My daughter is a talented percussion student who wishes to major in instrumental performance at a liberal arts college not in but not extremely far from NYC, where we live. We’re thinking of applying to Oberlin, Bard, Skidmore and Ithaca, though we know nothing specific about the strength of the percussion departments at any these. Wesleyan seems to have a very interesting music department, though it may be a a bit of reach academically. (She’s got 33 ACTs and about 3.8 GPA, plus very many performance credits at NYC venues with her well-respected youth program.) Visited UMich and she didn’t like the overwhelming size and sports emphasis. Haven’t heard anything about Vassar’s music program – maybe too hot for access at this point, from what people are telling me. She’s a very arty, borderline hipster, highly social kid. Would appreciate any suggestions for schools with excellent percussion teachers.
When you say she wants to major in percussion at a liberal arts college - are you talking about pursuing a BA rather than a BM? Or just that you’re looking for a conservatory style program within a liberal arts setting?
When you say Bard - are you talking about the conservatory? It has a phenomenal percussion program - run by So Percussion. But it will be a difficult admit - musically. They only admit a couple of students per year. And she would be required to pursue a double degree with a BA from the college in another area. http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate/percussion/ (And their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bardpercussion/timeline) It looks like the Artist Teaching Fellow with So Percussion (currently from Mobius Percussion) teaches private lessons in the college, and there is lots of jazz and latin drumming. Depending on how seriously she wants to pursue percussion she would need to decide if the college pathway, rather than the conservatory, would satisfy her enough. If she is interested in a double degree, she should also look at Eastman/Rochester.
Oberlin has a very good percussion program - again, in the conservatory.
As for liberal arts schools in the Northeast which do not offer a BM - Vassar, Wesleyan (which will have fantastic world music percussion), Skidmore, and Williams are always mentioned as being strong musically.
Thanks, SpiritManager! She’s not into doing the conservatory route. We toured Bard, though not their conservatory, and she liked the idea of a music BA there. She spent a couple of weeks at Eastman’s high school jazz program last summer. Fun experience but, again, we’re not sure she should opt for Rochester, given the negatives of the locale, without the Eastman component. At Oberlin, which we’ve toured and loved, the hope is that she could take lessons through the con without being a BM student. Hadn’t heard about Williams, will check out. Wesleyan seems very appealing, a reach though, I think. The others are on our radar, especially Skidmore. Need to check out whether percussion is strong there.
I think Ithaca is worth a close look. I think the percussion department is pretty highly regarded although I know more about other departments within the music school. The school environment is very nurturing and the students are given a lot of opportunities and attention from the faculty.The campus is beautiful and the town is safe and interesting. The school was also not the party scene he worried about when he started.
I meant to say that Ithaca was not the party scene my son worried about when he began. He is a senior now and Ithaca was a good experience for him. The percussionists seems pretty serious to me there.
Thanks,cellocompmom, great to hear that about Ithaca. Definitely plan to visit. Many kids from my daughter’s school go there and seem to love it, so it’s on our radar. Is he/are you happy with the academics there? Haven’t had feedback on that yet. The trick for her is finding a place strong in both, since she doesn’t want to commit to a musical career and has suffered from large class sizes and a meh curriculum through her public school experience to date.
Son who goes there is a very academic kid but had a double major in 2 music areas. He liked the upper level academics he took there quite a bit. He happily found more serious students there than he thought he would but I think like minded students seem to find each other where ever they go. Like most schools I think what you get out of it has a lot to do with what you put into it. Feel free to pm me with any specific questions. I know the school and the area quite well. He had a lot of opportunity at IC he would likely not have had elsewhere to play. Love Oberlin. Other son is going there next year. Is Lawrence too far? Very interesting school and they offer great merit but I do not know any about percussion there.
OP, what does your daughter desire to do after college?
With that in mind, I would recommend looking into the outcomes at the target schools.
@rayrick did extensive research into LAC’s with good music programs where one didn’t need to pursue a BM in a School of Music/Conservatory to participate in the ensembles. Unfortunately, I think the search led them mostly to the Midwest and Northwest. And they weren’t looking for percussion, which is a special animal.
These are all great schools. My daughter graduated from Vassar and just had the most wonderful experience (but did not major in music). Would your daughter consider Hampshire? I know some talented musicians who pursued really interesting educations there.
SpiritManager brings up a good point about ensemble opportunities for the BA student versus the BM student.
St. Olaf was high on my D’s list. I don’t know anything specific about their percussion Dept. They offer music talent scholarships to non music majors, and with your D’s stats she might be able to get a big academic scholarship as well. They are pretty liberal on that campus despite what you might expect.
Lots of good ideas already mentioned here, and I thought I’d offer few additional thoughts.
Regarding Oberlin, if you’re serious about your D studying with Con faculty (as opposed to grad students) as a non-conservatory student, you should reach out and ask them if they do that. With my son, we got a flat no from the Con prof for his instrument. The same applies to Bard (though Bard seems to offer private lessons on some instruments for non-conservatory kids – again, you should look into the specifics for percussion)
Regarding Wesleyan, I was a very happy drummer there 30 years ago, but I’m not sure how strong their classical percussion is. If your D is interested in any kind of world music percussion, however, from West African to South Indian to Javanese Gamelan, it’s amazing. Pheeroan Aklaff, and outstanding jazz drummer, also teaches there. Probably a good cultural fit for your D
Thumbs up on Skidmore,too – an “arty bordering on hipster” kid could definitely thrive there, as they have a very artsy student body in general. I’ve heard that their orchestra, which also includes members of the Saratoga Springs community, is quite good, and they have a goodly number of music majors. I don’t know anything about their percussion, however.
I’ve heard good things about the music departments at both Williams and Vassar, but we didn’t research them carefully because they were big reaches for my S, and offer no merit aid.
Some LACs with strong academics that have either a School of Music or a conservatory [l]that is readilty accessible to non-majors* include:
St. Olaf, as mentioned by @choirsandstages. Really terrific program there with two full orchestras and two symphonic bands
Lawrence U: Has a conservatory. We didn’t visit because they didn’t have much of a computer science program (which was a priority for my S), but I’ve only heard good things.
Gettyburg: pretty close to NYC and has a conservatory. I’d want to take a hard look at whether it felt like a good cultural fit for your D – it’s a pretty sporty/preppy place with a strong frat culture
U. of Puget Sound: This is where my S is headed. Terrific School of Music with a lot of student participation, very liberal laid-back student body. Might be a good fit for a kid of your D’s ilk, but it’s all the way across the country in Tacoma, WA
Your D would probably get merit aid at any the 4 schools listed above, and I think they all offer music scholarships (even to non-majors) as well. Wes and Skidmore, unfortunately, offer no merit aid. Skidmore does have a highly selective music scholarship (I think they give out 5), which is $12K/yr, I believe. You’d have to run some of the NPC’s to get a feel for need-based aid levels at the different schools.
A few others you might want to take a look at include:
Furman
Rollins
Illinois Wesleyan
Good luck!
*That’s Gettysburg, up above, not Gettyburg. And sorry about screwing up my italics formatting 
You guys are so very helpful, thanks!
I had no idea Williams had a strong music program, but admission there seems really daunting, so not sure we’ll throw that in the mix. We’re definitely curious about Vassar, though heard that they are turning down “everyone” this year – including great legacy kids, movie-star offspring, etc, so not super hopeful there. Two rec’s for Lawrence here means I should research further. Also noted, two for St. Olaf’s which was already on our radar, except it’s Lutheran and we’re nonreligious/ Jewish and they make you take theology classes and go to services. A tricky fit, probably.
Rayrick, the Oberlin con said it would be possible to arrange for teaching, so that makes that situation extremely appealing. Just an unpredictable admit. Need to follow up on that same question with Bard. We’re psyched about Skidmore, but don’t see a percussion ensemble or teachers listed, will follow up. Wesleyan looks like an amazing opportunity World Music-wise, def checking it out. Gettysburg probably too culturally alienating – we’re all freaked by frats. Puget Sound has been recommended to us, but, yes, quite a cross-country haul. Would really love to hear how your son likes it next fall.
Drummergirl, a parent we met on the Oberlin tour said she liked Hampshire for music. Interesting, had no idea it was a happening music school. She might not do well in a place I think of as small and free-form as Hampshire, but haven’t had any contact with the place since the late seventies, so it may be worth checking out.
Thanks, Cellocompmom. Would love to!
@Slopemom - percussion at Bard College is not going to be with So Percussion in the conservatory, but with the Teaching Fellow (currently from Mobius Percussion - so no slouch!) On this link, click on Arts Division and then Music and you can see all the current ensembles available to the college students, music courses, and the list of teachers for private study at the bottom: http://inside.bard.edu/academic/courses/current/ It is a very deep department with a lot of offerings. However, I really would recommend considering the double degree option to take full advantage of percussion at Bard - unless she’s less interested in contemporary classical and leans more towards world music, rock, and jazz. However, there would certainly be opportunities in the college orchestra and chamber ensembles to continue to perform classical music.
You might want to have your daughter read this: http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html
I always get confused by posts like this, about kids who want to major in performance but not in a BM program. Or not in a conservatory, should I say. Rayrick has, as Spirit Manager said, done a lot of research on this and might even have a list.
Some liberal arts colleges will have a School of Music or a BM program. For instance, U. of Puget Sound and College of Wooster, and, obviously, Oberlin, Bard, Lawrence and Ithaca have conservatories. Overall, it is really important to check to see if BA students, whether music majors or majoring in something else, have fewer opportunities in music because the BM students take precedence with lessons and performance groups.
Other liberal arts colleges have music departments (as opposed to music schools) and from what you have posted so far, it would seem like these would be the best route for your daughter. But many of them won’t have a performance BA. They sometimes have an academic/general music major with theory, composition, ethnomusicology (Wesleyan is strong in this, aka world music), technology and often some performance component for credit such as lessons, orchestra and so on, but sometimes those components are extracurricular. You really have to peruse websites carefully, and ask questions.
There are schools like the Colleges that Change Lives schools that offer great experiences overall. Vassar and Skidmore are good choices. Marlboro, Hampshire and Bennington are more alternative but given how you describe your daughter, she might like them. Barnard? Sarah Lawrence?
Percussion is a little different and will take careful research.
I wouldn’t dismiss St. Olaf out of hand as too religious a campus. While it’s a presence, my son didn’t find it overwhelming at all during his overnight there. He was thought St. O had a pretty liberal vibe overall and a surprisingly large and active LGBT community. And their top orchestra is really good: http://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/play/?e=563
^Agree, Minnesota Lutherans are pretty low key on the religion scale.
@slopemom St. Olaf does NOT require church services. It’s a quite liberal college despite it’s name.
I’m going to be a freshman percussion performance major at Oberlin Conservatory, and I know there are some ensembles available for students that are studying in the college. For example, there is the Oberlin Arts and Sciences Orchestra, which I’m pretty sure is oriented to those in the college!
So you really do not need to be majoring in the conservatory to be immersed in music at Oberlin!