<p>My S will graduate high school in 2011. He is a multi-talented musician who plays the French Horn, trumpet, and piano. The latter is his passion. While he enjoys classical music, he relishes composing his own music in the vein of Billy Joel and Elton John. ( In '09 he won the senior musical composition category in North Carolina's state Reflections contest. </p>
<p>He wants to attend a music college and he dreams of Berklee in Boston. (As his parents, we dream of being able to afford it!) Can you please make any other suggestions of schools that embrace contemporary music?</p>
<p>We live in NC and have considered UNC-Greensboro or Appalachian State University but both require auditions with music created before the 1800s!!!!! And it seems these schools are more clearly focused on classical training.</p>
<p>My S has asked me several times what schools he should be considering and I just don't know what to tell him. So CC parents, can you help us?</p>
<p>How about North Carolina School of the Arts? I don’t know anything about its music program, but I have seen stuff from its dance program that impressed me a lot.</p>
<p>Choices are somewhat limited, but besides Berklee, options to consider are Belmont in Nashville, UDenver/Lamont SOM’s program for contemporary music, USC/Thorton’s brand new Popular and Commercial program, The New School’s Jazz and Contemporary offering.</p>
<p>There’s a broad range of threads, and experience of music students and parents in programs from Juilliard through Berklee, and a number of folks headed in a contemporary direction that may have insights.</p>
<p>Check the music forum, for sure. Some programs may term his composition interests as “songwriting.”</p>
<p>I suggested to another poster on the music forum that schools like Bennington, Sarah Lawrence and Hampshire might also work. State university programs might be worth looking into, too. (But yes, Berklee is a good idea, and yes, Berklee costs a lot!)</p>
<p>My DD1 graduated from Loyola New Orleans; great music program in a small liberal arts college. They say their model is equivalent to Baldwin Wallace in Ohio, SMU Dallas and Ithaca College in NY. All four schools have good music programs. Loyola gave her an excellent scholarship all 4 years and has great orchestra and jazz programs, not to mention opera.</p>
<p>I do believe that both Elton John and Billy Joel spent many years studying classical music before they became contemporary icons. Actually Billy Joel probably spends more time now composing in the classical genre than contemporary.</p>
<p>Many very fine contemporary musicians have excellent classical training, including Elton John and Billy Joel, as mentioned above, as well as Andrew Bird and Ben Folds. This is true for some of the finest jazz musicians as well, whose technique is head and shoulders above others if they have had classical training as well.</p>
<p>Yes. We are well aware of Billy Joel and Elton’s classical background. My S in fact is also working with his piano teacher on classical pieces, but in college he wants to focus on contemporary with an emphasis on composition and performance. It’s just his preference with no slight at all towards those who prefer classical training in college! </p>
<p>A friends son chose Belmont, in Nashville. He was impressed with the recording studio, and the number of guitars he saw in the dorm rooms. He isn’t into country music, so they must have lots of genres. I guess a lot of modern music celebrities are associated with the school.</p>
<p>kcreatigve, welcome. I linked you to BassDad’s post in your thread [Moderator note: see Post 3 above on this thread]. I suggest starting there for an overview.</p>
<p>Most of the programs will require an audition, and yes, many are in fact classically based. Another area to consider is the Colleges That Change Lives (google CTCL). They are mostly smaller liberal arts colleges, many with solid music departments. Many of the programs are BA, non audition based admits, and might allow a more individualized approach.</p>
<p>Note the pinned threads and featured discussions at the top of the page, There’s lots of info there and within the past threads of the forum. Plenty of people here to guide you.</p>
<p>Edit: You may want to look at Shenandoah Conservatory. I believe they just added a commercial music option.</p>
<p>I’d also suggest you provide some detail about his musical experiences… years of training, summer programs, orchestra/ensemble involvement, composition or theory training. It provides background, and helps in suggestions.</p>
<p>Academic stats, test scores, or other strong academic interests (or requirements) also help in steering you towards or away from specific programs.</p>
<p>As mentioned the USC Thornton School of Music offers a Bachelor of Music-Popular Music Performance. This major encompasses students interests in Vocal Music, Instrumental and Songwriting. </p>
<p>This year Thornton is introducing a BA in Performing & Visual Art Studies. This is a multidisciplinary program which involves the School of Cinematic Arts, Thornton School of Music and the School of Theatre.</p>
<p>Thornton School of Music is celebrating their 125th anniversary this year.</p>
<p>Although USC is a private university financial aid is available for those who qualify. More than 24% of the 2008 entering freshmen (2766) received merit based scholarships from SC alone. Over 60% received financial assistance based on need.</p>
<p>Son is an incoming freshman in the Popular Music Performance program at the Thornton School of Music at USC. He auditioned as a singer/songwriter and had to submit recordings of his music which resulted in an invitation to their audition weekend (Late January I think). BTW Lamont Dozier was part of the panel he auditioned with.</p>
<p>Son is also interested in other academic subjects which Berklee doesn’t have. USC also is in LA where there are multiple internship, performance etc opportunities. Incoming class is pretty impressive also from the few we know about.</p>
<p>Son is a talented musician, but more of a songwriter than composer and more of an improvisational pianist than classical pianist so he wasn’t planning on a major in music until the Popular Music Performance Program at USC was announced because he didn’t feel he fit most other programs. We have a limited view accordingly, but we did visit several top Universities and were very impressed with Thornton.</p>
<p>It is the popular music program that attracted my son along with the best in class film and music industry programs which let a creative kid cross over a little. We visited for a scholarship interview on a Friday and sat in on a class that was going to a large concert venue Saturday AM and participate in the set up for a large rock concert Saturday night. Instructor was knowledgeable and motivating to listen to. Also on same day sat in on a group of jazz students who were trying to play one of the students composition. They were a pretty normal set of kids struggling to play a new song and to be honest I didn’t walk out going wow, how could they be so amazing. The song was one that maybe you had to be a little more musically adventurous than I am to appreciate, but was one of those more likely to play to 20 people on a Sunday afternoon than 1000 on a Friday night. Interesting, but not much mass appeal.</p>
<p>I would encourage you to go on Youtube and look up Thornton School and watch some of the videos they have of professors talking about their approach to their students/program. Two I recommend are one where the lead conductor of the Orchestra talks about the risks/rewards of pursuing a degree/career in music and one where the jazz piano instructor talks about how he teaches improvisation. They will give you some idea of how Thornton views things and also the type and quality of instructor although I suspect those two are among the best. </p>
<p>Also, for USC and I suspect many others, you will want to make sure you are maximizing your grades and ACT/SAT scores. At USC this can impact not only admittance, but merit scholarship opportunities if you are toward the top of your class.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies everyone. I guess my S is much like raddad’s S. It sounds like neither boy fits into a traditional box. Violadad asked me to share some information about my S to help all of you offer us suggestions. Here goes…</p>
<p>My S started piano lessons in the 3rd grade at age 8. He is 16.5 now and a junior this year. He has had the same piano teacher since he started. When he started to lose interest in piano in middle school, she was smart and said “OK. What do you want to play?” And a whole new world opened for him beyond the classical realm. He started to compose his own work, including lyrics, and has ever since. While some students practice a classical piece to perfection, my S practices Billy Joel’s Prelude to Angry Young Man. Isn’t it wonderful to watch your child find their passion and then excel at it? </p>
<p>Besides piano, my S began playing the trumpet in 6th grade and picked it up so quickly, he was soon asked to play the French Horn in the school orchestra. Because he has an incredible ear, it was seamless for him to glide into his next instrument. He won several All-District titles in middle school. In high school, he continues to play the French Horn in the school’s orchestra (usually 2nd or 3rd chair) and during marching season he joyfully plays the Mello. This past spring he was chosen to receive the Spirit of the Band award for his wild enthusiasm for all things music. And as I mentioned, he won our state’s Reflections competition in the senior category for musical composition. His winning piece was written after his childhood friend died suddenly at just 15 years old of the choking game.</p>
<p>My S has been accepted into the University of NC at Greensboro summer music program since the 6th grade. In the past, he went for the horn, but this year he focused on the piano. I noted that he was not chosen on the final night to play a solo. All of the players that were selected were highly skilled classical musicians who played their pieces to perfection. There was not one piece played from the 20th century. It was then that I realized that my talented kid did not fit in here. And it made me sad, honestly, because he wants a career in music…but not in the traditional sense. (His piano teacher at UNC-G encouraged him to consider Berklee but offered few other options.) </p>
<p>And that is why I have come to all of you. Where does my kid fit in? He takes honors classes in high school and had a weighted 3.7 GPA. He will take AP Music Theory this coming school year. </p>
<p>I don’t know what else to tell you…except I read about all of your kids, and I think mine has gone down a different music path that may make it harder for him to get into many music schools. Still, I love the music he plays. He has found his bliss.</p>