<p>singersmom07: did your daughter go to rice? You don’t say in your post. I’m wondering if she did because my son is seriously considering it. If she did, does she like it? Thanks!</p>
<p>momophony, I’m not sure why your visit to Thornton was so unsubstantial, but perhaps it was just bad timing or too impromptu? I can only speak from experience and what we know from family friends who also have a Thornton student. We did not do an official visit before acceptance (my son had already attended a Thornton summer course and knew it was what he wanted), but friends did - when they signed up to visit USC, they also signed up for the Thornton tour and were shown around quite a bit. Others set up a meeting with the two department chairs of the programs they were considering and got a very good feel.</p>
<p>We only officially visited during Explore (for admitted students), where Thornton admits and parents were taken off on their own little tour after the big USC tour. </p>
<p>We saw a classical orchestra rehearsal featuring some amazing opera singers, a music industry class where the teacher was talking about licensing and music copyrights, a jazz vocal group rehearsing, the practice rooms, a drum lab class, the music library… I can’t even remember everything. The students also had time to ask a few current Thornton students various questions (at this time, the parents were somewhere else).</p>
<p>My son entered Thornton this fall as a studio/jazz guitar major. If there is anything else I can answer (or try), please PM me.</p>
<p>tenormadre, yes she did. She is a senior and graduating this year. So hard to believe. Her senior recital is less than a month away. The opportunities have been amazing. Her recital has 4 of the men from Chorus joining her and also a graduate trumpet player. She has had the opportunity to sing for new composers, with other conservatory class instrumentalists and in other settings. Her teacher has been wonderful. </p>
<p>I came here when I had no idea what we were getting in to with audition based admissions. S’s1-3 went a traditional route. . I learned so much here and so many people helped us I stayed 
She has loved her Rice experience. It is leaning more towards the grad program these days, but she has grown so much and loved Rice as a school so much she would not have traded these 4 years for anything. . PM me if you want more information.</p>
<p>We just finished our visit to Rice…it was absolutely lovely…great campus, and extraordinary music school as well.</p>
<p>D sat in on two classes, took the campus tour and then got a tour of the Shepard School of Music by admissions.</p>
<p>Then she/w met two of the voice faculty, and spent time discussing the program as well as her future hopes and then a small amt. of vocalizing with one of the VP faculty. A very positive and warm experience. Everyone was extremely receptive, kind and outgoing.</p>
<p>D truly loved the small, private atmosphere of the school and was thrilled by the attentions she rec’d from everyone she met. She will definitely apply.</p>
<p>Me and DH are starting the music school shopping process with our D who is a jr in high school. She is interested in opera and medicine. Does anyone have any advise about taking an under graduate degree in VP and then going to medical school?</p>
<p>I went on a bunch of visits in November (I’m a senior applying for dual degrees with science and violin performance). I didn’t see much of the campuses, but instead went solely to have lessons with the teachers. IMO the campus itself doesn’t matter much as long as you get the teacher that you want. For example, I wasn’t too amazed by CIM’s campus, but I did really enjoy some of the teachers they had. Oppositely, CCM has beautiful buildings but I didn’t like the teacher as much. The lessons will also help you to cross off some schools. I have a friend that was raving about one professor at IU, so I went and had a lesson with him. His teaching style and my learning style really did not mix well, so I crossed him off my list. Taking lessons will help you make the right choice for college and prevent four dreadful years…</p>
<p>On tue/wed I went on a personalized campus experience of the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. I had been accepted in Dec, a week after I did my pre-screening audition, and on monday they sent me my scholarship info, apparently I was in the upper extreme the amount they usually give. I got to sit in on 5 classes, have lunch, get a tour of everything, and basically be a college student for two days. it was great, I sat in on a couple ensembles, and theory/ear training classes. I was impressed with the talent and the teachers are top notch. For instance the first class i saw was an upper level jazz ensemble, the bassist and drummer weren’t there and the teacher had lost his voice. they had a set of 20 songs, half being originals, and the teacher used his hands and what little voice he had to emulate the drums. With everything I saw there is a lot of emphasis on student composition/arranging which I like a lot. Another ensemble I saw was spontaneous composition, julian priester led that class, and if you haven’t heard of him he is LEGEND, he plays trombone and he was a big time player with john coltrane, sun ra, lionel hampton, freddie hubbard, lee morgan, max roach…etc. etc. he’s met and played with everybody and he’s been teaching at cornish since '79. The third class I saw was Jazz repertoire III, where they listen to recordings of jazz standards, learn them by ear then transpose them on the fly into new keys. The last two classes were ear training and theory, a level II class I believe. The teacher incorporated me and asked me questions, luckily I got them all right and I pointed out something (II-V-I with a tritone sub for V) and he seemed a bit surprised that I knew that and the students were laughing :D</p>
<p>The music department is in the same building with the dance students so you hear a lot of thumping, the facility is decent, with a 200 seat auditorium. I wouldn’t say it was the best i’ve seen out of my choices as far as facilities but the teachers, students and environment make up for it. Also they’re supposed to be moving the music facilities down to the main campus, right now its totally separated from the rest of the school and a shuttle comes to pick kids up every 15 minutes to bring them down to the main center. The main center is great, with a nice cafeteria, the whole art/drama etc. departments are amazing and that’s what it’s known for i think, although it started as a music school in 1914. The dorms were about a 7 minute walk away from everything, it’s actually two hotels that they bought and renovated, last year was the first year they had dorms. I get the feeling a lot of expansion is happening. Being old hotels each room had a lot of space and it’s own bathrrom, there are also two music practice rooms with a piano and equipment, a nice lounge with a big tv/video games, and a kitchen/eating area. This was my second trip up to cornish and overall I really like it, and the students were amazing, it’s such a small school and everyone came up to me asking me questions and getting to know me. a bunch wanted to jam but I had to drive home. Anyways, if you’re interested in a small but friendly music experience with great faculty and a great location that’s convenient and safe look into cornish!</p>
<p>…in no particular order:</p>
<p>Berklee
Temple
Peabody
Lawrence
Northwestern
Loyola NO
URI</p>
<p>We don’t want it to get any longer – anything new will bump something; and that’s very possible.</p>
<p>We’ve been enjoying a few days in New Orleans, visiting Tulane and Loyola. Saw Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra at Snug Harbor tonight.</p>
<p>We saw him play there too, fun little club.</p>
<p>Nice list you and your son have come up with. I wish him well in auditions next year. One or two of those schools are pretty tough to get into. And URI is a decent safety school. It must be local to you.</p>
<p>Has he not decided whether he wants a conservatory or university? That eliminated some decisions for my son. I kind of wish mine had taken a longer look at Berklee, a long time prof there is someone he has worked with and acceptance was never in doubt so I thought it was worth a visit. But he decided he wanted a university with a conservatory inside.</p>
<p>It’s undecided. I lean toward a university/college.</p>
<p>We don’t really know much about the Berklee faculty [close as we are], but he’s spending a couple of weeks with them at the Umbria Jazz Clinics this summer.</p>
<p>We think we’re adding Oberlin, because we’ve discovered that he can audition in Boston, and that Sean Jones is the new [though part-time] jazz trumpet instructor there. We did a self-tour there last summer, but not yet a formal visit.</p>
<p>I think I saw that yours is going to Indiana. We visited there in Feb. Nice place, great facilities.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m a voice major and I just went out a couple weeks ago and participated in the CAP I program at Jacobs School of Music. It was incredible. I loved the campus, the program was well put together. In the time I was there I took two lessons from Professor Brian Horne and Professor Alice Hopper. I learned a great deal, and I was able to get away from the program long enough to take a lesson with Professor Timothy Noble, who seemed extremely positive about my voice, he even said that he would be glad to take me in his studio if I end up attending Jacobs School of Music. It was a great time all together. I really got a good feeling from the campus, even though school has yet to resume. </p>
<p>Now on to tour my other prospective schools,</p>
<p>Juilliard
Manhattan School of Music
Thorton School of Music
Boston Conservatory
Oberlin
New England Conservatory</p>
<p>Hi. My son is trying to decide between music, academics or a dual degree. We have visited several music schools already, and his primary concern is related to how cutthroat and competitive the students are. So far we have looked at Peabody, Eastman, BU, Carnegie Mellon and NEC.</p>
<p>Any sense of which schools out there are really competitive and which schools are more collaborative and supportive?</p>
<p>A school can be highly competitive and collaborative and supportive at the same time. A lot depends on how teachers run their studios within the department. Are you referring to the difficulty in passing auditions or does “cutthroat” refer to the attitudes and behavior of the students?</p>
<p>The concerns about whether a school is cutthroat was more about the behavior of the students.</p>
<p>There is probably competitive behavior in every school and no doubt some who might be considered “cut throat” but D never really encountered this as an undergrad or grad VP major. In fact she has found the classical music community to be incredibly supportive. She has always made it a point to go to the recitals and performances of others and turn others on to opportunities that she is aware of. This behavior tends to come back at you ten fold. I’m reminded of her fund raising efforts in the spring (for a performance and learning opportunity in Europe). More than once she was stopped in the hall by student musicians whom she did not even know, who would mention her efforts and slip her a $10 or $20. Envy and back biting was very rare in her experience and.not any more evident than any other major in grad school.</p>
<p>Thanks. You make a good point about how it is not different from any other major in college.</p>
<p>My D is interested in one or the other but not sure if she is ready to choose. Are there any schools in the Chicago, Midwest area where you can do both? She only changed her mind in the past year to this area of study so we are way behind the 8 ball on this. I know that in some (most) circles it is frowned upon to be in one or the other and rarely see anything about both… She loves singing/acting/dancing as well as classical music and operas. She feels her voice is more classical in nature but still she spends hours in her room and car with Broadway Soundtracks blaring and her singing along.
Help!!! I might also ask… finances… she is going to have to pay for school on her own (unfortunately). What kind of scholarships are realistic to find out there?</p>
<p>Anxiously waiting for information!
Thanks</p>
<p>Hello Hoot … sounds like you have some great music happening at your house! Your daughter will have to choose a major for undergrad, but if she is undecided, she should make sure she chooses a school that has both, in case she picks MT but then decides vocal performance is her thing. The tie breaker question is, how good are her dance skills? As a MT major, she should be able to move on stage and learn dance moves quickly; if that is not her forte, then perhaps classical vocal training will tap into more of her strengths. You probably need a professional to give you feedback on where her talents really lie. For classical vocal training, perhaps it is too soon to see how far she can go, but someone can at least tell her if she has the goods to start down that path. The same goes for MT … if she knows what kind of part she is (leading lady, character actress, ingenue, etc.) then she can also get feedback on how she fits into the huge world of other MT wannabes. Honest feedback is very good to have at this point. Keep an open mind about what pro’s say about her strengths, and then use that as input for her decision. Don’t just ask family members or friends or the music teacher at the high school, you need more critical feedback to help her recognize her strongest assets.</p>
<p>Berklee [on-campus]
Lawrence [regional w/CD accompaniment]
Loyola NO [on-campus w/CD accompaniment]
NYU [prescreen DVD w/CD accompaniment]
Northwestern [prescreen DVD w/live accompaniment]
Oberlin [regional w/CD accompaniment]
Peabody [CD]
Temple [on-campus]</p>
<p>We’ve been to all of them, and S has been to some more than once.</p>
<p>We’re trying to spread out the auditions. The two prescreens DVDs are due 12/1, and we’ve opted to do the first actual audition early, on 12/3.</p>
<p>This is turning into a giant project-management effort for me…</p>
<p>trumpetdad, it IS a griant project-management effort – I really get a little annoyed at some parents and advisors who say that the student should be the one arranging everything - and I really hate of being called a helicopter parent. They reallly have no idea how much time this takes - how can anyone expect kids to handle this and school and homework and lessons and practicing and other extra-curricular activities…</p>
<p>Good luck at auditions</p>