<p>Hello! I'm about to be a senior in high school. I am planning on attending Auburn University for my freshman year (many many reasons) and then transferring to a good music school. Could anyone tell me some good schools for voice? I am interested in conservatories and universities and LAC's so anything goes!</p>
<p>You do realize that if you transfer from Auburn to a conservatory/high-end music school for Vocal Performance, you'll probably start off as a freshman again?</p>
<p>Go ahead and do a search on Vocal Performance on this forum and you'll get more than enough hits to figure something out...</p>
<p>Why would I have to start over as a freshman?</p>
<p>Credits don't always transfer. The bassoonist who just graduated from Curtis transferred there from Oberlin, where he had spent two years. He had to do the full four year curriculum at Curtis.</p>
<p>i would HIGHLY suggest northwestern university. feel free to ask me more specific questions.</p>
<p>Well, if you're interested in jazz studies the University of North Texas is the best in the nation.</p>
<p>Other than that, Boston Conservatory...</p>
<p>I really don't put Northwestern up there with the top vocal programs. It is much stronger in music theater. (Sorry-but it's true)
It is extremely hard to transfer into a conservatory/top music school. Spots are even more limited than the original freshman spots. You might try Indiana since it is a top program and larger. Michigan also has a good voice program. Rice has very few spots.</p>
<p>ok. so here's the thing. northwestern is and always has been a top vocal program. one of the met national winners this year is from NU. a quality voice program is dependent on its facultly mainly and from karen brunssen to sherrill milnes, this is sewn up.(although he's mainly a coach) it also depends on the quality of the other music courses-education, theory, keyboard skills, history--mainly the academic side of music. NU definitely has that sewn up. combined with a top-notch academic school and an all-around stellar education, NU IS a top voice program.</p>
<p>BKB1958---give it a rest.</p>
<p>bkb1958, although I do agree with you that NU does have a top-notch voice program, the met national winner from NU is a certificate student, meaning he was not considered a regular student who goes through all the four years and the academic rigour. I could be wrong about that, but that is my understanding.</p>
<p>When D visited schools the teachers were very open with her about what the leading vocal programs were and which programs they considered strong competition for the top vocalists. Northwestern was not one of them. I'm sure it is a wonderful place and a talented vocalist can be successful at any number of schools. However, it is not regarded as one of the leading classical or opera programs right now, for several reasons.</p>
<p>music_uofter: <a href="http://www.artsawards.org/alumni/musicVoicerepetroire.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.artsawards.org/alumni/musicVoicerepetroire.cfm</a></p>
<p>MomofWildChild: What are these reasons that you think NU would not be considered one of the leading voice programs now? (just out of curiosity-i certainly respect your opinion)</p>
<p>MOTHRAMOM: I do not have respect for your opinion, however. This forum is designed for healthy debates, and your comment was far from that. Either respond positively and productively or not at all. Maybe I will take your advice and give it a rest though, since you evidently have a hard time with tact and accepting others' opinions.</p>
<p>bkb- I know of some faculty members who taught there in the past and left and do not have the highest regard for the program or the facilities. Again, it is excellent for music theater, but slipping in classical/opera. D is pretty up on this stuff, as is her voice teacher, but everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion. Whenever I am around people who are discussing the top programs, Michigan is mentioned but usually not Northwestern. I'm sure there are some wonderful faculty members, though.</p>
<p>BKB1985 your reply was both correct and ironic---we should respect one anothers opinions whether it is a positive or negative opinion about a school. I understand you are very sensitive to any negative comment re NW. I apologize for being blunt.</p>
<p>music_uofter: I apologize for the incorrect link. What it was supposed to route you to was an article saying he was an undergrad. senior...</p>
<p>momofwildchild: Yes, faculty members in the past...ironically, one that I know is Kathleen Kaun at Rice, where your daughter is in school--she has told me personally how wonderful the program is now...anyway.</p>
<p>MOTHRAMOM: However, your original statement was not an opinion. It was basically telling me that I couldn't have one:"Give it a rest." And I'm not sensitive to anything:just trying to correct what I perceive as misconceptions. Trust me, I'm very confident with my opinions and am not insecure in them. I don't have to justify this to myself.</p>
<p>If Kathy Kaun believes the Northwestern program is strong again, I stand corrected. I will completely defer to her, since she truly knows the ins and outs of the top programs, which I do not. She is one of the main reasons my daughter chose Rice.</p>
<p>MomofWildChild: Kathy Kaun is amazing. Truly, she is. She was my teacher at Interlochen last summer. I have the utmost respect for her. Your daughter is in wonderful hands if she is with her(or at Rice). She probably advised your daughter on what was best for her and the same for me. Yes, she said it is a great program now. Did she not think so at one time? Do you know? If so, I'm curious as to the details and reasons. </p>
<p>By the way, I know Dan, a tenor at Rice(I'm going to leave off the last name for obvious reasons.). You or your daughter might know him. In fact, I probably also know your daughter-I auditioned at Rice and went with Dan to Ms. Kaun's studio class. Many women sang-I bet your daughter was one of them!</p>
<p>Back to answering the question:</p>
<p>I know many people who have done what you plan to do, transfering into a conservatory or similar program after spending a year or two at another school. However, as someone said, you will almost certainly loose a year in the transfer. This will happen regardless of where you are transfering from: there is a girl at NEC now who transfered from Curtis and still had to repeat her sophomore year. It ends up being a good thing for voice majors, as your voice is a year ahead of your peers. By the time you're applying to grad schools you'll will be in even better shape, assuming you take a year or two off following your undergrad.
Now for schools: the big ones that come to mind would be Indiana, Michigan, Rice, NEC, Juilliard, MSM. All of these schools have solid voice departments, but the quality of the education depends heavily on who your private teacher is. At all of these schools there are good teachers and bad teachers. That is certainly the case at NEC.
One other thing, I would not recommend Boston Conservatory. Boston University is also not a great place for undergrads.</p>
<p>MahlerSnob, could you explain why you think Boston University is not a good place for undergrads? I was thinking about applying for undergrad voice there.</p>
<p>I feel the way I do about BU primarily because I know a large number of people there and it seems very few of them are really happy with the program. The dropout rate among undergrad music majors seems to be higher there than at other schools I know well.
As far as the program itself, the main problem is that the undergrad voice department is very large. It doesn't seem like the students get too much individual attention. There also doesn't seem to be much of a focus on anything but choral music there. If you are interested in choral work, then there is nothing wrong with this as the chorus director is Ann Howard Jones, Robert Shaw's former assistant. However, if you're interested in opera this might not be the best place. BU also suffers from the chronic problems of music schools - underfunding and administrative incompetence.
I do know many excellent musicians who have come out of BU's undergrad program, but I know more who have left the school before graduating. Look at BU for yourself and form your own opinions. However, it seems to me that BU isn't the best place for undergrad voice.
I should say that the program is starting to change. Jerrald Pope will be the head of the voice program this year, after teaching in Florida for many years. I met Jerry at Tanglewood this summer, and he seemed like a very nice man who knew what he was doing. I don't know if he'll be taking undergrad students, but if he does he is worth the effort of studying with.</p>