<p>I'm twenty eight and looking to return to school.
Specifically I'm looking to go to school for (classical) music composition.</p>
<p>I just applied at Cornish College of the Arts a couple of days ago, and now I'm looking for other schools to apply to.. plans B-Z.</p>
<p>What I'm looking for are schools that are strictly music oriented, reputable enough to matter in any circumstance in which it might matter, but open to students who aren't necessarily virtuosos. (I'm a functional musician, not exceptional by any means)
Oh - graduating with a head full of useful knowledge and experience would be nice too.</p>
<p>I've heard the word "conservatory" thrown around and that seems to be what I'm looking for, but the few I've come across seem to be pretty high brow..</p>
<p>I'm posting to try and get a better idea of what's out there.
If schools were social classes then the upper middle class range is what I'm looking at.
Anything in the US or Canada.</p>
<p>Yeah - unless you click on the “Discussion home” link on the left side of your screen, you wouldn’t realize that there is an entire section of CC devoted to specific major, and the Music Major is one of the subsections . . .</p>
<p>use the Search this Forum button to enter: composition</p>
<p>You’ll find lots of past threads.</p>
<p>Also, check out the Master List of Acceptances; go to the last page of the thread, and you’ll see where folks were accepted, for composition. Then, if you want, you can send a PM to that user for more info</p>
<p>What is your background? Undergraduate degree? Have you been studying composition? composing? There is a wide range of conservatoires. Undergraduate, graduate or certificate?</p>
<p>I’m looking to get a BA… with a mind to possibly continue for a graduate (not necessarily immediately following a BA, nor at the same school though.)</p>
<p>Entirely self taught. I know enough to fulfill the Cornish “audition” requirements… (three pieces, with notated scores)
I’m a functional guitarist, and slightly above average drummer, mediocre pianist.</p>
<p>I’ve read that there is a wide range of conservatories - I only seem to be able to find the ones at the top though…</p>
<p>For many music schools, you may have to audition on one instrument even if you plan on being a composition major, so if you do have to audition you may want to get deeper private instruction on your best instrument. A private instructor may be able to help you prep for an audition to increase your chances of success. If you have no location preferences, then you should have a lot more options to consider. Stay on this “Music Majors” forum and some graduate composition majors may respond or some of the other experts.</p>
<p>I am not an expert but schools that are “strictly music oriented” as you put, are only looking for the very best players. Not sure what you consider a virtuoso, but music only, or conservatories are for players that show extreme potential or are very developed. </p>
<p>But there are dozens if not hundreds of music schools inside of universities or just music departments where you could learn a great deal and then maybe go to a “strictly music oriented” school for your graduate school. </p>
<p>The advice to take a series of lessons and have a pro evaluate your potential and current level is the right thing to do. We were fortunate enough to find one of the best for our son to study under and it made a huge difference in the school he ended up going to and the size of the scholarship he received.</p>
<p>My main reason for posting here specifically, as opposed to continuing to trudge through google, was that I happened on a thread in which it was mentioned that there are a “wide range of conservatories”. </p>
<p>On my own I haven’t been able to find a very wide range. They’ve all seemed pretty similar… they present them selves in a slightly different way, but for the most part they are all highly performance oriented, and all seem to kind of treat students like athletes… train them real hard and hope they get drafted - and if they don’t, it’s off to sell insurance. </p>
<p>…to continue the analogy, I’m more interested in coaching than I am in playing. </p>
<p>I’m getting a little off topic here…
I just mean that the only school I’ve applied to is Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Mainly because it seems more about work than it does about making talented kids more talented. </p>
<p>That’s not to say that I feel I’m devoid of talent, but it all seems so geared toward doe-eyed high school students… I’m coming at it from a bit more of a pragmatic stand point… (as pragmatic as one CAN be choosing to make music their career.) I’m going to make music my work, and by work I don’t mean “it would be fun and amazing and magical to make music for a living” - I mean I’ve been making music for twelve years, and it is work… so I’m looking for a school that kind of reflects that attitude.</p>
<p>I haven’t ruled universities out per-say, but my academic record isn’t the greatest… and aside from that, a university education seems a bit superfluous… I don’t particularly want to deal with all of the non-music requirements and courses… At this point in my life the extra stuff feels about as relevant to music as a day spent at the DMV is to driving. (mmm four years at the DMV - SIGN ME UP!) Granted if that’s what I end up having to do, than that’s what I’ll do…</p>
<p>anyway… most of this post is a bit extra, but hopefully it serves to illustrate just what kind of a school I’m looking for…</p>
<p>If you don’t want to deal with non-musical stuff and academics are not your strong point, then a BA is not what you want. The typical BA is 25% music and 75% everything else, with some of the music and most of the everything else being pretty highly academic. Conservatories mostly offer BM degrees, for which the proportions are approximately reversed. What is it about the undergrad degree that you need to further your career? Might you be better off taking private lessons and looking for something like the courses Juilliard offers in its Evening Division? </p>
<p>As you point out, the objectives of many conservatories are much the same. That does not mean that they are similar in their methods, the quality of their teachers, the proportion of their students who are drafted, their size, their acceptance rates, their cost of attendance, the styles of performance and composition that they favor, the performance opportunities afforded undergraduate students, the proportion of doe-eyed recent high school grads and on and on. There is a wide range out there if you do not view the school as a black box.</p>
<p>On the contrary, Academics (if by that you mean studying, understanding, and then proving that you understand in writing) are definitely a strong point - I just don’t have a very good record. I dropped out of high-school when I was sixteen and got my G.E.D. (which I’ve recently found out that apparently I did rather well on) - then I went to a community college and failed four classes in two semesters… </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong - I don’t mean I don’t want to study, analyze and understand things - I just mean that I don’t want to find myself studying natural sciences or statistics or something. Both of which are certainly interesting, but you don’t go to a butcher to get your bread, if you know what I mean.</p>
<p>Maybe BM is what I meant then… I’m not particularly familiar with the hierarchy… Something that would be a stepping stone toward a Masters, if that’s what I decided I wanted to do at the end of four years. (Bachelors is what I thought mattered…)</p>
<p>But at the end of four years, what I’m hoping to have is a lot of new acquaintances and friends in the various arts (something I thought Cornish seemed to offer), the option to go on to a masters, something to put on the resume for a teaching job (as I understand it, that’s what composition graduates tend to do while they do what really interests them), Both a better understanding of and ability to compose in a style that people recognize as “classical” (to be prepared for any multimedia scoring opportunities that I may come across), a recording or two or three of a live orchestra or live orchestral pieces (again to be prepared for scoring opportunities), and a certain amount of momentum/inertia/possible job placement/internship type opportunities…</p>
<p>Also, on a personal note, the long term goal/focus of being swamped in art and artists for four years is pretty important too. Not to mention that living elsewhere for four years is pretty important. (I live in Hawaii… I’m pretty limited by the pacific ocean in a lot of ways…)</p>
<p>“There is a wide range out there if you do not view the school as a black box.”
Which is why I’m here, a place more focussed than typing “music school” into google, asking people more knowledgeable than myself, and explaining what exactly I’m looking for…</p>
<p>BA is a Bachelor of Arts, BM is a Bachelor of Music, BFA is a Bachelor of Fine Arts. They are all ‘bachelor’ degrees; they all have merit. The degree title is less important than your work. Cornish offers BM degree in composition.</p>
<p>It seems as if you:
do not want a degree from a university or liberal arts college, with academic requirements
are looking for something like a ‘school of the arts’
have not had your work evaluated by an outside mentor to guide you on where you would be a competitive candidate</p>
<p>Have you looked at finances yet to determine what you can afford? And, student-teacher relationship for composition is just as critical as it is for instrumentalists; do you have a budget set aside for traveling to meet the teachers (I think another thread mentioned someone doing this by skype, or having lessons). These factors will help determine which schools you include on your list.</p>
<p>When are you looking to start classes?</p>
<p>Schools included in this years acceptances for composition:</p>
<p>Great questions, Mtpaper … once the OP gives more specifics on the answers to those questions, more people hear will be able to guide him. Your GED story is interesting … it’s possible that the academic world when you were 16 or 17 was not stimulating enough for you. Your thought process is intelligent, though, so I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye. Regardless, you have to find a way to stay focused on the academic part of music for any school to take you seriously. In parallel to looking at BM degrees in music, you may need to find a local school to take music theory or some other music class to prove to yourself (and a future college) that you have the focus to finish a class over a semester and get a decent grade. If you can’t do that, you may have to dig deeper to see what is distracting you … is it work, friends, or family issues? Or is it possibly something like undiagnosed ADD? I only bring that up because I’ve seen someone in my family w/ ADD get diagnosed, and then go from C’s/D’s to A’s almost instantly with support and meds. A decent music school is intense, and you want to have that stuff sorted out before you arrive. If it’s friends, you will have to develop a discipline on juggling your social life before music school as well. Give us more data and we’ll help.</p>
<p>@OP - you mentioned wanting to go away from Hawaii, but, assuming finances will factor in as well, Univ of Hawaii offers composition as well. That might be a good place to start, perhaps part-time, or for a meeting to assess your skills:</p>
<p>Oh my. I’m going to end up telling my entire life story here. hah.</p>
<p>mtpaper - I am (and my family is) pretty well dirt poor. I’m expecting to go into some pretty serious debt.</p>
<p>The Manoa campus is on Oahu, and I’m on Hawaii (the big island) - although tuition is cheaper, I’d still have to stay in dorms.</p>
<p>I was looking to go in the fall, but I’m realizing that I kind of jumped at this a little late. So I’m going to wait to hear back from Cornish and then I may apply at Columbia College, Chicago, and if not I was going to take piano lessons for the next six months and then start looking at fall 2012…</p>
<p>SnowflakeVT - Frankly when I was sixteen the thing that was keeping me from doing well was that I was sixteen. It just wasn’t very important then. At the time there was no significant consequence to doing well. I was learning so much from and was so fascinated by the college atmosphere that the actual school work didn’t hold much appeal.</p>
<p>I have, in the time since, gone back though. Five years ago I attended the same community college and did relatively well. I was going to continue on to the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s music program, but because of my grades at sixteen I couldn’t get financial aid and I wasn’t willing to go into debt then…</p>
<p>On the one hand it would be nice if I had a squeaky clean academic history - but on the other, it’s real easy to write those admissions essays.</p>