<p>If anyone is interested here is a link to a current article on the state of the music performance program at UPenn:
<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0705/feature01.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0705/feature01.html</a></p>
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<p>Can someone tell me how the Music dept . is at UPenn ??? Is it in the classical as well as the jazz vein ?? Ensembles ??? </p>
<p>Does the Music Dept. have a separate open house date ???</p>
<p>There's a good article on the Penn Music Department at this web site:
<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0705/feature01.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0705/feature01.html</a></p>
<p>No separate open house date that I know of. There is no performance major at Penn although you can get credt for performing in ensembles and for taking lessons (and subsidized lessons if you are at intermediate level and higher)</p>
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<p>any information on this from a source OTHER than penn? every college tells me their music program is wonderful...</p>
<p>My D is a freshman music major at Penn and she has found it to be fine not to mention the added benefit of student rush tickets to the Philadelphia Orchestra for $6.</p>
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<p>I know a few musicians who have graduated from Penn (although not as performance majors) and they are all pretty good. Penn has some decent offerings in early music. I do not think they have a very large jazz program. </p>
<p>If you are looking for performance programs in Philly check out Curtis (but don't expect to get in), Temple (excellent programs in both classical and jazz) and University of the Arts.</p>
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<p>My S applied to Penn but was not accepted. He met with the Performance Coordinator before he applied. My S has played in NJ All State Bands and was told by another All State musician who is at Penn that the Penn ensembles are weak in comparison to NJ Honors Bands.
My S felt that the Penn ensembles would be acceptable for a few years and then he would need to look elsewhere in Philly for playing opportunities.</p>
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<p>That article is pretty revealing of the weakness of performance at Penn, if you ask me... I mean, if the very existence of a piano trio is a source of surprise, a serious performer probably shouldn't go there.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot</p>
<p>I think I want to minor in Music. Don't you have to audition?</p>
<p>Yes, for symphony or chamber.</p>
<p>Oh ok thanks, I'm most into music for the vocal performance.</p>
<p>D ended up not applying to Penn in part because of their apparent disdain for music performance. (classical voice) She knew there was no performance major, so that wasn't the issue. She wanted to know about performance related classes, faculty-lead (as oppsed to the omni-present student-lead a capella groups) choruses and ensembles, opera scenes, etc. When we visited the campus, we went to the music department so she could find out more, and the people we encountered were withering. They kept repeating that they don't have performance, and went so far as to tell us that students at Curtis perform Penn composer's works. Apparently there is no affiliation with a conservatory, so if a voice student wants to continue to study, say, diction, in a class, they're on their own. She was pretty disappointed, as otherwise it could have been a good fit. But if there was much of a music scene for serious classical singers, the music dept certainly didn't share that info.</p>
<p>My S liked the Penn Music Performance Coordinator and thought he would've made a fine mentor (same instrument). The Penn Music Dept is housed in a run down building (especially given the newer construction projects completed on campus). Yale especially is better known for its performing and visual arts as well as music programs. Princeton just received $101 million from a wealthy alumnus to expand its performing and creative arts programs/facilities. Guess Penn just places more emphasis on pre-professional programs and bulidings.</p>
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<p>Penn just completed a renovation to Fisher Bennet Hall with music facilities on the top floors, is spending about $1 million on a new Student Performing Arts House that will open this September and is poised to begin the renovation of the Music Building. So all is not lost. Penn doesn't have the endowment that Princeton and Yale have for these types of programs but it may be easier to find a private instructor in Philly than new haven or princeton.</p>
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