<p>Hello! I've been a lurker for some time, and our family has benefited enormously from all the wisdom, warmth, and generosity of this forum. My DS is an avid jazzer (with a strong academic interest in math and physics) who is now trying to choose from among Wesleyan, Williams, and Stanford. He leans toward more straight-ahead rather than avant garde jazz, and he's looking both for strong playing opportunities as well as good coursework in jazz studies. The coursework is relatively easy to assess from college catalogs, but the general quality of the program is harder to pin down. DS has visited most of the schools, but his visits were during the summer, when it was hard to get a real feel for things, and now he doesn't have time to visit them all again. He knows he's not going to find the same caliber of musicianship in his classmates at any of these schools that he would find in the vast majority of BM programs, but he's still hoping for a good musical experience. Any insights? And one more wrinkle: he successfully applied for the BA/BM program in jazz studies at Northwestern, but it all seems like a big unknown. Could be great, now that they've hired Victor Goines, but the curriculum and faculty are all up in the air. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might want to share!</p>
<p>It seems as though you have four very disparate (and excellent, congrats!) choices, from very small schools/programs to larger ones. What is your son's instrument? Does he feel comfortable in either a large or small school environment? Though you don't have time to re-visit, you do have time to email/call the schools and query more--regarding the faculty, playing opportunities and so on. If he wants access to a jazz "scene," he may be better off at Stanford or Northwestern. Wesleyan and Williams really don't have much jazz to speak of. I wouldn't discount the Northwestern program; rather, I would really encourage him to talk with the faculty about their re-commitment to jazz--he might have a potential to help shape that program. I don't think I'm being much help--but I think direct department contact will be the key to his decision-making.</p>
<p>My son is a jazz guitarist who is most likely going to wind up at New England Conservatory, so our knowlege is based mainly on the jazz conservatory programs. We don't have much experience with jazz at any of those schools, except an older son's roommate at Northwestern was a jazz saxophonist, and enjoyed his time there. Mostly, he enjoyed the jazz scene in Chicago. NU's jazz program was very small, but sounds like it is going to have an overhaul and will probably be "straight ahead" in style--just my guess from the reputation of the Conservatory and Victor Goines' previous tenure at Julliard, where the jazz program is uber-traditional.
I echo what SJTH said: a jazz scene is important if you want to study jazz. It is all about the communication between the musicians. Wesleyan might be isolated, but I do think that there is an atmosphere there of energy and interest in music--jazz, I don't know, but music in general I have heard from a recent graduate with a BA in Music from Wesleyan. He is now a sound engineer and composer. Williams is so small and traditional, when I took another of my kids to look at it three years ago (he is quite musical but like your son did not want to major in music)--he was turned off by the non-artsy feel of Williams. Which is not to be misconstrued as a critique of Williams. It's a fabulous school!</p>
<p>It's daunting at this point to think of all the visits that probably should be done to finish the research project of finding the right college now that the acceptances are in. Maybe they can line your son up with current students he could talk with either online or by phone; he could ask that way. </p>
<p>One more thing: I feel like I keep saying this in different threads for different reasons, but my son at Brown spends a great deal of his time (probably too much, actually) playing music. And he's not a music major. There is not much of a music department there, yet there is an active music scene. There will be situations at your schools, too, that will bring your son in contact with kids who want to jam even if there are no organized ensembles to be involved with. All of your son's choices will have smart, sophisticated students, and I bet there will be some jazz outlet in some form.</p>
<p>Mamenyu, there really isn't a jazz program at Pomona - they do have a jazz ensemble that mets twice weekly and is available to all students, regardless of major. As a family who has been really searching for GREAT, even very good jazz programs at GREAT liberal arts colleges, it is very hard to find this elusive combination! Just back from a NY/Boston trip, we discovered access to great jazz at a number of liberal arts colleges --Tufts, for example, through their program with New England Conservatory. However, the depth into which your child wants to dive into jazz will determine a course: do they want to dive full-time into music, or would a music major as an enhancement to a liberal arts education (or just the opportunity to play without a music major) suffice? There is always the very real opportunity to consider graduate school for music without an undergraduate conservatory experience. </p>
<p>Schools with conservatories affiliated--like Univ.of Rochester/Eastman School of Music, Oberlin/Oberlin Conservatory, Univ. of Hartford/Hartt school-- often allow non-conservatory students to take conservatory classes.</p>
<p>I am always hungry for info about jazz schools, and Jazzzmom and others have been great sources of info for me.</p>
<p>Be warned...there is no decent music program at Tufts, and definitely not jazz. In order to be in the Tufts/NEC program, you have to be accepted to BOTH NEC and Tufts, not just one or the other. It is challenging to arrange the schedule, because they are not near one another.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying that, Allmusic. I guess I was unclear about the "access to" point. There are programs, like Columbia's with Juilliard, where you can take classes and lessons without being admitted to the conservatory. Every relationship between music school and LAC has to be looked at independently.</p>
<p>We did an exhaustive search of college/conservatory jazz programs. When all was said and done, it was clear that the best jazz musicians were at the music schools, and not the colleges (although clearly there are some standouts at Princeton, or there have been in the past). </p>
<p>But there is a great deal of quality variability and so many stylistic differences, even among the music schools. People need to know their own levels, and what they are really seeking in a program.</p>
<p>At least for classical music, the Columbia-Juilliard program requires admission to both, and then selection for the BA/MM program, which is very limited. Juilliard students can take one Columbia class a semester, after freshman year and depending on how they are doing at Juilliard; Columbia students can take lessons from a list of adjuncts at no cost, but they are not Juilliard faculty. To study at Juilliard, the student is on his/her own to arrange for it, and funding from Columbia depends on special scholarships they can audition for.</p>
<p>SJTH and others interested- there are a couple of past threads specifically dealing with the pros & cons of NEC/Tufts, Columbia/Juilliard, Eastman/Rochester. </p>
<p>SJTH wrote:
[quote]
Schools with conservatories affiliated--like Univ.of Rochester/Eastman School of Music, Oberlin/Oberlin Conservatory, Univ. of Hartford/Hartt school-- often allow non-conservatory students to take conservatory classes.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Non-music majors at UHartford cannot take full advantage of the Hartt curriculum. There is more leeway for UHarford students with a declared music minor, but many of the applied courses and upper division music courses are restricted to Hartt students. </p>
<p>Specific restrictions are in the U/Hartford and Hartt undergrad handbooks.</p>
<p>The same is true at Oberlin. The double degree program requires admission to both the conservatory and college; college-only students do not have easy access to lessons from professors or most ensembles. The college and conservatory are on the same campus, the students live in the same dorms and eat in the same facilities, and Oberlin is supportive of double degree students, making it quite workable.</p>