<p>I cross-posted this on the Reed forum, but it doesn't get a lot of traffic. I wonder if any of you know the answer to this.</p>
<p>I was planning to bring my HS junior S to visit Reed College during spring break. My guess is that S will major in some social science, but take many music classes (possibly earning a double major) because music (jazz, contemporary, world) is his long standing passion. </p>
<p>While looking over Reed's website, I noticed that Reed only has 4 faculty in its Music Department. Am I missing something? Most other small LAC that we have looked at have many more faculty members in their music depts. We also noticed that the department seems to schedule very few music events. Anyone know what's up? Is music just not a strength of this college?</p>
<p>I’ll try there, too. The data are interesting. In terms of full time equivalents, Reed has only 3 faculty. Whitman and Grinnell, in contrast, have 7 and 5.4. Maybe there is something else going on, though. . …</p>
<p>At some LACs, only the academic faculty (musicology, theory/comp, ethnomusicology) have faculty rank; to make things even more complicated, some websites make this distinction, others blur it. Often the directors of ensembles, applied music teachers, coaches, and accompanists have different titles (instructor, adjuct, or associate or something similar)–and this may or may not reflect their role in the program. Several of Reed’s academic faculty are nationally know scholars, and their web site lists something like 30 applied music teachers on everything from tabla to flamenco guitar, so I wouldn’t conclude much based on the list of 4 full-time faculty alone.</p>
<p>One of my daughters best friends originally planned on majoring in music composition, I believe he ultimately switched to theatre ( or maybe combined- anyway his thesis was a play)</p>
<p>D was originally interested in majoring in graphic design, was attracted to Reed because of the ability to use the art studio without taking a course. She found that art classes were not easy to fit into her schedule, but she did enjoy performing in the vocal dept and even had her prof on her thesis committee ( for biology)</p>
<p>Its my impression that Reed has more classical focus than jazz- but keep in mind Reed has fewer students than my daughters high school so any dept is not going to be large.
Portland does have many musicians who regularly perform in small clubs which seem to be more numerous than in Seattle.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Reed. Music is also his passion. He has been happy with his experiences with the music department so far. The department is currently small, but has received a major grant for expansion of their faculty over the next few years. The full time faculty are supplemented by professional musicians who serve as part-time instructors. My son, a sax player, has been very pleased with his instructor, a professional jazz musician. There are MANY students interested in music at Reed, and my son has found quite a few other students to jam with. In addition to the practice rooms in the Music building, Reed also has a band practice room in the student union, with recording equipment (my son also plays drums and bass guitar, so this has been a fun outlet). A plus for my son has been the Portland music scene, which offers a lot of opportunities for both performing and attending performances. </p>
<p>That said, Reed is a demanding place academically, and my son has found that it can be very hard to fit non-academic pursuits, including his music, into his day. His music is definitely taking a back seat to academics, whereas in high school it was often the other way around. </p>
<p>Much depends on whether a student wants to major on music, or just do music, at Reed. If the latter, which is where my son fits (his main reason for going there was the academic fit, not for music) there are plenty of great opportunities, and lots of sympatico students. If a music major is the goal, then I’d recommend checking out Oberlin, which is similar to Reed in many ways, and has an amazing conservatory. Other LACs with strong music programs would include: Lawrence University, Skidmore, University of Redlands, but there are others as well.</p>
<p>I would add Williams and Wesleyan to the list of LACs with strong music programs (and excellent academics). My son (at Williams) had several friends who were serious musicians and although they ultimately chose not to major in music they took advantage of the many performance opportunities on campus and in the surrounding community.</p>
<p>If you have the time to see Whitman (4 hours up the Columbia River from Portland–or a flight to Pascoe and a 25 minute drive) it is probably a worthy comparison and does have a strong music program and many Whitman students double major.</p>
<p>Even if you can’t make a trip, the website could let you look at the kinds of music programs and events that are available, just for comparison to other schools. I have been impressed with how many students are actively involved in music–and how many non-music-to-start-with kids get interested just because their friends are actively involved and it is an obvious part of life on campus.</p>
<p>Oberlin and Lawrence would be the obvious other ones, given they have conservatory programs right on campus.</p>
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