Musicians and Parents - Introduce yourself!

College Majors Music Major
1601

Hello all,
My D is a sophomore (class of 2022) and plays viola. We have greatly benefitted from the wisdom passed down on these pages and are very appreciative of it all. Given her varied interests, we are currently looking at 3 types of schools - (1) Schools of music attached to ‘regular’ colleges/uni’s (ie - Shepherd at Rice, Bienen at NW, etc.); (2) LAC with great music programs (Princeton, Williams, etc); and (3) ‘joint’ programs (Tufts or Harvard & NEC, etc). Of course, while she has time to change her mind, her plate is full trying to keep all options open.

@stringbird - my daughter’s first teacher was a violin/viola teacher who was much more of a violinist - and her second teacher made A LOT of changes that she felt were necessary for D to truly succeed at viola. If your D has a chance to take lessons from a violist, it might be quite beneficial.

We will be touring Rice and Shepherd on Nov 25 -and Vandy/Blair on Feb. 17 - does anyone have questions you would like us to ask or info you would like us to gather?

Thanks again to all those who have been so generous

1602

@howdidwegethere

My violinist son and I had just about the same decision-making “dilemma” about three years ago as you’re currently dealing with. What really helped, in our case, was that my son was quite certain he didn’t want to be a professional musician but still wanted to be active in performance. He made that decision just before we were to schedule live auditioning at various conservatories and music schools around the country, so that decision saved me all the troubles. I suspect, though, you and your daughter are still exploring all options.

Should your daughter definitely want a BM degree, either through a joint degree program or a single degree, then she can eliminate Princeton, Williams and others that do not offer a performance degree. However, she can choose to get a BA or BS degree at any of these non-performance granting schools and go on to earn an MM degree at a conservatory or a music school. By the way, Princeton does offer a certificate in performance, which I forgot to mention in another thread where I detailed the pros and the cons of attending Princeton for a music major. In that thread, I did mention that it does have a joint degree program with the Royal College of Music in London.

We were also very serious about Williams. For someone pursuing an academic degree while also looking to actively be involved in performance opportunities, we liked what Williams has to offer. A Williams violin faculty reached out to us even well before the official admission decision was announced, so we knew that they were very supportive of musician students.

For anyone sitting on the “dilemma” fence, my own personal recommendation without excluding any options and in the order of preference is: 1) BA or BS with musical involvement (ensembles, private lessons, etc.); 2) BM, and 3) BA/S-BM dual degree or joint degree programs (except Princeton’s joint degree program which is uniquely different from others).

My reasoning is rather simple. The option 1) allows your child to achieve an academic degree while also allowing enough time to explore future options. If the decision to pursue a career as professional musician, then move onto an MM degree. I like to see the option 2) for those who are very firm in conviction that the professional career in music is definite. While the option 3) is doable and sounds great in theory, the road towards accomplishing this goal is very tough. I don’t really see the advantage of taking this rougher route when you can get to pretty much the same goal with option 1). I’m NOT opposed to it given certain circumstances that’d favor it. It’s not a route I’d recommend for someone interested in a very demanding academic major, say, for pre-Med, while simultaneously trying to fulfill all the demands of earning a BM degree.

These are just my personal opinions. Of course, all families are different with circumstances that may favor one option over others, so I’m just throwing out my perspectives for whatever their worth.

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1603

I feel I should add, as one whose S did complete a double degree, that the advantage of a double degree undergraduate program is that one degree does not shortchange the other. So, if a student truly wants to explore both paths in full - they don’t have to compromise. (I know some might say that doing anything except music ultimately is a compromise - but the true double degree program takes five years - allowing more time to fit everything in.) My S went on to an MM - but was able to also pursue courses in his academic field at the same time (at an elite university where he was at no disadvantage in his academic courses.) And his academic field continues to enrich and inspire his work today. It was also important to him to be in a community of peers who were not only pursuing music. Some may feel differently about that.

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1604

@howdidwegethere I think your breakdown of the three options is really helpful. It is okay to apply to schools in each category and decide in late April of senior year :slight_smile:

1605

That’s three viola parents in a row. #violapower

@stringbird My daughter added viola after several years on violin. Then one day she was no longer a violinist who played viola, but a violist who played violin. She chose viola her last two years of high school orchestra and viola when she went to summer camp. When you know, you know!

@howdidwegethere, have fun at Vandy! We did Black and Gold days several years ago. The music school is gorgeous. Will you have a chance for a trial lesson? My daughter loved Kathryn Plummer.

1606

@tableforsix - we are going to tour Blair but hold off on lessons at all the schools for now. I feel like D is too easily influenced right now and if she has a great lesson, that will be where she ‘has to go’ or if the lesson is bad, the school will be off the list. I would like her to get a sense of all the different types of schools and then we’ll go back to the top 5-10 for the lessons at the end of Jr year, early Sr year, or for the auditions. Hopefully she’ll meet some more teachers as she continues to go to different summer festivals.

All - it is so nice to have this group to ‘talk’ to and learn from - thanks again!

1607

Interesting to me that instruments seem to run in waves. D’s year, there were a lot of voice students , specifically sopranos. Last year was a jazz year. I was going to observe earlier that composition was big this year, but viola is making a strong showing! While you can only draw conclusions based on the people who post, it is a curious phenomenon. Or is it just me, trying to see signal in noise?

1608

Wow, add another viola to that list!!

1609

Speaking as a veteran of last year’s CC jazz crew, I wouldn’t extrapolate this to assume there’s a larger pool of applicants this year overall. After a few months on these boards I was sure my S would be competing against giant crowds of tenor sax players. Wasn’t the case at all and in fact, ALL the CC “jazz kids” blew the doors off their Auditions and got great offers. So enjoy comparing notes but have no fear! Long live the CC viola crew!

1610

I’ve been lurking for a couple of years now, but I’m finding myself gravitating to this board more and more now that my daughter has her college applications done (except one … I wish she’d get that last one in!). You all have been such a wonderful source of information and advice, and I’m grateful to have found this board early in my daughter’s journey.

I thought I’d come out of lurking in case any of my information or experience can help someone else. Also, the wait to hear from colleges re: auditions is killing me…

My daughter is a mezzo soprano, applying to schools as a classical vocal performance major.

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1611

I am just jumping in to reintroduce myself… Coming up on a year on the board, so many of the veterans know my details, but now my D is a senior, so hopefully I’ll be able to add to the knowledge base here, instead of only asking questions! The advice and camaraderie here has been incredible and we would not really know what we were doing without it – I am so grateful for this community!

Anyway, D is a classical soprano vocal performance (VP) major interested in a BM. Applying to a mix of conservatories and universities music programs. Prescreens and applications are done and now we’re just in waiting mode till we start to hear something in late December on prescreens. First audition is an early action one for UMiami in less than 2 weeks!

Welcome to all the newbies and good luck to all the members of the class of 2024 who are on the journey with our family this year!

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1612

Hi!!
I’ve browsed these boards for info on summer programs over the past few years and I cant believe I’m back here bc college tours and auditions seem to be right around the corner.

My daughter is a Junior in HS currently and wants to pursue VP (soprano). She’s been singing for about 7 yrs, has built a pretty decent repertoire and is experienced in choral singing but prefers solo singing. She is extremely comfortable performing and auditioning, in fact, I think the pressure brings a calm about her.

The issue is…we have NOT talked about colleges seriously. I have no idea where she wants to go. I keep asking but I think she avoids the topic bc she is somewhat nervous about going too far from home. Her one and only time away from home was summer of 2017 when she attended BUTI. (which she loved once we figured out how to keep her from getting eaten alive by mosquitoes) She has plans this summer to either go back to BUTI or potentially attend Schmidt, WNO, Juilliard etc.

I am fine with wherever she chooses to go to college. We are in the Northeast, so if close to home is what she prefers, she still has plenty of options. I do think restricting yourself to a specific region can limit your scholarship offers, however.

To make matters even more crazy, her voice teacher (studied with her for 7yrs) is taking maternity leave in March through the end of the summer. We’ve already got a new teacher set up, but the timing will def be interesting as we gear up to send in apps and pre screen videos.

I appreciate the back log of info. I’ve been trying to read back and get a good timeline for the coming yr. From what I gather it really does FLY by!

By this time next yr, hopefully I’ll be reporting on acceptances and scheduling auditions!!!

1613

Have her read the Double Degree Dilemma essay near the top of this music forum: it is really about different ways to study music, and uses hypothetical individuals to help applicants clarify what they want :slight_smile:

1614

Thank you, I will do. We recently met with the teacher she will be studying with and she gave us some insight but I will take any info and advice available. It’s all very overwhelming to me, so, I’m trying to sort out as much as possible to make it smooth for my daughter. It is her journey, however and the most important thing to me is that she is happy and thrives during her college years. She is the type of kid who does well under pressure and when tightly scheduled. Lots of decisions to be made!

1615

Hi, I just joined the forum. I am glad that I finally found this place with so much resource. My DD21 is considering double degree in BM flute performance and creative writing. I finally finished reading the Double Degree Dilemma essay. I am glad that to get a confirmation that this is the route she will take. I am looking forward to many exciting and daunting adventures the next year will bring.

1616

So I’ll introduce myself and my daughter, but then I’ll probably fade a bit into the background since we’re still early in the process—my daughter’s a rising sophomore.

She’s passionately interested in what I’ve learned over the past few months is widely called a “music industry” degree, thought she’s uncertain about whether she’s more interested in the business or production side of things (though it’s probably the latter). She and I have done some research together and have learned that there are a panoply of options out there: Some of those programs don’t require an audition while others do, and some are a BFA or BMus while others are a BA or BS—and those options don’t always line up the ways you’d expect them to. All of the programs we looked at require some performance skills, but some minimally while some are almost performance-degree level. It’s crazy confusing, honestly. (And this from someone who’s deeply embedded in the higher-ed sector, and who has a sister with a performance degree who I’ve been pestering with questions.)

My daughter’s musical background: She started taking percussion lessons when she was nine, gravitating pretty quickly to tuned percussion (especially, like her aunt, the marimba), but about a year and a half ago she arranged with her teacher (who has a home studio) to spend most of her lesson time on learning about recording and mixing and such. That went on until the COVID shutdown, and since then she’s been having Zoom lessons with him focusing mainly on music theory, keyboarding, and songwriting. (She has no desire to take music classes at her high school, because they would require her do marching band. That’s a nonstarter for her.)

So yeah. I’m a bit at sea here. D23’s older sisters were easy—the oldest wanted a classic LAC experience, the next wanted engineering at a big state school, and those are pretty straightforward. But yeah, music for someone who can’t imagine a life outside of it but who doesn’t want a performance or education degree, I’m well out of my element. (Oh, and D23 gets hit with seasonal affective disorder pretty hard, which is particularly rough for her right now because we live in the subarctic—which will make auditions, um, interesting. She needs a place that’s sunny and the days don’t get short by a bunch in the winter—so New England, f’rex, is out.)

1617

@dfbdfb welcome. The terminology for the fields your daughter may be interested in can be very confusing and varies from program to program. I wonder if your daughter will end up being interested in composition.

On the creative end of production, check out Oberlin’s TIMARA http://www.timara.oberlin.edu/, and UCSD’s ICAM https://visarts.ucsd.edu/undergrad/major-req/icam.html. Michigan’s PAT is often mentioned https://smtd.umich.edu/departments/performing-arts-technology/

But those are just a few of the many possibilities. I have compiled a list of production programs and will PM. Some are creative, some are studio-skill based, lots of diversity.

I highly recommend reading the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted closer to the top of this forum. I would add that a student like your daughter can also study at the undergrad level, at a BA program at a liberal arts college or university. She may not need a conservatory or school of music BM program. It is a choice between immersion with 2/3-3/4 classes in music (BM) or 1/4-1/3 classes in music (BA).

1618

@dfbdfb your post has made me laugh a little. My two older daughters wanted engineering and a classic LAC experience, respectively, and my youngest, a son, wanted music, and not quite a straightforward music experience at that (he was determined to study two very different instruments). Two years ago I was feeling overwhelmed with trying to find him the right school and feeling like the application process we thought we had figured out was now far more complicated. As encouragement, my son is now studying both instruments at University of North Texas. He’s had to adjust his expectations, and be persistent with getting what he wants, but he’s making it happen. And we did get through the application and audition process, including learning how to book an airline seat for a cello.

We toured Drexel in PA with our engineering daughter. They have a music industry degree that sounded very interesting to me when it came up on the campus tour, and much like what your daughter is looking for. It’s not where she would like geographically but if that’s the kind of degree she wants, it’s matter of finding another like it.

What does her private teacher say about where she is with respect to auditions? Is her repertoire at a level that makes a performance-level audition a reasonable expectation at the schools that require it?

1619

A little rusty, but she definitely had her marimba skills up there pretty good a while back, so she presumably could, with a little bit of effort, get herself back to that point. (Of course, to do so she needs access to a marimba, and we don’t own one—so not til after lockdowns are over, in any event.) And as I type this it occurs to me that she’s strongly considering going into our school district’s “middle college” program, which is a dual-enrollment sorta-high school for juniors and seniors located on the campus of our local open-admissions university, starting her junior year, and she’d have access to college music lessons at that point, too.

And to @compmom’s mention of composition programs, that’s a possibility, but classical composition isn’t all that appealing to her (though gobs and tons of music theory is)—but composition programs that go beyond the Western classical tradition certainly are worth a look, I think.

1620

Well, I could PM you again about contemporary classical composition! It’s probably not what she thinks it is! Check out Alex Ross’ book “The Rest is Noise.” Believe me, most contemporary classical aka “new music” “goes beyond the Western Classical tradition”, quite a way beyond at times, and the skills of studio production are very important in new music. Actually UNT is well-known for it electronics studio for composition, as are some of the other schools on the list I sent (which included Drexel and UNT, suggested above by @Parentof2014grad )