<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I have been accepted to Brown, Harvard, and Columbia as a transfer student. I absolutely love Brown, but I’m very worried about the quality of the music on campus. I’m from New York City, and during high school I attended Mannes pre-prep, which is a pre-conservatory program, as well as New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music, and played in various masterclasses, etc. I play flute and I sing, so I’m interested in everything ranging from the orchestra, chamber music, the choir, a cappella, maybe a musical. I’m not looking to become a musician, which is why I decided not to apply to conservatories, but I am looking for a pretty high level of musical performance opportunities. Private lessons are also a big concern–being in Providence there are fewer opportunities for teachers off campus, so I need to be sure that I would be able to study with someone of a high caliber on campus. Harvard and Columbia are both clearly very good at music, but I love the freedom of Brown’s curriculum and the more intimate nature of the campus. I need to let Brown know by tomorrow so any and all input is GREATLY appreciated!!</p>
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<p>if you’re not planning on being a musician then wouldn’t it be better to be happier about your curriculum and campus even if it means sacrificing a little on music?</p>
<p>I don’t know enough to really speak on the music scene in PVD or at Brown, but I do know enough to say that for a cappella it’s definitely far and away the best of the 3. We have the highest, if not close to it, number of a cappella groups per capita of any school in the country.</p>
<p>One of the neat things about Brown is that the arts are very much open to students who are not concentrating in the arts. There is an active program that provides private lessons to students who are not music concentrators, and there are also many other private lessons available if you don’t do it through that program. The orchestra is made up primarily of non-music concentrators, and has a special program started by Issac Stern where world class musicians come to work with and perform with the orchestra. Jean-Pierre Rampal played with them (I think just the year before he died).
There is a a flautist in Providence who I believe is well known (John Curran). He is not listed as a current faculty member, although he was. (some colorful past I think from articles) but gives lessons.
From this list of current music concentrators you can see that many are doing music as a second concentration, and are quite gifted.
[Brown</a> University Department of Music](<a href=“Music | Brown University”>Music | Brown University)
This will give yo some idea of music / flute at Brown:
[Brown</a> Web Search Results](<a href=“http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/brown?hq=inurl%3Awww.brown.edu%2FDepartments%2FMusic%2F&query=flute]Brown”>http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/brown?hq=inurl%3Awww.brown.edu%2FDepartments%2FMusic%2F&query=flute)
I wanna is correct about a capella. Many of those groups even travel and compete (sponsored also by past alum members etc)
There is also a Gilbert and Sullivan group that puts on a musical every year, in addition to I think at least one other musical on campus every year. So , yes you will find plenty of serious and non-serious music opportunities at Brown.</p>
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<p>All of the opportunities you mentioned are very open to students on campus, and they’re all pretty high quality. I went to a performance by the Brown Choir a few weeks ago and was extremely impressed. I also pretty often could hear the orchestra rehearsing at night from my dorm room, and they sounded great to me (I have a couple friends who are in the orchestra and they’re enjoying it). I also have a number of friends in a few a cappella groups (of which we have SO MANY), and they all have a blast. Finally, there are plenty of musicals around campus: I saw quite a few over the year, and was even in one of our 15-minute, student-written “Mini Musicals,” and that was lots of fun. I also took voice lessons for the first time first semester and enjoyed them.</p>
<p>If you’re not planning on becoming a professional musician as you say, there’s no reason to turn down Brown on the basis of extracurricular music opportunities. There’s plenty to get involved in (more than I mentioned here), and you’ll have a great time if you choose to do so.</p>
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<p>And if you wanted to know a bit more about private lessons, there’s an Applied Music program that involves private lessons along with music classes, and I think it requires an audition. I didn’t take my lessons through that, so I paid separately for voice instruction, but it was with a teacher who also teaches in the Applied Music program.</p>
<p>You can find out more about that if you click around here. Looks like there’s a flute instructor and 6 voice teachers (and those are just the private teachers affiliated with Brown). [Brown</a> University Department of Music](<a href=“Music | Brown University”>Music | Brown University)</p>
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<p>I can’t speak to music, but I will say that as a transfer student to Brown from HYP I think that Brown’s Curriculum is unparalleled and also that students seem happier. Hope you choose Brown as well!</p>
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<p>I know of another musician (pianist) who did the Mannes program and is very active in the music department, so you wouldn’t be the first excellent musician to enroll! It’s very easy to get involved in music here, and many of the students are very good. One caveat, though, is that the music buildings are kind of out of the way on campus. My guess, though, is that both Columbia and Harvard have comparable music programs.</p>
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