option she may want to try and get into this year, maybe next. </p>
<p>And, as mentioned if grad study in composition is a goal, either choice should provide a very solid foundation.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Last week, we called both NEC and Harvard about the joint program, and she is waiting to hear back. Made progress today in getting info by finding a course catalog for Harvard (has to be purchased at the Harvard Coop). NEC e-mails studio teachers tomorrow. We made reservations in Oberlin. In the next few weeks, I'm sure she'll make a decision she can be happy with. Somehow, posting on here helped me stay out of it a bit this weekend.
Violadad, thanks for the tips on using search. Good luck to everyone else on CC in similar situations...and in their new situations next fall!</p>
<p>Hey compmom...I can answer questions about being a composer at Harvard.
PM me sometime...this week's really bad for me, but I'll do my best to respond my next Monday or something like that.</p>
<p>My boyfriend is a master's comp student at Yale, and we have some friends from the comp program at Harvard. GO. DO IT. They have an excellent faculty and all sorts of cool adjunct faculty (Ferneyhough AND Alvin Lucier this year) and the hook ups are beyond compare. This is a huge boon. Don't pass it up. From Harvard you could attend nearly any conservatory you want -- I've seen it happen time and time again.</p>
<p>Thanks Piglet! And thanks everyone else. Very helpful!</p>