<p>I'm having trouble finding a music school to apply to.</p>
<p>I've got a 3.2 GPA
An ACT of 29 (which I'm taking again, and will pry do better on)
I live in Wisconsin</p>
<p>More importantly,
I've been taking Piano for 10 years (really 12, but I lost interest for 2 years when I was much younger)</p>
<p>The pieces I've begun preparing for the year are:
Bach Prelude and Fugue in Bflat Major
Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement
Brahm's Rhapsody in B minor
Debussy's Jardin Sous La Plouie</p>
<p>I know this is a very open-ended question, but are there some music schools with good piano programs that you guys/girls think that would work well for my skill level?
I've looked at and considered UW Eau Clare, UW Madison, and Lawrence University, but I was hoping for more suggestions (possibly some out of state colleges?).</p>
<p>Discuss options with your piano teacher and also look at the web sites for the schools you are interested in since audition requirements are listed on each.</p>
<p>Assuming the Lawrence kid has already gone, do you you know how they he or she likes it? My son is pretty interested in Lawrence (for cello and composition) but we live on the east coast and here no one seems to no much about it. Do you know what the level of play is in the orchestra by any chance? We liked the school a lot when we visited. Thanks.</p>
<p>I agree with Mezosmama, I think you need to have a talk with your piano teacher about where you are and start looking at what the audition requirements are for piano at the various schools, that wil probably be a big help in terms of piano repertoire. Frankly, how well you play should be your biggest consideration, if you are planning to major in music performance it is the key to getting into an auditioned music program. GPA and scores and such matter if you plan on going to a music school within a university, of course, but you could have a 4.0 and a 2400 SAT and not get into the music program…</p>
<p>One recommendation that often comes up on here is besides talking to your piano teacher, you may want to get an assessment of your skills from another teacher,the usual recommendation being someone teaching at a relatively high level music program. The reason is your piano teacher may or may not be familiar with current requirements to get into a particular music program or may not be aware of the level of competition (piano is incredibly competitive), plus you would figure someone who actually is involved in auditions would know a thing or two:). </p>
<p>You also don’t mention what year you are in, if you are a rising senior I would recommend not delaying in getting the information you need, deciding what you need to work on for audition repertoire and get to work. Auditions start later in the year and run through the first couple of months, so there won’t be much time to work on audition repertoire, especially if you need to add things to your list. I am not familiar with the Piano, but in auditions, for example, they generally want the person to have prepared whole concerto(s), as well as complete sonatas and such (I can’t tell from the list below if for example you already have learned the first two movements of the Moonlight Sonata or if you worked only on the third). In any event, I suspect you need to get things rolling if you are seriously thinking of trying for an auditioned music program…</p>
<p>As far as I know, our pianist friend (who took classes at Yale during high school) finds Lawrence a great experience. She particularly was excited about their support of double majoring.</p>
<p>In terms of the orchestra, we also know a terrific violinist who will be starting there in the fall. If her playing is any indication of who they’re admitting, I suspect the orchestra will be strong. We’re on the east coast as well, and I think Lawrence is overlooked a lot due to geography.</p>
<p>Cellocompmom, there are a few recordings of Lawrence’s orchestra available YouTube. Not in the top tier of university orchestras, but not bad for undergrads considering the repertoire. Someone else can comment on cello and composition specifically.</p>
<p>I’m going to college this fall as a Piano Performance major!</p>
<p>Are you a senior this fall? No offence, but you really need to get going on this; you’re running low on time.</p>
<p>I agree with some other posts that you need to talk to your teacher about this, but I’ll give you a list of schools that seem to do well in music that you could check into. And yes, as someone else said, the audition and how you play is the BIGGEST part of getting into a music school. ACT/SAT/Grades, etc. come second in admissions. They’re still important though, and if you can have good scores on top of a great audition, that will make even a stronger case for you to be admitted.</p>
<p>You said you wanted some out-of-state options…all midwest like Wisconsin is, or all over the country? Big or small, does it matter? I can help most with midwest schools- that’s where I live and I was only allowed to apply to schools in the midwest. Btw, I applied to UW Eau Claire too.</p>
<p>Other schools to consider:
• First, just let me say my school: Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL)- School of Music
• St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN)- looked at this too, very good school musically and academically.
• Concordia College (Moorhead, MN)- I looked at this and liked it very well.
• Northwestern University/Bienen School of Music (Evanston, IL), VERY tough to get in
• Oberlin College/Conservatory (Oberlin, OH)- VERY difficult to get in, have a friend who was accepted this year for violin performance
• Baldwin-Wallace College/Conservatory (easier to get in academically, not as high of standards as some mentioned ^) (Berea, OH)
• DePaul University/School of Music (Chicago, IL)- had a friend who looked at it for violin (same friend mentioned above), I personally didn’t look at it
• Wheaton College/Conservatory (I didn’t like it, but some people do, very conservative & religious college) Wheaton, IL
• Indiana University (very competitive though) (Bloomington, IN)- several fine pianists and teachers have went there, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it for undergrad, more grad school type of thing, but that’s up to you- not sure if you want a big school like this but you mentioned you were interested in Madison, so I’ll include some big schools.
• University of Michigan (great but lots of grad students too, see comments for Indiana^) (Ann Arbor, MI)
• University of Illinois- Champaign, IL (see Michigan comments^)
• Drake University (Des Moines, IA)- friend going here for violin performance, I didn’t look at it, not super competitive I don’t think…
• Butler University/School of Music (I personally didn’t like it at all, but…) (Indianapolis, IN)
• DePauw University/School of Music (See Butler U comments^) Greencastle, IN- in an area with nothing to do though…</p>
<p>Others- not really known for music, but Northwestern College (St. Paul, MN) & University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN) have some good teachers. I went to summer piano camp 4 years in a row at Northwestern C, and loved that, although I didn’t like the school for college. I studied with a prof from St. Thomas to prepare for auditions, competitions, etc. for the past 2 years, after switchiing from another teacher. These are easier to get into, just for that if you want some easier out-of-state options.</p>
<p>Those are the schools I can think of right now…again, like I said I know midwest schools, not so much elsewhere though.</p>
<p>Those all have good or excellent music programs, but are not always right for everyone, so you’ll have to look into it.</p>
<p>Another thought- are you planning on double majoring or double degree in another field? That makes a difference on schools too.</p>
<p>Also, do you play another instrument? Some schools require piano majors to play another instrument in a band, orchestra, etc., or sing in the choir. Not all require this, check their websites.</p>
<p>AUDITIONS: </p>
<p>
You don’t need a concerto for most piano auditions. What you need is: Baroque era piece (usually a Bach Prelude/Fugue set is REQUIRED), Classical sonata movement from Haydn, Beethoven, or Mozart (sometimes need a COMPLETE sonata- such as Oberlin), Romantic era piece (usually not many restrictions on what it is), and that would be the typical minimum. Most times, you need a 20th century and/or an impressionism piece. Sometimes, you need an ADDITIONAL etude, even if your romantic era piece is a Chopin etude. Some schools will only need 2 pieces (like certain UW schools, although UW-Eau Claire needed 3…), and some need 5 (Oberlin for example). The usual is 3-4. The 3rd mvt of the Moonlight is awesome btw, I love it, and if you can play it well, that’d be a great option. Just make sure to have contrasting eras and styles- that is a big thing. In addition, most require you to play all major and minor scales and arpeggios in about 4 octaves, plus some sightreading and an interview type of thing within the audition. Be prepared to discuss your future plans- do you want to go to grad school, teach, perform, etc?-They’ll ask this!</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me too if you have questions. I went through all this last year with auditions, missing school and everything. I’m actually helping someone else out from CC (but on email instead) with this same kind of question right now!</p>
<p>My son is fortunate enough to have a piano professor accompany him for competitions and she is incredible. Not as many practice rooms or pianos as Lawrence U has though.</p>