<p>My son (HS Junior) is interested in composition at NYU. One big reason is Julia Wolfe. Does anyone know if she works with undergrads at NYU?</p>
<p>Yes, I know someone studying with her at NYU. She was the reason he applied. (She also teaches at Manhattan.) However, I do not know how hard it is to get into her studio. This student was an accomplished composer.</p>
<p>Thanks Spiritmanager. That is helpful. Even an outside chance of working with her is enough to keep it on the short list at this point. I have seen references to her teaching at Manhattan but I can’t find her listed on their website.</p>
<p>Wow, sorry about that - she must have left Manhattan’s faculty, and I hadn’t heard about it. What other composers/programs is your son interested in?</p>
<p>Bard, Oberlin, Indiana, NYU are at the top. Missouri, UMKC, SUNY Purchase are also on the list. I can’t keep up with his influences and interests. Partly because they are evolving but mainly because they are out of my sphere. He leans post tonal in his taste and his compositions. He is also drawn to electronic especially analog synthesis.</p>
<p>Make sure he applies for the full tuition scholarship at Missouri-Columbia.</p>
<p>Sounds like a good list. My son is in his fourth year at Bard College Conservatory as a composer and is always happy to correspond with prospective composition students when the time comes. He could add Northwestern, Michigan and USC to his list to consider. </p>
<p>The electroacoustic composition at Bard is through the College’s music program and not the conservatory - but a conservatory composer can take the classes. Conversely, a College composition student can study with the Conservatory composers. If he’s not interested in a double degree program there’s not that much difference in being a composer in the college vs. the conservatory - except for merit money (which can be full tuition for the five years.)</p>
<p>Compdad, Mizzou is also in-state for us. Plus for mom and dad, negative for son 
but he is willing to apply and keep it as a possibility. </p>
<p>SpiritManager, based on other things you have mentioned previously, I have a decent guess at who your son is. The things he has done at Bard are impressive. It sounds like Bard is very much in the forefront for young people in New Music. We are planning a visit to Bard in March. My son is trying to set up meetings with Joan Tower and maybe Richard Teitelbaum and Kyle Gann. He doesn’t really want to dual major so it looks like the BA approach but a merit scholarship would be nice :)</p>
<p>He is shying away from Michigan because he is not a huge fan of Bolcom and he is a little turned off by the rah rah Big Ten culture at Michigan. Things might change in the coming year. We visited NU and liked the campus but it has somehow fallen off the radar. West coast might be out for undergrad because of distance. But many of the graduate programs that appeal to him are in California UCSD, Berkeley, Stanford, Mills.</p>
<p>Musictechdad - There was no way my son was going any where in his home either. He is a first year comp major at Oberlin so I can feed any questions to him.</p>
<p>Musictechdad - Bolcom has not been at Michigan for a number of years. You may be thinking of Dougherty. However, it is a very large department with a variety of faculty - I would be surprised if he couldn’t find a like-minded professor.</p>
<p>Has he looked at Wesleyan? That’s also a good program for those interested in Electroacoustic.<br>
As for Bard, Joan Tower is on sabbatical this Spring so I don’t know if she’ll be around (although I believe they’ll be interviewing the conservatory composition applicants sometime in March for next Fall.) He should also be sure to meet with George Tsontakis. If there’s any way you can coordinate your visit to coincide with a performance by Contemporaneous that would give you the best feel for the new music scene at Bard (although not the electroacoustic.) [Contemporaneous</a> / Events](<a href=“http://www.contemporaneous.org/Events/Events]Contemporaneous”>http://www.contemporaneous.org/Events/Events) I don’t see anything planned for March, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Your son sounds sophisticated, and I guess that makes me think his music may also be relatively advanced.</p>
<p>You mention a “dual major” and Spirit Manager mentioned a double degree. Here is an essay on degree options that a lot of us have liked, on the Peabody site actually:
[Double</a> Degrees | Peabody Conservatory](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html]Double”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html)</p>
<p>Bard actually requires conservatory students to get a double degree: BM and BA. My daughter did not apply there as a result.</p>
<p>If you son wants to go the BA route, does that mean he is not applying to Oberlin Conservatory? Is he interested in TIMARA at the conservatory? Oberlin will love him: part of the application is geared to finding out how much the applicant knows about “new music.”</p>
<p>Would he consider Brown or Harvard at all? There are many BA programs- those are two. But from the list, I thought, at first, that at least several of the programs your son would be considering would be for a BM. SUNY Purchase for sure.</p>
<p>It can be great for students to apply to both BA and BM degree programs, if they are unsure, and they can decide in April of senior year. Just wasn’t sure if you son has a preference.</p>
<p>p.s. Just want to add a tip: when your son looks at schools, there may be hidden opportunities that are not through the music department, but student-run. Contemporaneous is a student-initiated and student-run ensemble, for instance. My daughter almost didn’t go to the school she is now attending, because the music department did not offer any opportunities to have music played, it seemed. However, as it turns out, music is played at the end of the semester in classes, by excellent musicians, and the school has been wonderful in supporting a student initiative to hire musicians for undergrad composer concerts. An applicant visiting might not even know about these…</p>
<p>I misspoke twice. Yes Dougherty not Bolcom. And Dual Degree not Dual Major. I didn’t know about Joan Tower being on sabbatical. I spoke with someone from Bard admissions and he suggested contacting her prior to our trip in March. I really wish we could visit in February. The Contemporaneous “Don’t Even” program ([Contemporaneous</a> / Dont Even](<a href=“http://www.contemporaneous.org/Events/DontEven]Contemporaneous”>http://www.contemporaneous.org/Events/DontEven)) looks awesome. Alas, we are limited by our school’s spring break.</p>
<p>Compdad, my son spent 2 weeks at Oberlin (Timara’s Sonic Arts Camp and Composition Camp). He liked just about everything but the fact it is in Oberlin, OH. Other than location, it is very high on his list.</p>
<p>I don’t think he has fully considered Wesleyen. I will pass it on (although thankfully he has begun narrowing the list instead of growing it.) He explored the Ivies for a while and we planned on visiting Yale on this east coast tour but he has recently dropped all Ivies off the list. He is concerned he might not have the stats to get admitted (although I think he has a strong case: 30 ACT and 4.0 student plus hopefully a strong composition portfolio). He is also concerned about taking half of his courses outside of the music school (at a highly competitive, academically rigorous school) and not being able to focus all of his energy on music. He would prefer BM programs for that reason but Bard’s BA might be a different story because he is not interested in a Double Degree (at least right now).</p>
<p>David Lang, who works with Julia Wolfe in Bang on a Can, is, I believe, teaching at Bard- maybe just for the year-? SpiritManager would know.</p>
<p>I think that your son may have some misconceptions about the Ivies. His composition accomplishments would be a very strong factor in admissions. Harvard is really trying to emphasize the arts more, which even increases his chances. Yale School of Music has pros and cons for undergrads.</p>
<p>We loved Oberlin Conservatory and by the second trip out there, fell in love with the area and town, even though we are more city folk. We were amazed at the way students supported one another by attending performances: every performance was packed.</p>
<p>I will PM you.</p>
<p>My son did the summer composition program which is where he fell in love with Oberlin and the town of Oberlin. He’s been to several concerts in Cleveland although time is limited. Compmom has it right as far as how music is simply everywhere at Oberlin including guest artists, touring groups, master classes etc.</p>
<p>I just want to clarify that undergrads at Yale do not generally take classes at the School of Music: what I meant was that the presence of the School of Music, which is a grad music school, has pros and cons for undergrad music majors at Yale College- like any grad music program at a school with undergrads.</p>
<p>David Lang does not teach at Bard - more the pity! He is a visiting professor at Oberlin, though, I believe. Compdad will know more about that. And he’s on the Yale SOM faculty.</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction- I got Oberlin and Bard mixed up on that one! :)</p>
<p>SpiritManager is correct regarding David Lang.</p>
<p>Musictechdad, you sound like you already have a good idea about preference so this is not intended to influence your son’s quest, but just a FYI that while Daugherty certainly is a major player at Michigan and is perhaps not every composer’s cup of tea, he is not the department head – Evans is.</p>
<p>As SpiritManager suggested, Michigan’s composition faculty is quite diverse, and due to the Performing Arts Tech music production/ea/comp elements & requirements, it’s possible to really diversify and have a lot of exposure to electroacoustic and computer music as well if so desired.</p>
<p>The “big Ten” thing is not quite as rampant at the SOM, which really is a robust performing arts school that functions almost as its own entity up on north campus. But there’s no denying most students bleed blue ;)</p>
<p>^Chambers, not Evans. Good grief ;)</p>