looking for a good jazz studies or performance program

<p>my son is a graduating senior and a drum set player. he is looking for schools with jazz studies/drum set specialization or a music performance/drum set degree. he is also considering music education. he is currently looking at berklee (boston), new school (ny), southern illinois-edwardsville (sounds obscure, but he's been hearing good things and it's close to home), and columbia (liberal arts in chicago). he spent time at berklee this summer and loved it, but it and new school are at the top of our price range. they're still in the running, though (berklee offered a scholarship)we'd like more midd-of-the-road priced programs. conservatory/university doesn't matter to him--only he is not a percussionist (no classical) so he is shying away from schools whose audition includes timpani, etc. he's an ok student, great kid, and great musician. very mature, dedicated to his art and focused.
this is such a huge and expensive undertaking, and i don't want to confuse him, but does anyone have any suggestions about other programs he should consider/comments about the ones he is already considering?? any help is help!</p>

<p>dawn, I’ve suggested the mods move this to the music major forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/&lt;/a&gt;. </p>

<p>For starters, here’s a couple of past threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/389523-music-major-drum-set.html?highlight=drum[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/389523-music-major-drum-set.html?highlight=drum&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/746736-music-drum-interest.html?highlight=drum[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/746736-music-drum-interest.html?highlight=drum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’d suggest searching for more posts by SJTH and Steve M. Scanning the last post in the Master list threads will give you the school, poster and discipline for the past couples of admissions cycles. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/618208-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2009-a.html?highlight=master[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/618208-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2009-a.html?highlight=master&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/424909-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2008-a.html?highlight=master[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/424909-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2008-a.html?highlight=master&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/310197-master-list-music-school-acceptances.html?highlight=master[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/310197-master-list-music-school-acceptances.html?highlight=master&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>I’ve written fairly extensively there about music ed (albeit from a strings perspective) and searching “music ed” or “music education” will bring up about 2 pages of posts under each.</p>

<p>Plenty of school specific experiences (audition info, program and facilities impressions, etc.) can be found, and the posters there are eager to help.</p>

<p>There are a lot of good programs out there for drumset, with vast tuition differences. William Patterson in NJ and SUNY Purchase are relatively good deals for out-of-state students and have strong drum teachers. I know that there is a poster who used to post here who spoke positively about the jazz program at Northern Illinois U, so if you are in the area, that might be worth checking out.</p>

<p>If you don;t mind looking at Canada I would suggest McGill in Montreal and Humber College in Toronto. Both have outstanding Jazz Programs but auditions are hard and McGill is very selective. They would be middle of the road cost wise given the cost of some of the American School versus Canadian. My D was a jazz drummer for 5 years but her heart was as a Percussionist (8 Years), primarily Marimba and mallets but as confortable with all the instruments, she is now in the US taking a double music major in ED and Perf. Good Luck</p>

<p>I can’t speak to percussion programs per se, but in terms of cost … University of North Texas has one of the leading jazz programs in the country, and depending on what kind of scholarship your son might qualify for, he might also qualify for in-state tuition. Even their out-of-state tuition is pretty reasonable.</p>

<p>Indiana University in Bloomington is kind of high for out-of-state, but still has to be cheaper than Berklee. Michigan State has a very small jazz program, but their tuition would not be too bad.</p>

<p>Has your S considered U of I Urbana-Champaign? Jazz drums faculty member Dana Hall is incredible, both as a performer and teacher. </p>

<p>I second the suggestion of NIU. Top-notch faculty, not far from Chicago scene. </p>

<p>If your S is looking at Columbia College Chicago, then he should definitely also look at DePaul. </p>

<p>I’ve heard good things about the Illinois Wesleyan program. </p>

<p>Outside Illinois, I would suggest Indiana, as a previous poster did. They give decent money I’ve heard. </p>

<p>Western Michigan U. has a good music rep, jazz in particular. </p>

<p>Hope these suggestions are helpful. Good luck!</p>

<p>We looked at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville as Jim Martin teaches low brass there and I think it has a small program but quality teachers. Jim also teaches the jazz big band at Webster University in St Louis and so you may want to look at that school as well and for a private college the tuition is reasonable and they give good Academic Scholarships to bring the price down. Indiana University has more money for music scholarships than most public schools I think and has a fairly big jazz program (four big bands plus numerous combos). </p>

<p>A lot depends on if your son would be more comfortable learning in a small program or is looking for that “Big Name” school like IU or North Texas. After talking to some of the masters students in my son’s instrument (bass trombone) this parents weekend at IU it seemed like most of them came from small schools and they were all accepted at more than one of the top schools for their masters program. I feel the keys are the teachers at the school and talent/effort of the student not the name of it. So if your son is comfortable with the teacher at a lesser known school I would encourage him to attend.</p>

<p>My son is in the popular music program at University of Southern California. Not a drummer, but taking drumming as part of the curriculum he is in and Peter Erskine is his professor (although a TA is more involved) and quite a noted drummer I understand. Also visited son recently and he toured us through their very cool drum lab. Also son is finding exposure to music industry figures phenomenal. If I ignore the management types that speak to his class (attorneys, managers, record execs, etc.) he has performed for Lamont Dozier, Steve Miller and Patrice Rushen as a part of his curriculum that I know of and was at a post performance party where John Fogarty was there. Sounds like your son’s music interests would suggest at least looking at USC.</p>

<p>I should also mention that USC has significant academic merit scholarships (not easy to get, but they give quite a few) that require application to be submitted by December 1st and I think audition tapes are required by January 1st.</p>

<p>BTW son is a freshman, so interactions with music artists in previous post is in about 1st 10 weeks on campus.</p>

<p>Dawnewalker 2</p>

<p>My son is a freshman jazz studies drum set major at the University of North Texas. He’s thrilled with the department, the facilities and the sense of community. Although it’s a really huge music school with 1600+ majors (over 400+ in jazz department and nearly 40 on drum set) he’s very comfortable with the whole Denton TX scene and is playing 24/7 between lessons, school combos, late night jams and a few paid gigs in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. The primary drum set instructor, Ed Soph, is a world class drummer/educator who emphasizes turning out “accomplished musicians, who’s primary instrument is the drum set”
However, they require some concert percussion material in addition to jazz performances at the audition (concert snare, tympani and marimba) and upon entry (this is probably true at most accredited schools) all drum set players face similar music curriculum requirements that include basic piano, music theory and aural skills training. I don’t think there’s away around that for a BM or BA in music. That said, the program is outstanding and very affordable - even more so for out of state students on a scholarship. Check out the UNT jazz Studies website for the audition and degree program requirements.
Best of luck to your son</p>

<p>raddad, please note that this year audition prescreens for all the Thornton programs are also due December 1st. (I know this is a change from last year).</p>

<p>For price you can’t beat SUNY Purchase–very selective though. If you read through older posts you will see some discussion on this.</p>

<p>jazz/shreddermom, thanks for the improved info. My info is from last year’s application process. I would hate for someone to miss the deadline because I provided old info! Good luck to your son *and you) in all his apps and auditions!</p>

<p>thanks, raddad. :)</p>