<p>No one is saying that a kid shouldn’t sing in a choir, just that the technique required is quite different and that many directors insist that everyone blend-without providing any guidance- which isn’t always easy, or safe, for a young, large voice.
While my D could and did perform in Show Choir in HS, she was not at all happy in All County/All State as her voice was large and stood out so she didn’t take part as an upperclassman. Now, in college, she has a paid soloist job in a church as well as a section leader post for some services, because the voices around her are larger also.
The Met Chorus members make 6 figures, but work from late morning until late evening on many days, rehearsing one show and performing another- it’s a full time job and then some!</p>
<p>These are some things you might be interested to know about the Thornton School of Music at USC. As you have learned the university is private. It does not receive state funding from the government. In the last 12 months the university has broken the all time record for donations, $1.2 billion dollars. </p>
<p>The Thornton School of Music is over 125 years old. It has a wonderful tradition and outstanding faculty, in my opinion. These names of former famous faculty you should recognize: Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Eudice Shapiro, William Primrose, Gwendolyn Koldofsky and Ingolf Dahl. Present day faculty members include: Midori Goto, Stephen Hartke, Morten Lauridsen (Holder of the National Medal of the Arts), Frank Ticheli, Antoinette Perry, James Walker, Ralph Kirshbaum, Vince Mendoza, Rod Gilfrey and Lucinda Carver, among many.</p>
<p>The faculty student ratio in Thornton is 1/6. The freshmen class at Thornton is slightly above 100. Since the school is within a major research university students have the opportunity to interact with members of the School of Theatre, School of Fine Arts and the School of Cinematic Arts as well as from other schools on campus.</p>
<p>Students must be accepted by both the university and Thornton. Last year the SAT scores of admitted freshmen were 2020-2240 (Middle 50% SAT). It was fourth in the nation in freshmen merit scholars. The student body is highly diverse. Students in Thornton are from 40 different countries.</p>
<p>You have been misinformed that Thornton is part of a public university. For more detailed information: [USC</a> Thornton School of Music](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/music]USC”>USC Thornton School of Music)</p>
<p>How well do you know about OCU. This seems to be a school that is at then top of my d’s list of choices. She is fixing to audition for their summer program. The problem I keep hearing is negative feedback about this program. Anywhere from not caring about protecting the voices of the students to unsatisfactory living arrangements. Can you provide any comments please?</p>
<p>sread1- please PM me with your questions about OCU as we have first hand experience with the program.</p>
<p>Have you considered Illinois Wesleyan University? I am here, and my majors are BM Piano Performance & BA History, double degree. </p>
<p>There are TONS of voice majors here, for vocal performance & voice/music ed, etc. and they do an opera like every semester. They just did that last weekend, 4 performances, and it was amazing! I went 2 nights in a row. You should look into it- it’s a School of Music within a small private liberal arts university of about 2100 students and about 200 music majors, and a few hundred more students involved in music ensembles, etc. as non-majors. It’s in Bloomington, IL which is about 2 hours from Chicago. For vocal ensembles, there are 2 main choirs, University Choir and Collegiate Choir, which tours like every year or close to it (like a US tour during spring break and this year they’re going to Germany during May Term). Then there are also several smaller vocal ensembles you can be in.</p>
<p>My son is having a great experience at an under-the-radar program at Louisiana State University. He’s studying with a wonderful singer and teacher, Robert Greyson, and has really found his niche. It’s affordable, which mattered, but my main advice to the poster is to (A) start by narrowing down the list, and the first step to that should be having a serious conversation with your parents about how much money they can afford (without loans) to spend on your education. There just aren’t enough scholarships out there for very young singers these days, and you need to not go into debt. (B) After you’ve got your list focused, start looking at specific teachers, those who actually teach undergrads.There’s no point spending money to study with a grad student, while the famous voice teacher you’d hoped for works mostly with grad student stars. (C) Be relentless. Your voice teacher should have some ideas, but if not, haunt not only this board but the other websites that deal with young singers and student experiences.
(D) While a school with great credentials might look great on a resume, nothing matters but that you’ve developed and grown, and that is contingent on the specific teacher/student relationship. TAKE A LESSON. Do it early in the process rather than later. (E) And good luck!</p>