<p>My daughter is a sophomore and is an equally talented singer, musician and composer. Just in the past month, she received 100's on both her vocal and alto sax NYSSMA All State auditions (those of you in NY state will be familiar with that) AND she was awarded an Honorable Mention in a national composition competition. She loves all three of these areas very passionately and I can tell that she is really struggling with trying to decide which one to major in. I know that if she majors in Comp, she can still have Voice or Sax as her major instrument. But she's also talking about a Jazz or voice performance undergrad and getting a Masters in Comp. She keeps asking me if there is someplace out there where she could do it all! She is so lucky to be blessed with so much God-given talent, but its really making it hard for her to narrow down her choices...even when it comes to looking at schools.</p>
<p>There are some conservatories where a comp major must also audition on an instrument (or VP) so she could begin her online search this summer. I’d strongly urge her to pick up piano too and learn to read in all of the clefs too.
After experiencing four world premiers of operas in the past couple of years, I’ll stand by my feeling that the vocal world could really use new composers who not only can write music but who truly understand what the human voice can do! </p>
<p>DemBrooks, I think a lot has to do with what she might want to do later and it is early for her to know. My older son is double majoring in performance and composition. We had to look hard for schools that would allow both and often that information is not on their websites. It looks like he will be able to do it in 4 years but he went in with a lot of AP classes. He had to get in for both composition and performance at each of the schools he applied for which basically meant two prescreens, audition and portfolio submission and interview with comp. faculty at each school. One of the reasons I think you cannot do this everywhere other than one major could possibly distract from the other is that he basically has two private lessons and two studio classes per week and this is an added cost factor for the schools. While he is an instrumental performance major he is required to take at least 2 semester of choral (It may be 4) for the composition major so I would look at the actual requirements for each major as she might be able to participate in a piece of each activity anyway. I know places like Indiana and Ithaca College have different tracks for comp. majors. You do not need to major in composition undergrad to compose or even to teach. You can major in composition in grad. school but this son really wanted to do both. He is very busy. Because you said you are in New York check out Eastman as I believe they allow a double major. I do know there are very few summer festivals where you can do both composition and performance. He did one of those last summer but this summer opted for performance experience. If you are anywhere near Roch. go to the college music fair they usually hold in Nov. and talk to reps. That helped us a lot. </p>
<p>Dembrooks, If she is thinking of doing a double major in comp. and performance going in with extremely strong theory and piano skills can help you get ahead with your requirements in these area. </p>
<p>It’s becoming more and more important for musicians to have a “tool box” approach where they develop all their skills rather than focusing on one. Your daughter should seek out a school where she is able to study all three areas if she so desires. The degree and major(s) are of less concern than the opportunity to learn and polish. </p>
<p>@ jeannemar-
While I think having a lot of tools is important, the idea that someone should go broad but not deep sounds great, but it also leaves out the reality of the level of music out there. Trying to do voice, an instrument and comp as a triple major would be next to impossible IMO. While voice students cannot practice as much as an instrumentalist can, they have a huge load of required classes, not just theory, but diction and languages and such, plus practicing hours a day on the instrument, plus the load of things to do for composition. If her goal is to become professional level on the sax and voice, even leaving out composition, I think it would be next to possible to achieve that spreading out that thin.</p>
<p>The other thing to keep in mind is that being a talented singer and being able to get into a competitive voice program are two different things in a lot of cases. Voice is incredibly competitive, especially if, for example, a girl is a soprano, so it could be that she wouldn’t make it into a program on voice at all, there are a lot of variables here. </p>
<p>For OP: She could potentially do voice and composition and take sax lessons on the side potentially as one option
She could major in voice and/or sax, then do Composition on a graduate level, having taken theory courses and
such as an undergrad. </p>
<p>In the end, a lot of these decisions will come out of where she is late winter/spring of senior year, when she is auditioning, by then things like if she is good enough to get into a program, if she wants to do composition and so forth will have worked themselves out and the decision will be a lot clearer. BM degrees tend to look ‘easy’ compared to academic degrees with core requirement courses and such, but it is deceptive, the time spent in practicing, ensembles, and so forth is pretty intense for one discipline, and doing multiples makes it even more so. </p>
<p>I think Cellocompmom is a good source since her son is actually pulling off a double major in composition and performance. But IMO he may an exception and not the rule. The first burden would be the audition process and preparing a composition portfolio at the same time as perfecting the performance audition pieces. In addition, some schools require several essays from their composition applicants above those required of performance applicants.</p>
<p>Assuming that acceptance is gained for both composition and performance, the workload for a composition major just as with a performance major can not be underestimated. Speaking from my son’s experience, being a composition major goes well beyond the classroom and studio lessons. The workload for composition and theory classes and studio( not mention up to two years of aural skills depending on the school) will take the student well into the early morning. Physical well being becomes an issue which could be disastrous for a VP major. Schools are different and what is not possible at one school may be possible at another. But as others have said, for someone to study composition at the grad. school level, it is not necessary that they have a BM in composition… </p>
<p>Compdad brought up a good point that all composition programs are different in their requirements. For instance, my son has never had a studio class at all. And only 1.5 years of theory, 1 year of music history, and no aural skills (but that has changed for incoming comp students.) This is part of what made a double degree so doable for him - but he does spend hours and hours a day composing. The flexibility of his program was one of the appeals, as he was already a very advanced composer when he entered. It wouldn’t work for everyone.
He did not pursue a performance degree - but he founded an ensemble and has performed all five years, and will continue to do so after graduation.</p>
<p>The double major in comp and performance is a heap of work. I do know there was another student at son’s school that dropped the 2nd major. Luckily hanging out in the music school and composing until the wee hours is my son’s idea of fun and I think his social life is mostly spent in music building. He did both a solo elective sophomore cello recital this year and a shared elective comp. recital and he was very stressed during both of those times. The other issue with doing a double in performance and comp. is that you have to find a good fit for comp. department and private instrumental teacher you love. Oh, and you have to get in. There was one school where he got in for one and not the other. If your daughter is going to a camp this summer maybe she can explore taking a comp. class. There were also a bunch of essays to write for comp. admission now that I think back. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the replies. We did go to that music fair at Eastman last year and will go again this year. i didn’t know you could double at Eastman, that’s good to know. I appreciate all the info. </p>
<p>As far as hr e goals , she doesn’t want to teach. She would love to play professionally on Broadway… don’t they all? She’d love to sing too but honestly I think she’d have a better chance with sax than voice. She doubles on clarinet, bass clarinet and all the saxes too. And of course at the same time she wants to be writing and composing. </p>
<p>There are two students in my department pursuing both performance and composition degrees- I’m pretty sure one of then never sleeps!- and I know of two others who were doing so but dropped one. I know I don’t sleep enough most nights during the school year, and that’s with only one degree (composition). Even though I am not a performance major as well, I have found plenty of opportunities to continue playing both in and out of school. You could ask what schools policies are regarding lessons; if you’re a non-major you might only be able to take lessons with a TA at some schools. At my school composition majors are required to do a minimum of 2 years in a large ensemble. Some schools might automatically make you do chorus as a composition major, but mine allows composers to be in other ensembles so long as you can pass the audition (I know this is true as a wind player, but I am not sure if it is true in all disciplines). But, I’ve also been able to participate in the UG chorus for vocal performance majors, and that has been a very rewarding experience. By clearing up what your opportunities will be re: lessons, ensembles, etc. at various schools, the decision whether or not to pursue two degrees/which could become a lot clearer. </p>
<p>Here is a helpful essay on different ways to study music: <a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html</a></p>
<p>Is she intent on conservatory and BM degree(s) or would she consider a general music major at a college or university (BA or BM) that allows for a multifaceted musician?</p>