<p>Dancersmom--I've actually seen posts from you on the musical theater thread, and I'm working my way through the mountains(!) of posts there. That's also been very helpful as we (read: I) look at schools for our theater-directed daughter. It sounds, though, like your situation exactly parallels ours--we kind of figure we will have to pay through the nose to get our D what she needs in theater, while our S can get an excellent education in his field much more cheaply.</p>
<p>I haven't posted on MT yet because I'm still in the exploring stage, but I'm sure I will get around to it sooner or later.</p>
<p>And now we'll look into Kentucky and Duquesne, as well. Two more for the list!</p>
<p>Given audition requirements, how many schools is it reasonable to apply to? And are all auditions on-site for the music schools? I know that in musical theater, many of the big schools hold regional auditions as well as on-site.</p>
<p>TwinDad:
Ah... The old IUP/IUB confusion. Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana is the state flagship university and one of the top music schools in the country. Admission is very competetive and decent scholarships are available for OOS performance majors. I know they have a strong music ed program, but don't know about admissions selectivity and scholarships in that area. Indiana University of PA is one of the larger regional universities in the PA state system, located in Indiana, PA about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. It's about 1/3 the size of IUB, but with lots of music opportunities and not so much competition for ensemble placement from the types of students who are attracted to a top tier music school like IUB.</p>
<p>TwinDad -- I think the number of schools in the final set depends on resources and time. For D, she narrowed it to 6 schools and tried to keep the framework of reach/safety/match although it's a little tougher in music because the audition is such a big part of the decision. Some programs required screening recordings/CDs be sent first and others did not. Given a very busy extracurricular life (a varsity sport, private lessons, orchestra, 3 choral groups, competitive show choir and musical in the spring), it was very difficult to get everything scheduled and she did have to miss one show choir competition in order to make an audition. For several of the schools, we made an additional visit to have a practice lesson with faculty. Given all of that, I would lean toward fewer rather than more. It gets very expensive, too!</p>
<p>Some schools (typically conservatories) have regional auditions (2 of the ones on D's list) but the conventional wisdom from this board is to avoid that unless absolutely necessary. The thinking is that there tends to be more opportunity to connect with facult in person rather than dealing with a couple of program representatives. D did on-site auditions. </p>
<p>Hope this is helpful -- music majors have quite a bit more to do in the college app process. There is quite a bit of info about the audition process on this board. The depth of experience that folks have shared is a real gift. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Twin Dad,
I'd be happy to help you in any way I can with your MT college search. There is certainly a mountain of posts over on the MT forum. I think it is one of the most active forums on CC. Virtually any question pertaining to College MT programs has been asked and answered there many times over. I've been participating for over 3 1/2 years now. I mostly lurk nowdays, since my D is a college junior, but I'm still picking up valuable information. Let me know if there's any way I can help you.
Kathy</p>
<p>Many thanks to everybody for all the useful info and suggestions! I'm now going back into research mode, but I'll be keeping up with this board. I'm sure I'll have more questions for the brain trust as we go through this.</p>
<p>Dancersmom--thanks for your offer. See you over on the MT thread!</p>
<p>I am a performance major at IU but for the first 2 years of high school I thought I would be going into music education so I seriously considered alot of the schools you listed. Here at IU, we have a great education department and since it is a great music school in general, the music instruction will be wonderful.
Ithaca, Westchester and Hartt have solid music education deparments. One of my good friends here at IU is from Long Island and has friends going to SUNY Potsdam and Fredonia. He says they have very decent music programs- similiar to the ones I mentioned above. In New Jersey All-State Orchestra I had one of the orchestra conductors at Ithaca and thought he was not only a wonderful musician and conductor but a great person. The director of the Philadelphia Boychoir who is a friend of one of my family members, went there and had an amazing time. Ithaca was one of my first choices when I looked into music education so I'm definitely an advocate for their program.</p>
<p>This afternoon , I have been lurking at this particular post simultaneously while also reading RUGG's college book of majors for the double bass player in our family . He is not Oberlin/Eastman/BU caliber as he only has been playing for two years ( piano , electric bass before then ) but he is in two youth orchestras , did well in all-county & all-state and making up for lost time . He could get into U of R or Oberlin because of his scholastic records and scores but not for music & he simply is interested only in Music Ed. with a good performance program for double bass .</p>
<p>The list that I have gleaned so far from this post : SUNY Fredonia ( which we visited and he really liked it there ) , SUNY Potsdam , Indiana University of Penn., West Chester , Hartt School , Syracuse U . , Ithaca College , Temple , University of Kentucky , Duquesne . </p>
<p>Does anyone know if University of New Hampshire ( their posters are splattered all over the Music Dept boards ) would be good possibility for my son ? Susquehanna ? Emerson ? Do they have a full-time double bass faculty ? </p>
<p>We are New Yorker , but his scores and GPA are high enough for some decent Merit . </p>
<p>Also my most pressing question at this stage of the game , is if anyone know if the Music Education / Performance program at Case Western very competititive ???</p>
<p>UNH's John Hunter is more known for jazz than classical, but he would probably be fine for someone who is not looking for a teacher with a hardcore orchestral background.</p>
<p>My wife has a Music Ed degree from Susquehanna and says that the department there is very good. They built a new performing arts center in 2002 and recently hired a permanent bass teacher, Joshua Davis. He also appears to be jazz-oriented, but I do not know much about him. The school also has some good merit-based aid available.</p>
<p>I was not aware that Emerson College even had a music ed department. I thought their Performing Arts department was mainly oriented toward musical theatre and acting. I do not think that they have either a "full-time" bass teacher or a symphony orchestra, which is not a good thing for a bass student. (Actually, very few schools really have a full-time bass teacher. Most bass teachers either play with an orchestra or other ensemble, teach at more than one college, freelance, take private students, etc...)</p>
<p>Of the other schools you mentioned, Temple has an excellent bass program both in jazz and classical (one student transferred into Curtis a few years back). Hartt has a couple of bass teachers who look very interesting, particularly for contemporary music. I don't know much about the others.</p>
<p>BassDad , I doublechecked Emerson and you were right on the button ( musical theatre ) . Thanks for the mention of Susquehanna as it's not far from us . One more question : Do you know anything about the double bass dept. at Ohio State ? My son is learning Simandal ( ? ) techniques .</p>
<p>easydoesitmom: I recommended Indiana Univ of PA to the OP's son, who is a brass player interested in jazz and marching band. While IUP does have a good music ed program, I'm not sure that the strings and orchestra components are strong. Check it out carefully.</p>
<p>I do not know a lot about Paul Robinson, the bass teacher at Ohio State, but his credentials appear sound and, having studied with Homer Mensch and Oscar Zimmerman, he should be a good match for a student of the Simandl method.</p>
<p>Thumper, thanks for suggesting U.Delaware, I was just about to do so. DD got her Elem. Ed. degree there, but had scads of friends who were Music Ed. majors. The Music Department just opened a brand new building (of course, just after DD graduated), so the facilities are as good as the school's reputation as a 'teacher's college.' Twindad, if you're already considering West Chester, UD is just another half hour down the road. It might be worth taking a side-trip when you're in the area.</p>
<p>I am a percussionist and I plan to major in music education. I also plan to audition for drum corps. I live in a suburb of the Twin Cities in MN.</p>
<p>I've applied and been accepted to the U of Minnesota Twin Cities, South Dakota State University, and University of Wisconsin Madison. </p>
<p>My parents are pushing for one of those three because they are cheap and close to home, but I really want to go to UMass Amherst. Why?</p>
<p>-I've got the urge "to get away" from the midwest.
-I love the east coast.
-I'm impressed by their marching percussion program.
-It's a public school, so it's cheaper (but still not as cheap as if I went to the U of Minnesota).
-It's NOT the university of minnesota. I've been taking classes at the U via the Post Secondary Enrollment Options Program for the past two years so I don't want to spend the next four years (or 3, since I have so many credits now) there in ADDITION to the past two I've already been on campus.</p>
<p>Maybe I'm just a diva, though.</p>
<p>I am hoping the music department at UMass Amherst doesn't turn out to be "underwhelming," as an earlier post put it. I will find out this December 2 when I audition and visit the campus.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the marching program at UMass, but we know several people who have studied Music Ed there (and been student teachers at my children's schools), and considered it a decent to good program. </p>
<p>For performance, we were totally underwhelmed. My son is also a drummer/percussionist (and a pianist) and met with the chair of the jazz department when we visited. Very nice guy, but S looked at the lead sheets for the highest combo they have, and it was easier stuff than he is playing now. </p>
<p>We didn't see the practice rooms, but heard a couple kids practicing here and there; there were really only two floors for the music department in a school of 15K+ kids. </p>
<p>As I said, for marching and music ed, I suspect the experience may be different. I hope you have a great audition and visit next month.</p>
<p>Graciedrummer07--I can only give you impressions, not firm facts, so please read this with that in mind.</p>
<p>We live in Mass. and I've seen the UMass marching band perform exhibitions at my son's HS competitions. I'm not really qualified to comment on their musicianship, but I can tell you it's a big band by East Coast standards (250-300), but probably small by Southern/Midwest standards. They all look like they're having fun, but I haven't seen them perform anything that really blew me away.</p>
<p>S says he wants to go into music ed (plays trombone, and baritone horn in drum corps), but refuses to consider anything in Massachusetts (of course, he's not the one paying the bills!). So I haven't looked too much into UMass Amherst, only know that S doesn't want to go there, for whatever reason.</p>
<p>Regarding drum corps, there aren't any top-tier Div. I corps in New England. The best ones are in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. (Maybe West Coast, too, though we don't see much of them.) So, oddly enough, S is looking at Midwest schools for many of the same reasons you are looking at East Coast!</p>
<p>One of his instructors was a trumpet performance major at U-Wisconsin (Madison), and swears by the program there. He also recommended Indiana University and Duquesne. On this and other threads, I've gotten recommendations from CC'ers on Eastern schools, which we are seriously looking into--mainly in Pennsylvania and upstate NY.</p>
<p>I am a freshman music composition and vocal performance major at SUNY Fredonia, although I may be leaving at the end of the year, I still love the school...</p>
<p>If you have any questions feel free to ask!</p>