<p>Jazz Vocal and Science
Firstly let me thank everyone for your knowledgeable comments; I'm hoping you can also help to give me some direction with my daughter's choices. She is an upcoming senior in a Performing Arts HS. She's also very good in Science and Math and wants to be doctor, however she would prefer to be an undecided major her first year in college, due to being unsure about becoming a Chemistry major and how that would affect her pre-med. Most pre-med students major in Biology. The catch is that she's also an excellent jazz vocalist and wants to continue pursuing jazz in college since its her passion. Her interests would be to study voice and other related music courses. She doesn't want to stay home and would prefer a college in the east coast. We are truly confused in the selection process since she really prefers a medium size school in an urban setting, more on the smaller side, 2000-4500 perhaps.. Can anyone give us some advice. We are considering Ithaca and Lawrence, although they are not in an urban area; Bucknell seems good for Science but not for Jazz. We have heard Freedonia (SUNY) does have Jazz but we are not sure she would like it there.</p>
<p>I hope she has a lot of energy, because she is hoeing a tough row for herself, in terms of workload. You guys really need to sit down with knowledgeable advisors to see how this would work.</p>
<p>Look Into:</p>
<p>Eastman College in Rochester; it is the music arm of the University of Rochester (NY).</p>
<p>Temple University in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>If you can get her to consider larger schools:</p>
<p>Umass-Amherst</p>
<p>NYU</p>
<p>Western Michigan Univeristy</p>
<p>Michigan State University</p>
<p>Also, take a look at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and University of Toronto</p>
<p>Western Michigan has a good music program, I have several friends who are music majors there who love it!</p>
<p>Look into Loyola New Orleans. Good music school, EXCELLENT jazz credentials(home of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz), and fairly good biology dept.Around 4500/5000 students. It may be a little far afield from the East Coast, but flights in and out are relatively cheap and they are generous with money for the right student.</p>
<p>It's probably too large, but check out University of Miami, as well. They have a topnotch pre-med program, plus one of the leading music schools in the country. Great facilities, but ka-ching!</p>
<p>NYU doesn't offer vocal jazz...and I doubt anyone would survive trying to get a BM degree in voice and a BS in science at nyu. I would probably consider it impossible in 4 years.</p>
<p>I agree about the workload, hence my comments above.
I would suggest OP look for places that have good jazz ensembles, with open audition policies. </p>
<p>My research indicated that NYU does offer jazz vocal, but it's through Steiner, not Tisch.</p>
<p>Yes we did think ensembles might be the way. My D applied at Tufts in Boston and she dropped the bomb on me and applied at Univ Of Miami..I'm afraid of the party school reputation for Miami, however, and really don't want her to go so far away :( Oh WELL A LOT OF DEADLINES HAVE PASSED AND WE ARE GETTING NERVOUS) She did apply at 7 schools but feels none of them are her dream school except for Miami and trust me its too big for her, she's too used to smaller schools</p>
<p>My advice: when the acceptances come in, have her visit. Sit tight. Miami has a good music program and fantastic weather. My son is at LU in his last year. He started out a dual major in music and government and is now just in government and graduating and going on to grad school. He participated in their music program throughout his college years (he was majorly involved in music and good throughout his childhood) but fine tuned his career path. I am happy with the school for how they worked with him. He loves Lawrence and the cold weather! And Appleton is a small city. Anyway, you are in the most unenviable position right now of being a parent of a kid who is now just waiting. This too shall pass. :)</p>
<p>Check out Davidson. Great School 20 miles from Charlotte. Premed or not they will expose her to everything and help her discover her direction. Good Jazz resources too.</p>
<p>THANK YOU, THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU! It's taken me so long to check back your responses....this whole process has really taken me for a ride. Anyways we did visit TUFTS yesterday and my d loved it, maybe its synchronicity but my father used to collect elephants and JUMBO IS THEIR MASCOT! LOLOLO maybe this is the school?? She applied to 15 schools, not all where the right choices but she can always transfer if it doesn't work out...</p>
<p>Brie, what did your daughter decide and what is she doing now? My daughter graduated in 2009, was torn between majoring in music or pre-med, got in to Berklee in Boston and Boston U, and chose Boston U for pre-med. She supplemented her musical passion by getting involved in an a cappella group. They performed frequently on campus and around Boston, recorded, had fun, etc. She also did well in school, but in May came home after her freshman year and wants to pursue music 100% because that’s where her passion is. </p>
<p>Anyone with knowledge of how to transfer into a music program, please send info. My daughter will likely re-apply to Berklee, but nothing is a for-sure as a transfer. If you know of other schools that have Jazz-vocal majors as an undergrad, please let me know. I am aware of a few besides Berklee:
New School in NYC
McGill
Loyola New Orleans
City U of NY</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>p.s. My research from 2009 indicated that NYU does not have vocal jazz in its jazz studies program.</p>
<p>Also look at UNT (Texas).</p>
<p>Thanks, Musicamusica. I did see that one pop up when I searched but I don’t know much about it. Will look into it more.</p>
<p>The USC Thornton School of Music offers a major in Vocal Jazz. Some names you may recognize in the jazz field who teach at SC are Bob Mintzer, Bill Watrow and Peter Erskine.</p>
<p>Competitive merit scholarships are available as well as financial aid.</p>
<p>Here are some more artists on the jazz faculty.</p>
<p>Ron McCurdy
Gil Castellanos
Ndugu Chander
Russell Ferrante
Vince Mendoza
Alan Pasqua
Bob Sheppard</p>