<p>I've decided to apply to Rice. I'm putting down "natural sciences" as the school i'm interested in, but i'm wondering:</p>
<p>How available are the music opportunities at shephard available to non-music students?
How does transfering into the music composition program at shephard work? Is it easy for a math student at rice to do so in his first or second year?</p>
<p>It is easy to be involved with music for non-music majors. There is a nonmajor orchestra, and you can take lessons with experienced musicians.</p>
<p>But while I believe it is possible to transfer into the music school, it is very very difficult. Plus you would be behind a year and likely need to stay for five years. I wouldn't recommend doing so. If you are really interested in music, apply to the music school from the beginning. It's a lot easier to transfer out of it than into it.</p>
<p>Yeah, but is that statement for all music, or just performance? Cuz you can get a BA in music from most schools without knowing you want to do music till the end of sophomore year.</p>
<p>i highly doubt you can get a degree from the music department, given by shepherd, without actually being accepted there, either originally or as a transfer. it is highly competitive and very small along with rice and so i would guess they have very little demand to meet by allowing a degree for non-shepherd students. </p>
<p>a girl from my high school was told that she would probably not be accepted to the music program since they were planning to accept only 1 student for her instrument, and therefore should apply to the normal school and take private lessons. the professor who told her this did not mention a degree in music that she could get otherwise. </p>
<p>while none of this proves that rice doesn't have this, it doesn't look good and like misterme i would recommend you decide before college. transferring after 1 year would seem to be even harder because you would be competing with transfer applicants who attend music schools already. im not sure if being at rice already would make a difference.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else-- Rice's music school is incredibly competitive. While it is possible to transfer in after your first or second year, it is extremely difficult and I'm sure it is rare. You would have to be REALLY good to pull that off, either in performance or composition.</p>
<p>Now to your first question, yes, there are a lot of oppertunities for non-music majors at Rice to participate in music. This was actually one of my concerns early on in my search, since Shepherd is so prestigious and I figured that there would not be a lot of oppertunities... but I got in contact with a girl who is a BME major but also plays in several ensembles at Rice, and her comments were very encouraging. Here are her comments about the performance ensembles at Rice (these are just instrumental-- there are lots of vocal performance groups too...)</p>
<hr>
<p>MOB - MOB is...interesting. There are a lot of CRAZY people, and it can be
a whole ton of fun, no scratch that, it pretty much has to be a whole ton of
fun, but it probably won't fill a hole in your heart that is marching band.<br>
We never march, we just run into certain formations at the right time, and
our shows are less shows more than comedy skits where we play music and make formations to accent an announcer. Worst of all, most MOBsters actually seem interested in the football game! Very few of the MOBsters are music majors (musis). All that said, the music is FUN to play, the comedy skits are amazing, MOB will take you on a trip out of Houston at least once, and it's a great time to try a new instrument if you ever want to.</p>
<p>BOB - in the Spring MOB becomes BOB, which is basically pep band, and
similar to MOB. Difference is there are no practices and it's all even more
laid back.</p>
<p>Chamber Music - there is a non-performance major chamber music...club, I
guess you would call it, called Crescendo. We meet every once in a while,
and it helps you get into contact with people if you want to play in small
groups. Also, people who want a small group to play contact Crescendo, so
it can help you get gigs if you want to play for money. Crescendo is a
great group, but I've had some frustrations. I tried to set up a woodwind
quintet, and it seems that a lot of people sign up for crescendo and act
interested, but won't reply to e-mails or come to any scheduled practices.<br>
If you are willing to organize and harrass some people to actually play with
you, it can be really awesome.</p>
<p>Large Groups - there's a non-musi orchestra called Campanile, which meets at 9 or 10 on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, that's too early for me (I've
got to sleep in one day!) so I'm not in it. People tell me that the
director is crazy and mean. I worked with a crazy and mean guy in high
school, and personally I think it's kind of nice - you know any compliments
are genuine, but it's a personal preference thing I think. I went to one
campanile concert, and I was not really particularly impressed BUT and this
is a big but, I had just recently been to a Shepherd orchestra concert, and
that will really rather spoil you for much else. As a side note, most of
the Shepherd functions are free for Rice students, and AMAZING. Aside from
playing music, Rice is such an amazing place for being around music.</p>
<p>RSB - the Rice Symphonic Band is really my reason for living (slight
exaggeration). You sound like you had a pretty good high school band - that
generally goes with a good marching program, so maybe it won't be such of a
shock for you, but for me Rice Symphonic Band is like the ensemble I always
wished I could have. There are I think only 2 musis in it (one of them is
first bassoon), but most everyone there is one the upper side of good or
lower side of awesome. There is noone who isn't pretty good, so we can play some amazing things. Right now we are playing the Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphoses and a concert band arrangment of Bald Mountain, earlier this year we played a piece by Eric Whittaker, my favorite modern composer, called Ghost train, if you know any of those pieces, they're some of my favorites. But the real reason RSB is so wonderful is the director. Chuck Throckmorton is the guy who does MOB and RSB (and helps with Crescendo a bit) and he actually knows his stuff. It's really hard to describe,but he a) picks out good music (b) seems to enjoy conducting the music as much as we enjoy playing it (c) knows how to critique without being mean (d) actually knows how to fix what he critiques and (e) I don't really have anything else, but if you come for a visit (it's late in the year for that,
isn't it?) you can sit in on an RSB practice 4-5:30 Tuesday Thursday and see
what I mean. One other thing, Chuck asks that people switch who plays
first, second, third, and fourth for horn I guess on every song, so you
won't get stuck sitting third or second or whatever behind a musi who never
graduates.</p>
<p>Pit - If you played much pit in high school you probably won't want to give
it up, or if you didn't you should consider playing here. Each college puts
on a play each semester, and a few are musicals so pit players are often in
demand. I am also playing in the pit for Ruddigore for the Rice Light Opera
Society, which puts on a Gilbert and Sullivan every year. We could use a
good French horn!</p>
<hr>
<p>^^ This was encouraging to me. Hope it helps!</p>
<p>Actually, it's not very encouraging, i hate to say. On the shepherd website under faqs, it mentions that a BA in music is generally offered to "students" who later decide that their interests have changed, but it's a little ambiguous as to whether it means shepherd students or rice students. Hmm.....can you at least get a minor in music? If it helps, i think i would have somewhat of a decent change at transfer/acceptance into shepherd now or later (for performance, at least, not comp) since i play a rare instrument--bass trombone--and am NY all-state and probably all-eastern. But i can't go for an audition there now because it's too far away. Maybe i should mail a CD.</p>
<p>ok.. if it says your interests have changed i am sure it does not mean from biology to music but from violin performance to music, for example. also rice doesn't have minors, at least not at the moment. if we get them soon, i believe they will be more interdepartmental.</p>
<p>You can take "____ for nonmajors" classes, but as far as I know you cannot major in music without having originally been accepted to Shepherd.</p>
<p>And what's so bad about the MOBsters actually being interested in the football games? I'm on the front row of every home game.</p>
<p>Alright, well, i emailed a guy from shepherd and he responded very nicely. Now i'm debating whether to apply to shepherd for composition or wiess for math.</p>
<p>"And what's so bad about the MOBsters actually being interested in the football games? I'm on the front row of every home game."</p>
<p>Nothing. She was being sarcastic. : )</p>
<p>you don't apply to a residential college directly. also, what was the point of the email response?</p>
<p>Actually, sreis, he's probably referring to the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Confusing, I know.</p>
<p>haha especially to the outsiders.</p>
<p>The point of the email response was to answer his first question "How available are the music opportunities at shephard available to non-music students?" which was actually a question I had a long while back when I first became interested in Rice...</p>
<p>Well, i decided to apply for natural sciences anyway, if no other reason than because they only accept one to two composition majors a year.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how lessons for non-music majors work? Are they taught by Shepherd students or faculty? Does one need to audition? Is there a fee?</p>
<p>Also, is it difficult for a non-music major to be accepted into the Chorale?</p>
<p>Not difficult. DD sang with Chorale (I think it's called that... there are even a few community people in it.)</p>
<p>Ditto on chorale. D's previous boyfriend was in chorale.</p>
<p>There are many opportunities for non music majors at Rice to still be involved in Music, as well as classes.</p>
<p>First, classes. You can take lessons in just about any instrument at Shepherd, however, there is a catch, its $400 dollars per semester. However, you get taught by excellent grad students, and you basically get a 50 min-1hr lesson per week of school, which is a great deal for 400, if you compare it to the rates other teachers would charge. It also is essentially two free credit hours of an A, assuming of course you actually practice of course.</p>
<p>There are several music history courses available to Non majors that cover the general scope of music history, but you can also take the music major music history courses! However, you have to get instructor approval, and usually have to take the theory for non majors class. However, if you are really interested in music, I would highly recommend trying to take these classes, they also count towards your required D1 distribution credits (and if you have no idea what D1 means, feel free to ask me). Also, these classes are taught by the highly accomplished and awesome musicology faculty at Shepherd, so its the real deal!</p>
<p>Also, they have some music theory and intro to music (also known as "clapping for credit") classes which vary in quality depending on who is teaching them that year. </p>
<p>RSB and MOB (Go MOB!) have already been noted, but a few words about Campanile and the Rice Chorale.</p>
<p>Campanile has two new directors this year, the masters students of Ratclif, the orchestra director. They are amusing people (sometimes they do completely random things, its hilarious), and are good conductors. This year we have done mozart's 40th symphony, the "coriolan" overature by Beethoven, and are currently working on Dvorak's 8th symphony. We meet from 10-1 every saturday, and it is early and makes lunch late, but its worth it.</p>
<p>Chorale is the Rice choir, its open to everyone. Our director Tom Jaber is hilarious, he goes from being sentimental and warm to sarcastic sometimes within sentences. He also is quite a good choral conductor, and we have been working on some awesome repetoire, such as the Faure Requiem, Arvo Part Berlin Mass, some Irving Fine songs, and of course, Handel's Messiah. Next on our list is doing, of all things, broadway selections, which will be fun, I am sure.</p>
<p>Another organization that I should mention is a very new group that I co formed called "sound explorers." Its essentially a group for people to explore music and sound, and to be exposed to lots of new things. For example, we have listening parties (or will have, I should say, the first one is next week), where we get together, eat, and show each other different pieces of music that we think the others should know/hear. Its great fun, and its great learning!</p>
<p>Hope I helped answer your question, there are plenty of other music organizations as well at Rice besides those that I have mentioned, like jazz band, and Music everywhere, a group to help get people together to play music.</p>
<p>Oh, and sorry for the general ramblyness of that long reply, english has never been my strong point...</p>
<p>Also, this is my first (well, second) post, I ought to introduce myself, I am a freshmen student at Rice university, and I go to Shepherd as a Music History Major (although I also play violin, piano, and voice as well).</p>