<p>Can anyone tell me about the music program at UChicago? My son is a HS junior sax player (also plays clarinet and some flute) who is considering a range of college music options - major, minor, or just performing in ensembles. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’ll wait for someone who’s actually in the program to talk about this in more detail, but the University of Chicago is a fine place for music. We have a stellar major program and both our major and minor programs are available for all students across the college to enroll in. Also, anyone in any major is welcome to audition for any musical ensemble.</p>
<p>Your son, however, should be aware that this school isn’t the place for composition or music education, if these are the fields he wants to go into. Our offerings in the former are minimal and our offerings in the second are nonexistent because we don’t really have an undergraduate education program. If he’s pursuing music solely as an academic/extracurricular interest, and if the character of UChicago in particular appeals to him, then this is a good option; if he’s looking to be a high school band teacher, then there are many better options.</p>
<p>To add to what Oxalis Wambo wrote, UChicago does not have a music performance major either. A music major there would focus on theory, musicology, composition, etc., but not on music performance. Even so, there are lots of opportunities for getting music instruction and performing in ensembles. It’s just that this would be extracurricular.</p>
<p>UChicago has a very well regarded music composition department. I think that Easley Blackwood is still teaching and Philip Glass is one of the products of the program. Here is an excerpt by a UChicago alum and CC user by the name of “Cosmos” that he posted a few years back:</p>
<p>"My school, the University of Chicago, has a very good music department, and a great composition faculty. The department is small, but quite excellent and is regularly ranked first or second in the country (trading off with Harvard). There are also a number of excellent composers working in Chicago at the moment - Osvaldo Goljiov comes to mind - who your daughter could try to get lessons from if she were to attend UChicago, and the university would help pay for the lessons. At the University itself, we have John Eaton, Shulamit Ran, Easley Blackwood, Marta Ptaszynska, and Kotoka Suzuki teaching composition. We also have wonderful music theory, ethnomusicology, and music history faculty, as well as a number of solid performing groups, and three great ensembles in residence (the Pacifica Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra). We also have Center for Italian Opera Study led by the great music historian, Philip Gosset, who’s on faculty here.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions about the University or music department. "</p>
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