Courses

Colleges and Universities A-Z Oberlin College
1

<p>Can students from the College take classes from the Conservatory? I'm going to be a freshman in the fall of 2007, and I was wondering about that - I'm narrowing down my potential courses for next year. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The information at <a href="http://catalog.oberlin.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=10&poid=980%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://catalog.oberlin.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=10&poid=980&lt;/a> spells this out pretty well. Most of the courses in the Con require you have either the consent of the instructor or the consent of the Dean prior to registration.</p>

3

<p>Besides the info from BassDad's post, for classes like music theory and aural skills, you have to take a placement exam just like conservatory students. However, for theory classes, you have to get on a waitlist since they are filled by con students first.</p>

4

<p>Ah, ok...music theory and aural skills classes were actually the ones I'm the most interested in, but I guess it can't hurt to try out for them. Also, I was thinking about applying to the conservatory next year and/or doing the double degree program - if I'm accepted, would I start immediately as a freshman, or would I begin my sophomore year? Thanks again for your responses:)</p>

5

<p>You should contact the admissions office at the Conservatory -- you want to be sure that your information is accurate!</p>

6

<p>The tests for music theory and aural are for placement and the first one is not that hard. If you have very little background in theory, you will get placed in the Intensive Theory 1 class that meets three times a week rather than twice so that you can catch up by the start of Theory 2. You may want to study a bit of theory on your own over the summer. There are only two sections of Intensive Theory 1 but five of regular Theory 1 and you may have more chance of finding an opening with five to choose from. See <a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/regist/fall07schedule.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.oberlin.edu/regist/fall07schedule.html&lt;/a> for next semester's class schedule.</p>

<p>If you have not already auditioned, you cannot start out in the double degree program in your freshman year. You will have to apply to the Con and audition this coming Winter and will be held to the same standards as the rest of the incoming Conservatory class. If you are successful, you can start the double degree program in second year. You may be able to start in the second semester of freshman year if you audition and are accepted in December. I would suggest that you ask Conservatory admissions about that one.</p>

<p>I would also suggest that you audition for lessons during the orientation week and ask the faculty whether they think you have a shot at getting into the double degree program from the College side. Putting together the required audition material (for Con admission, not for half hour lessons) is no simple matter. You will definitely have to work on it over the summer, but will also probably have to put hours per day into practicing during the fall semester while meeting all of your other school commitments.</p>

7

<p>Sparrow,</p>

<p>I just noticed from one of your earlier posts that you play flute. You probably know this already, but I want to make sure that you are aware of what you are up against. The flute teachers at Oberlin are Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain (plus Michael Lynn for Baroque Flute). That makes them one the top flute programs in the country and the competition for places in those studios is fierce. I am not saying that it will be impossible for you to audition into the Conservatory on flute, but your competition is going to be principal flutists at the All-state level and above who been working on their audition material for a year or more (and most of THEM do not get in.) Successful applicants will be doing a decent job with material on the level of difficulty of the flute sonatas of Prokofiev, Poulenc and Bach, the Nielsen Concerto and maybe Debussy's Syrinx for dessert.</p>

<p>The good news is that with all the piano and flute experience you have, you will probably find the placement tests for music theory pretty easy and may even place out of Theory 1 (and the secondary piano requirements) entirely.</p>

8

<p>Thank you, Bassdad, for your detailed responses - you're very helpful. Actually, piano is my main instrument (I wouldn't even think of auditioning to the Conservatory as a flutist!); it's been a pretty successful year for me piano-wise - I won a prize two months ago in an international competition/am entering more; still, based on what you've said about the competition for flute, I'm not sure that I'll get in for piano, either - do you know anything about the entrance difficulty for pianists? Thanks again!</p>

9

<p>Wow you must be quite the talented guy.</p>

<p>I hope the kids in the College appreciate the fantastic contribution the Con, and all the other musicians there, provide.</p>

<p>When I picked up my daughter a couple weeks ago, there was a kid playing piano in one of the common rooms in her dorm. He was playing real good, for free. Great, actually. If I didn't have to lug tons of bags down the elevator in order to beat check-out time I would have loved to stop & listen more.</p>

<p>Later on, you probably will have to pay good money to hear a decent number of these people play. But now you can just sit in the commons room & close your eyes.</p>

<p>( Sorry for the irrelevant rant)</p>

10

<p>Flute is one of the hardest departments to get into (as at many schools) because there are a lot of applicants for just a few places and the teachers there are very well known - two former Paris Conservatoire faculty/principal flutists in L'Orchestre de Paris in this case.</p>

<p>Piano should be somewhat easier, but how much easier depends on how many spaces there are next year and who you are auditioning against. If these are prestigious major international competitions you are winning, I would imagine that you have an excellent chance of getting accepted. If you are winning small, relatively unknown competitions, then it would be harder to predict. Either way, I think you have a decent shot at auditioning into faculty lessons (perhaps even full hour) your first year and you should have no worries at all about the theory placement tests. If you take 4 credits worth of lessons plus a theory and an aural class your first two semesters, then you will not be far behind at all in music classes if you get into the double degree program in your second year.</p>

<p>With 200 Steinways on campus plus other pianos in many of the dorm lounges, you should not have too much trouble finding a place to practice.</p>

11

<p>Monydad,</p>

<p>I was there that day playing beat the clock as well, but it must have been a different dorm. My daughter's dorm only had steps.</p>

12

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<p>I know my son certainly does. He's home this summer, and just the other night was telling us how lucky he feels to hear so much great music everywhere he goes at school and how he's acquired a real appreciation for classical music that he never expected to have. </p>

<p>A true bonus to the education at oberlin college...</p>

13

<p>My son loves the music atmosphere at Oberlin, too, which is why he chose to attend. He particularly appreciates the wide variety of music available. He has always loved classical but found himself this year developing a taste for blue grass as well as world music.</p>

14

<p>Thank you for all your responses - this year I went through a musical growth spurt and although my major is undecided, I'm seriously considering auditioning next year for the Conservatory. As you pointed out, Bassdad, it'll be unpredictable, but at the least I'll gain invaluable audition experience. BTW, monydad, I'm a girl, but thank you:)</p>