@daddrumexpat welcome to the forum. I don’t know a lot about percussion but maybe check our NYU. A friend’s son attended NYU Steinhardt for percussion. He graduated a year ago and has been working steadily on Broadway touring shows as well as in a band of some sort and is paying his way in NYC.
Dear Lendlees,
Thanks again for the information and advice. It seems to me that our sons are somewhat complimentary in their percussion backgrounds. We fortuitously hooked up with a very good jazz drum instructor when my son was quite young. We live in a small apt., so having timpanis at home would not go down well with the neighbors, even if we could afford them! Thanks also for your encouragement, which I will relay to my son. Our family has no musical background, and so I really do not know what level of competence will be enough for succeeding in the auditions (i.e., is my son pushing himself with little chance of success?). We would prefer a collegiate setting. If you come across anything more about contemporary drumming within such a program I’d be grateful if you would pass it along to me. More tilt toward orchestra and less toward chamber music is also something I’m looking at. While I think a school with a robust percussion program is better, we are not fixated on rankings and are more interested in finding a good fit. My son and I have spent some time looking at internet videos made by some schools. There seems to be some tendency toward the eclectic/avant-guarde/ oddball which is not where my son is right now. So we are still trying to find a optimal fit. Best wishes to you and your son.
@daddrumexpat, you are right on time! Questions: does your S have any specific needs/wants/preferences at this point (realizing these may change)? Preferred part of the country/distance from home, academic level, size of school, in-state preference, etc?
@daddrumexpat - if your son can narrow down a list of a few schools (ideally one or two nearby), contact the percussion department and have him do a sample lesson. That’s a quick and easy way to determine if he’s at the right level and, conversely, what he needs to work on.
My kid really liked Temple’s Boyer School (where he’s moving in next week) and McGill’s Schulich School of Music as they are orchestral-focused but have some contemporary percussion ensembles as well. Boyer has the added benefit of good musical theater (another area of interest for my kid) and strong jazz. If you are near Philadelphia, definitely worth checking out - and yes, I’m quite biased. 
@Lendlees and @daddrumexpat - could you two please explain what ‘contemporary’ percussion means to you? Is this New Music you’re discussing, or pop/commercial music?
The contemporary percussion my kid is interested in is probably what you would term New Music. It’s music that was written by composers who are still alive. In my kid’s case, he’s played pieces by Christopher Dean (from UNT) and Michael Daugherty (from UofM).
Hi. Thanks again to everyone for your communications.
I admit I am using ‘contemporary music’ as a code-word for commercial music – which is the music that most appeals to my son. His exposure to other more ‘sophisticated’ genres is somewhat limited though I am trying to nurture this (as much as one can with a teenage boy). He has already mastered a few books
of snare drum scores used in undergrad curricula at better schools. As I noted,
he also likes playing in orchestras; we also went to a percussion show emphasizing marimba that we both thought was quite exceptional. If I can get a hold of the music mentioned by Lendlees I’ll be sure my son has a opportunity to listen to it.
As the term “expat” implies we’ve not really near anything. We live in Beijing, China.
Have for a long time. My kids grew up here. As you can probably imagine, this is
not quite like a typical American city or town in terms of what is available to young would-be musicians. It also does limit the possibilities to visit perspective schools – though we have allotted some funds for my son to make a few trips – as did his elder sister. It also means we get no in-state benefits anywhere, meaning private schools with scholarships are our best bet. Best!
@daddrumexpat thanks for the explanation! There are some others in your position on the board, so I hope they will reach out. It sounds like your drummer is a popular music dude rather than new music per se. Lots of AMAZING programs for this, including (off the top of my head) New School (NYC), U Miami Frost, USC, Berklee, Loyola New Orleans, and I am sure I am forgetting some (my son is a jazz guy).
Hi everyone! Son is a rising senior and remains uncertain whether he wants to go to a conservatory for acting or for jazz/pop singing. So, planning on applying to mostly the former and a few of the latter and seeing which situation works out best. Has a ton of experience singing (choral, solo, musical theater) including some big stages (radio city, some awards at Berklee’s high school jazz festival). Doesn’t have much formal instrumental or vocal training to speak of (aside from school choruses) but has a great ear and work ethic. Took bass and songwriting lessons for a while around middle school. More recently self-taught on piano (he decided to take that on to become a better singer) and even gives young beginners lessons on that.
He was pretty set on going the acting path for college prior to loving an AP music theory class he took outside of school over the past year. loved the challenge of it, learning new ways to think and communicate about music. also saw that he can hang with his instrumentalist friends in that aspect of the field. so here we are - looking at two possible paths.
As far as music schools, looking for affordable jazz or pop vocal options, preferably near nyc but open to going farther off for great programs. current list includes Berklee (we know extremely unlikely to be affordable but just wants to see if he can get in. has a couple on the acting list in that same category, sigh), UNT, Frost, Loyola, City College, William Paterson. Will hope to cap at a small number of music programs because auditioning for theater programs too. The next six months will be extremely hectic.
Hi @arkham, that sounds like a good list! City College and WP are both well-known for their programs – if you are in NJ, Rutgers Mason Gross also has a very good jazz program and is, of course, affordable. My S applied there and was super impressed. Berklee is a good choice to test the waters, especially if you can do early action! It would be good to have one in the bag by Christmas break, if only as a bellwether for things to come.
Where is he applying for acting? Musical theatre or straight theatre?
@akapiratequeen thanks! we’re in NY so Rutgers becomes less affordable but it is on the current acting list. we visited that campus earlier this year and were also very impressed. will look into their jazz program!
Despite having a great voice, he’s looking at doing an acting focus if theatre because doesn’t like the style of acting for musicals. we’re still working on paring down that list but looking at uncsa, cmu, usc, juilliard, nyu, pace, rutgers, depaul & purchase as big reaches and have a list of less selective / more affordable programs as safeties. the overall list feels way too long right now!
@arkham for a college which has both strong music and theater departments, look at Bard College where he could double major. The jazz program is in the college not the conservatory and is a BA. https://music.bard.edu/jazz/ and http://theater.bard.edu/
@SpiritManager that’s an interesting idea! we were looking at suny new paltz for a public tuition version of that same idea. do you know how bard is about scholarships? the list price is frightening.
@arkham - There is substantial merit money from Bard Conservatory - but all scholarships/aid for Bard College are need informed. Some people end up with a great package, and others are disappointed. I think you may not have the answer until after your son applies and has been accepted, unfortunately. I do recommend you visit - especially if you’re looking at New Paltz.
Hi everyone–I already have a long, overwhelmed-sounding thread on here somewhere about my son (from a few months ago), but thought I’d do a post here, too. My oldest is about to head off to Macalester College in St. Paul next week, so I thought I had the whole college application process down…then my next kid (rising sophomore) decided he wants to be a music major, so now we start all over again from scratch 
. He plays clarinet and has only been playing for a little over a year (he’s also played piano for 5 years). Still feeling somewhat overwhelmed, but I do feel like we have a better handle on things than we did a few months ago. He just started private lessons with a teacher we’re very happy with so far. He’s doing concert band and woodwind ensemble with a homeschool music program and just started with a local youth orchestra. He did a one week music camp at UNC Greensboro over the summer and had a great experience there. And I’m working on starting to put together lists of colleges to look at over the next couple of years. Plan is to start checking out some of the closer to home options this year (we’re in Georgia, so any suggestions on schools in the southeast good for clarinet are very welcome).
@kokotg unless your son wants to do a BM program, his application process shouldn’t be that different from his sister’s. In fact, Macalaster itself has a pretty good music department! Good luck!
@daddrumexpat here is a video on Steve Schick’s lecture on “contemporary percussion” in the sense of new music, if your son is interested. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Steve+Schich+percussion+lecture&view=detail&mid=AE3924AC76FC10A75986AE3924AC76FC10A75986&FORM=VIRE This would be of interest to any young percussionist. There have been a lot of new developments in percussion work in recent decades, including solo work.
Dear compmom,
Thanks for the pointer, it sounds very interesting. But the link seems to be dead,
as in, “video no longer available”. Can you tell me another way to see the video?
Best!
The performance hall there is gorgeous! Right now he is leaning BM…he says he can’t really think of anything he wants to do except music, so the more music classes the better…but we’ll see how he feels in another year!
@daddrumexpat I watched the video on that link, hmmmm…Try googling “Steven Schick percussion.” The video comes up. Tht title is “On the Bridge, the Beginnings of Comtemporary Percussion with…” Good luck!