Hello! I am currently a Music Education (Choral) undergrad student all the way in Georgia and I have fallen in love with the state of Washington. My question is, are there any great/good/amazing etc etc Graduate programs for music at any colleges in Washington?
Many people like Central Washington for Music Education - no personal experience with their choral programs, though.
The choir director at my parents’ church is working on, I believe, a DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington
Graduate program in what, exactly? Ethnomusicology? Musicology? Music Theory? Performance? Education? Composition? Jazz? Classical? Contemporary? World? Early?
While you may love a particular state, it’s really not wise to pick a school based solely on that, the exception being certain cities where performance opportunities exist or where orchestras or opera companies are based.
Do you intend to teach (and WHAT do you want to teach?)? That can change things, because if you would like to stay and settle down in Washington state, then looking for a job and grad school to get your certification there makes perfect sense. Let us know what you hope to do and we can then help you better.
Sorry, for some reason I didn’t see the OP listed they were getting a music ed undergrad degree (choral.) I’ve heard Western Washington has a good jazz department. Maybe they’ve got a good music ed program too.
I intend to teach chorus at either a high school or middle school. Maybe college, but I am not sure. Does nyone know if Washington State University has a good music program?
WSU has a MA in Music Ed Certification program;
http://libarts.wsu.edu/music/areainfo/education/ma-musiced.php
And I believe that the University of Puget Sound offers an MA also
Central Washington is the school of choice for Greater Seattle Area music ED. They host many festivals and place many student teachers in the school systems around the area. Their faculty seems to have very active relationships with the local music educators at the MS, HS and CC level.
Central has an excellent choral program. My son’s high school choir director graduated with his master’s from there. He is a working professional musician in a fantastic vocal jazz group that performs all over the country as well as an incredible choral director at the high school. Central is located in Ellensburg which is East of the Cascade Mountains. It is about a 2 hour drive from the Seattle area. Central is really the go to for a choral emphasis in a Masters of Music Ed degree.The UW also has an good masters program in music ED. That is where my son’s orchestra teacher graduated from (he got his undergrad somewhere back east). Being from the state, those would be my recommendations.
You will be out of state for public programs in Washington so make sure whatever program you apply to is affordable. Sometimes master’s degrees are funded but more often the funding goes to PhD programs. I don’t know if there are any special funding programs for Music Ed. but teaching in low income areas can, I believe, result in loan forgiveness.