Our son is looking at LACs with high quality orchestra. He is an oboe player at State level and wants to continue playing at at a high level without majoring in music. He is looking primarily at schools on the East Coast, and Mid-West, particularly Bowdoin, Williams, Yale, Swarthmore, Haverford, and Carlton. Anyone know anything about the quality of the music program, specifically the orchestras. Even when talking to the faculty it is sometimes hard to tel how the quality is since nobody will tell you they are just mediocre.
I am a high schooler currently considering majoring in music but also want a school with strong academics, so I know your plight!
Two schools I am looking at right now that fit these criteria are Northwestern (Chicago) and Vanderbilt (Nashville). Both are top tier (or close) schools with very strong music programs.
I cannot attest for the strength of the orchestral programs specifically, since I am a percussionist, but these should be good jumping-off points for further searches.
Good luck to you in the search!
Northwestern and Vanderbilt have schools of music and are not LACs…
What about a double major at Oberlin?
Yale is not a LAC either.
Bard has double major option.
Lawrence is another option…
Why not Oberlin. My D had friends in the college who played in the Con orchestra. You don’t need to be in the double degree program to do that.
Doesn’t Oberlin have a conservatory? He’s asking for non-conservatory…
That said, it fits his requirement very well and it is extremely strong in music.
It also has a college. He doesn’t need to apply to the Con at all.
Bucknell has a Bachelor of Music degree, but the program is small so you don’t need to be in the program to participate in ensembles.
If your son is academically qualified for the schools you have listed, Muhlenberg may be a good safety for him. They have a very lively music scene and many performance opportunities. http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/academics/music/
Hadn’t checked Muhlenberg out yet, thanks for the pointer.
Forgot to mention, Lawrence is on his safety school list, great place for music!
If you’re going to look at Carleton, you should look at St. Olaf, too. This Carl mom hates to say that, 
but the Oles do music well.
I am sure you have considered Macalaster, Middlebury, Amherst and Tufts (good music dept. that we have direct experience with). Great list already!
One caution is that schools with a conservatory or music school may offer most of the better opportunities to students in the conservatory. Oberlin does have a musical arts program for a BA and Bard students can also study music outside of the conservatory- that is true at many colleges with music schools. But look really carefully into the possibility that the presence of a School of Music might be a con, not a pro (no pun intended). Even at Yale, an undergrad often will study with a grad student rather than a professor.
Bard does have a double degree which is compulsory for all conservatory students.
It is perfectly possible to continue music at a high level outside of a conservatory and also without majoring in music. it takes access to a good teacher and a continued work ethic, and, as the original poster knows, excellent peers and extracurricular orchestra or ensembles.
So back to the original question: I don’t know!! The simple question about quality of orchestras may require some PM’s too for reasons of tact and privacy 
I do think Swarthmore and Williams have good music but that doesn’t mean the others don’t- I just don’t know about them.
When we dropped DS off for his first year at Grinnell a few weeks ago, we ran into a family we had met 2 yrs prior at Oberlin while touring as parents of HS juniors. She was looking for a strong music program and had decided she did not want a conservatory so she is now at Grinnell. DS loves the school.
I too am a Carleton mom, but I have no compunction whatsoever in saying that St. Olaf blows Carleton out of the water when it comes to music. Concordia College Moorhead certainly has a higher performance level as well, and greater support for the music efforts of students (for example, live streaming of all recitals & concerts and web archive of performances) What prospective majors is your son considering? That will certainly shape the list as well.
I was thinking of Grinnell too. Glad to hear your son loves it.
Rlspufff, and the original poster, you might want to read this: http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html
Oh, keep forgetting: have you thought of posting this on the music forum? It’s really helpful.
The concert master of our high school orchestra found that he was only a middle player at Princeton. There are a lot of pretty decent college orchestras out there. I’ve always heard good things about St. Olaf and music too. Bard has a really cool building for performances, but it’s very very small in a very rural location.
Apart from St. Olaf having better music than Carleton, is the music still good at Carlton? Our son has not decided on a major, but is interested in history, economics and French, for starters. Maybe a minor in music. We visited Swarthmore and had some talks with people in the music department, which made a very good impression. Amherst and Tufts are off the list for different reasons having nothing to do with music.reasons.
Thanks for your comment. I agree, it comes down to access to and quality of the teachers. And yes, I have heard that non music majors fate times don’t get access to the top orchestras or have a tough time because they’re competing with music majors for the spots in the ensembles. That is why we hadn’t considered Oberlin.
KE7WUD- I have to say that I wasn’t impressed with the music at Carleton. During the accepted student visit weekend, we heard a sampler concert, not the full orchestra, so I can’t speak to that. As a lifelong singer, I found the quality of the vocal ensemble to be poor–not much vocal blend, little or no vowel uniformity. My son, after playing string bass for 7 years switched to organ lessons and does appreciate his organ teacher (adjunct faculty, a church musician from the Twin Cities ). However, Carleton has not maintained the massive organ in the Skinner Chapel so that now several ranks are unusable. The Performance Hall roof has issues and there are discussions about building demolition and not replacing or moving & rebuilding the pipe organ currently there. So, my overall impression is that Carleton views music as a healthy avocation, but doesn’t push or support its students to excellence in that area.
Bowdoin has a very lively music presence, most notably during its summer festival, which is very high quality:
http://www.bowdoinfestival.org/
Obviously that is different from the academic year, but I think that the involvement is there. Here’s a link to their music calendar for this fall: