'Cutting edge' composition faculties?

College Majors Music Major
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I am a high school student living and studying in the UK, looking to study (classical, contemporary) composition at a conservatoire abroad.
US has always been an attractive choice for me, as there is no language barrier, and there is an exciting music scene in the major cities (both classical and non). However I recently spoke to a highly experienced music professor (whose opinion I trust) who was under the impression many US composition faculties are more neo-classical, or ‘soft-core’ (not how he put it, I can’t really articulate it, but think Michael Daugherty, or Korngold) as opposed to more so-called ‘experimental’ or ‘avante-garde’ music.

I have found that UK composition faculties sometimes shun even traces of tonality or genre-bending music, which is something I want to get away from; being a young composer I want to be exposed to as much music as possible, and approach different forms in an open minded way. I am also desperate to find a community of devoted and talented musicians & composers to collaborate with, who are not either caught up in dated 70s ‘avante-garde’, or attempting and failing to write Copland pastiche…

I know it is quite a big ask, but could anyone point me in the right direction? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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Many composition departments have a wide range, including Michigan where Dougherty teaches. There tends to be someone there for everyone. Check out NYU, Mannes, USC (Southern California), Shenandoah, SUNY Purchase, Oberlin, CalArts, Mills (if you’re female), Bard College (not the conservatory), University of Missouri Columbia, and Peabody.

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I did PM you but wanted to say here on the forum that, in general, I believe, the best sign for an undergrad program is diversity in student work. To me, that signals good teaching that honors the students’ “individual voices.” That said, if you are advanced and drawn to a particular aesthetic, or particularly interested in electroacoustic work, or installations, that would change the schools you might apply to.

Spirit Manager lists some great schools but there are many more. Do you primarily want a conservatory/music school, or a college/university? For a composer, there are arguments for both. It takes many years for a composer to develop, and most go to grad school, so it is also good, I think, to have a long range view, which might include a broader BA, with study of art, literature, history and so on. On the other hand, if you want to get right to it, a conservatory or music school will offer chances to build a resume and make connections (not entirely lacking at BA programs by any means), and weekly lessons (also available at some BA programs). A BM is preprofessional in other words.

I think of NEC, Oberlin (changes happening there with Hartke, see if you like TIMARA), Manhattan School of Music, Purchase, Ithaca, and Bard on the conservatory list, but there are many others. Bard Conservatory requires a double degree. For colleges, Brown, Harvard, Oberlin, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Columbia- and many more that I will think of as I log off! Mills is quite innovative. U. of North Texas has great electronics. Look at McGill in Montreal too.

Here is a good essay to read on options for music studies in the US http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html

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If anything, I think the music professor you spoke to is more than a bit misinformed, that the likelyhood is that most composition departments lean towards what you call avant garde composition, whether it is 12 tone/serialism, atonality in its many forms, or minimalism. That is a broad overview, and it depends on the school and program, there is fortunately a lot less rigidity than when people like Babbitt and the like were running around promoting the new orthodoxy or whatever you want to call it.

I agree with what others have written, one way is to search schools websites for student pieces that have been performed, if they all see to be only one style or similar styles, that might be an indication of the department. Likewise, check out the pieces the faculty as written, and see what you see.

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Musicprnt, laurenstardust wants to avoid " dated 70’s avant-garde" (which you seem to be describing) and in fact, I don’t think that is what is now represented at most music schools or conservatories. “New music” has advanced and diversified over the years. And some U.S. conservatory composition departments are more conservative than you might expect. Also, I think the teacher was comparing the US to, say, Germany, and the comments are on target in many ways.

It is very difficult to access undergrad student works unless you can attend concerts. Grad departments sometimes list students and those students can then be googled, but that search does not always inform an undergrad applicant.

Faculty aesthetic, as determined by listening, is not always an indicator of teaching style. The best teacher will encourage a student’s own “voice,” But yes, certainly it helps to listen to faculty works, read bios etc.

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@compmom:
I doubt many composition programs in the US have faculty who are teaching classical or romantic composition, or are ‘soft core’, at least among the programs I have seen, it seems like most of them are firmly in the ‘modern’ era, for better or worse. I have heard a lot of new compositions from programs like NEC, Yale School of Music, Juilliard (for one thing my son was part of New York Youth symphony, that has new commissioned pieces every cycle and he was in it for several years), and all of them were in the ‘modern’ genre, either strongly atonal, 12 tone, minimalist, some mixed genres, but I can’t think the last time I heard a student composition piece that was neo classical, neo romantic or ‘soft’. I am sure they may exist, but the big complaint against the composition programs, that has been written and talked about in the music world for a lot of years, that they were very dogmatic…that said, I also have heard it is changing, that the rigid dogmatists who turned modern music into another form, but I think the OP’s perceptions of US composition programs, that they were conservative/neo classical/‘soft’, is not true, that is all. I really hope the hallmark of composition programs has changed and that there is a wide variety, I have heard pieces by some of the kids of people on here that makes me think it is, which is good…my own thought it that people like Boulez and Babbitt did a lot of damage in terms of composition, and it has taken a lot of years for their influence to wane.

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I would consider Yale and Juilliard somewhat conservative. I would not consider some of the things you list as “avant-garde” though they are “modern” in the sense of that period. We are talking different languages here. I have spent more than a decade being educated in the composition world by one of my kids, and feel fortunate.

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That is why I used “modern”, what was avant garde in prior generations (Stockhausen, The second viennese school and 12 tone, minimalism) is now old hat while these days it is other things considered ‘avant garde’ shrug.Depends on what you mean by conservative,conservative these days could mean being locked into 12 tone music/serialism, minimalism and so forth, if you mean they push writing fugues and tonal music following neo classical or neo romantic forms,not so much. It happened that a lot of the young composers I heard at NYYS and with programs my son were in from programs like Juilliard and Yale SOM, and it was mostly either 12 tone and its variations or in the minimalist vein, I don’t think I heard one tonal piece in any idiom the more than a few years he did it. The OP said she was under the impression that the faculty at schools of composition were neo classical or soft core (I kind of laughed when she mentioned Korngold, there is an irony to that, it is only recently that his concert music, especially his violin concerto, is getting serious playing, because the schools of music decided his music was crap because he did movie music (his violin concerto is wonderful and technically challenging, and he based it on the scores he did for some of the pirate movies he did in Hollywood in the day.). Conservative these days means many things, I am sure a lot of young composers consider John Adams and Phillip Glass as old farts and 12 tone music as “finished”, much the same way that Boulez and Wourinam and Babbit decided anything before 12 tone was crap shrug.

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The OP is looking for the “other things” you allude to, I believe.

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I stand by my list in my first post for @laurenstardust - I think those faculties and communities would provide the atmosphere the OP is seeking. Exciting young composers on staff, or exciting older faculty on staff - very American, but not old-fashioned nor hide-bound nor dogmatic.

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lauren, I think that at the undergrad level, finding a school with diversity in student works, and openness to whatever you want to write, is the most important thing, and your post reflects that priority. At the grad level, the decision is different and aesthetic fit is key.

I think that conservatories are more preprofessional, and sometimes universities have an almost research attitude toward composing, so you get different emphases at different places.

If we knew whether you wanted a BM or BA, what your academic interests are, and if they are important to you, and what your financial situation is, we could be more specific in suggestions. Also, whether you are interested in orchestral work, chamber ensembles, as well as electroacoustic work, multi-media installations, film scoring or other specific areas.

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All of the labels of “types of music” that have been discussed are mere techniques from which the young composer can pick and choose and discard and develop new ones as she learns her craft and finds her voice. A wildly experimental composer may have an amazing background in Baroque counterpoint even if her music is far from that of Girolamo Frescobaldi. Arvo Part’s early work had roots in the Schoenberg school. While he changed course with his later work, he did not ditch everything he learned previous to the change. A young composer does not go to conservatory or college to copy his teacher. It would be disappointing if she came out a mere copy. The list of schools set out by Spiritmanager to which I would add Indiana is a fine starting point. It is more important that the school be broad enough in mind to allow the student to blossom in their own voice. All of these school meet that. Then spend summers at IRCAM and have your mind blown.