<p>Hello. I was wondering if anyone knew of any schools in the New England or Mid-Atlantic region that offer a major in NON-CLASSICAL vocal performance. My dream is to one day become a contemporary singer, and I was wondering if there are any schools that offer such a major. Schools within close traveling distance of southwestern CT would be particularly ideal. Thanks!</p>
<p>Contemporary as in pop? CT - meaning commutable to southwestern Connecticut?</p>
<p>You might want to look into jazz-oriented voice departments. They're not contemporary, exactly, but they'll certainly come closer than a classical-based department.</p>
<p>Berklee in Boston has a jazz emphasis.</p>
<p>UMass-Amherst has a jazz program. I am not sure where, or if, vocals fit into that.</p>
<p>Two in Philadelphia: Temple and University of the Arts. </p>
<p>You might want to look into SUNY-Purchase. </p>
<p>Also, if you search the terms "contemporary" and "pop" within the music majors forum, you'll come up with quite a few threads.</p>
<p>New York City is within commuting distance of sw CT. Look into Manhattan School of Music or NYU-Steinhardt.</p>
<p>The New School in Manhattan (parent school of Mannes) has a program you might want to look at <a href="http://www.jazz.newschool.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.jazz.newschool.edu/</a>. From what I can see it is not under the Mannes umbrella, but a completely different program.</p>
<p>You're right, violadad. The Jazz school at New School is completely seperate from Mannes.</p>
<p>I wouldn't want to do anything in the realms of jazz, opera, or classical. It would have to be pop vocals. It seems like there aren't any colleges that offer a major in anything like this.</p>
<p>It might be worth your time to check the full range of schools suggested. If you examine a couple of these programs, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>It is sometimes possible to work within an existing program for specific goals, sometimes not.</p>
<p>Try Belmont in Nashville.</p>
<p>Another one to look into is the College of Santa Fe, although it's not in the geographic parameters you mention.</p>
<p>Belmont is also the first school that popped into my mind. They have one of (if not the) top commercial music program in the US.</p>
<p>My son and daughter-in-law graduated from Belmont. She was a Commercial vocal performance major. Many great non-classical singers are there. For that area of music, I highly recommend Belmont.</p>
<p>definitely look up usc thornton school of music for either music industry or popular music…i’m biased though cuz it’s my first choice:)</p>
<p>What about Ithaca?
USC fits, but too far away for OP.
What about NYU?</p>
<p>From this forum, the schools that have non-classical singing majors should also help you develop your ‘pop vocal’ chops. A great pop singer also needs to understand theory, rhythm, and other aspects of music, and needs to be able to borrow from other styles. Even though jazz is taught at Berklee, and you can study that intensely, they have ensemble classes that range from pop to R&B to gospel, and they have a world class pop a cappella group (Pitch Slapped). Other schools to compare are Belmont, Thornton’s commercial music, The New School, and UArts in Philly. Since you don’t want pure classical, you first start your search looking for contemporary or jazz vocal programs.</p>
<p>Definitely look at The New School of Jazz & Contemporary Music in NYC. One of the admissions officers told us that he commuted from Connecticut when he was a student.</p>
<p>I’ve done my research on all of these and got into the ones I applied to. These are your best bets. I ignored your regional request because your options are pretty slim if you don’t want programs for only classical or only jazz. I live on the east coast and I applied and auditioned for USC… I honestly never thought I’d go across the country for college. I am, though, so there’s room to change your (or your parents’) mind.</p>
<p>**Berklee College of Music (Boston) **- Pop, jazz, whatever you want. Conservatory-style.
**The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (New York) **- self-explanatory. Part of a university.
**Belmont University (Nashville) **- Commercial Music. Christian university.
**UMiami Frost **- Creative American Music Minor with major choices in music industry, writing/production, etc.
USC (Los Angeles) - Popular Music. Competitive program kept small & tight-knit for student opportunities.
**UMass Amherst **- Jazz & African American Music Studies. Presumably that means you’ll get some rock & R&B.</p>
<p>Schools whose names will come up in a search but you should probably avoid:
Musician’s Institute - Pages upon pages of bad reviews.
Columbia College Chicago - Open-enrollment program. Not very impressive.</p>
<p>Let me know if I can help in any way.</p>