Looking for a music college?

College Majors Music Major
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<p>SUNY University at Buffalo's program is expanding and we have opportunities for all kinds of music majors, all areas from bachelor's to PhD. We have a fantastic composition and theory program, and the program is currently expanding so we're offering scholarships and the like. The school is open to all sorts of styles and mixes, students can focus basically on anything they want as long as it's creatively done. We have loads of different types of ensembles and tons of concerts.</p>

<p>Summers in Buffalo are great too, I've posted most of the summer concerts on our myspace page, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/buffalomusic/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.myspace.com/buffalomusic/&lt;/a> . The school's website is <a href="http://www.music.buffalo.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.music.buffalo.edu&lt;/a> and the school affiliated concerts are listed at <a href="http://slee.buffalo.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://slee.buffalo.edu&lt;/a> . The website's not that informative, it's being redone, so if you have questions just post them here or send to sbailey4 at buffalo.edu. I'm a theory PhD student there so I can give you great advice/info.</p>

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<p>One of your musicologist faculty just left to join the faculty at the U where my D is doing her PhD...he's 20th C and shes excited...Smeltz?or some name like that....from what we hear,he's also bringing a grad student along with him.</p>

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<p>Peter Smeltz is a fantastic teacher, and moving to WashU was a great opportunity, we're all very happy for him. He actually had a great influence on one of my own students, changed his major from composition to musicology. We'll be getting in a guest lecturer to replace him temporarily from UCLA I believe, I don't recall her name at the moment though.</p>

<p>Anyway, your D is very lucky, he's a fantastic teacher, on the young side, easy to relate to, very helpful... loves Tom Waits :p</p>

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<p>UB Music -
What kind of opportunities are there at UB for tubaguys who want to major in theory and composition? S is a senior this fall - maybe we should check UB out? He doesn't really want to go to Crane or Fredonia because he doesn't want to major in music ed. and that seems to be their focus. He's looking at Ithaca, but that's pretty darn expensive. He's also interested in journalism/communications - I think he's dreaming of writing for Rolling Stone or something (and no, he hasn't seen Almost Famous)...</p>

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<p>Well, UB has a really unique theory program, developed by the current chair, Charles Smith. He is fairly unorthodox, and very formulaic. Also I'm a TA for freshman theory, so from experience I'll say that about the second semester it starts getting very Schenkerian, which is an advantage for students who want to continue on in grad school. We require keyboard skills, but students take weekly lessons with their TA's so they don't need kb skills to be accepted to the program, they'll develop them as they go. Theory at UB can be difficult and demanding, so if he doesn't really have a love for theory he'll have to fight to make it through. Our theory program carries high expectations and takes a lot of work.</p>

<p>If your S wants to avoid music ed. UB is definitely the place for it, we don't have any ed. at all. Frankly, I don't blame him, the ed. market is saturated.</p>

<p>As a theory PhD I have to say that UB is a great place to follow your own ambitions regarding theory. The faculty encourages independent thought, something I wasn't really accustomed to before I came here. Also the school is incredibly accepting regarding musical style. If your S wants to write computer music and study classical theory he can. If he wants to write classical music and study Schenkerian theory he can. They don't really care as long as he has ambition and creativity and they work fairly hard to encourage unique development.</p>

<p>As far as journalism I don't know a lot about the department but we do have a weekly school paper that accepts new writers very easily, so he'd have opportunities to write music/concert reviews regularly. If he got really good he could submit to ArtVoice, the local independent paper.</p>

<p>So now for some links. Degree Paths for ugrads are here: <a href="http://www.music.buffalo.edu/degrees/index.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.music.buffalo.edu/degrees/index.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The page for the composition program is here: <a href="http://www.music.buffalo.edu/composition/index.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.music.buffalo.edu/composition/index.shtml&lt;/a> -be sure to check out the Hiller Studio, it's really great.</p>

<p>And the page for the theory dept. is here: <a href="http://www.music.buffalo.edu/theory/index.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.music.buffalo.edu/theory/index.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Most of those pages talk about masters/PhD programs and they're a little vague... silly website. So if you have more questions reply here or email sbailey4 at buffalo.edu.</p>

<p>Good luck with your apps!</p>

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<p>Ha, I forgot to mention we have a marching band and concert band that could always use a tuba player, and lessons are available, probably from a member of the Buffalo Phil. I'll check into that for you.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for the information! We will definitely add UB to his list. By way of further info, he's in marching band (sousaphone) and pretty much every other ensemble his school offers. He started taking piano lessons with a pretty demanding teacher about 2 years ago - he figured he'd need to know piano if he were to take music in college. He has taken some music theory classes. And, at the moment, he is plowing through the Oxford Companion to Music (1200+ pages) for his "fun" summer reading. He does have some audition/solo anxiety - but if he feels well prepared, he usually does ok. He uses Finale software, but would like us to order Sibelius for him. </p>

<p>You mentioned in your initial post there may be scholarship money available - would it be merit and/or need based, because although we aren't rich, we won't qualify for diddly.</p>

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<p>Alright, glad to hear SUNY UB's on his list :D Sounds like he'd fit in perfectly at UB, given your further info. I would suggest though, rather than the Oxford companion that he read the Grout and Palisca History of Western Music... it's pretty standard and very thorough.</p>

<p>On a personal note, if he already uses Finale comfortably I don't really see any need for him to have Sibelius, most people use one or the other and get by just fine; although I understand the desire to have both, being a software geek myself :p</p>

<p>No, our scholarships are only merit based. I'd say he'd get one too, depending on his ACT/SAT scores, someone with a strong audition and previous theory skills is likely to get money. You should also look into the University Scholars program for scholarships. This isn't the link to the scholarship info but it does tell you the requirements, and the site has info on how to contact them. <a href="http://universityscholars.buffalo.edu/scholarlytimes/ub-scholars-academic-review-2006/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://universityscholars.buffalo.edu/scholarlytimes/ub-scholars-academic-review-2006/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Is SUNY open to dual degrees/double majors, that is Music plus let's say, a science? My son excels in both areas and does not want to give up either.</p>

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<p>Dual degree / major with Sciences and an ensemble instrument is match made in hell, since most ensembles meet during the afternoons which is also the normal time for science course labs. </p>

<p>Scheduling such a dual program can be an exercise in manipulating the space / time continuum...</p>

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<p>I'd agree with Imperial Zeppelin, it's not so much whether it's available, it definitely is. One of my students is currently majoring in both Music (voice) and Dance, with some other minor on top of that. The problem is scheduling, particularly in the Freshman and Sophomore year. That particular student was horrible to deal with because we could never fit meetings and lessons and things into her schedule. She herself was lovely, but she was definitely overextended. The theory classes are required by every major and are extremely difficult and time consuming. Even for my students that were majoring in Science and minoring in music there were schedule conflicts and by the end of their first year they were running out of steam, as opposed to the music majors, who were still doing fairly well at the end of the first year. I would say major in one, minor in the other. A dual degree is recipe for disaster. In either case SUNY UB has it available. If he really has incredible drive he could do it either way.</p>

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<p>thanks, my DS is a pianist, so no ensembles probably.</p>

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<p>Pianists seem to be the most successful at juggling the schedules necessary for dual degree majors...</p>

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<p>Pianists do have to participate in choir.</p>

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<p>Actually the requirement is six semesters of an ensemble credit. Pianists could participate in Jazz Combo Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble, or maybe even the orchestra if they have a piece that requires piano.</p>