<p>My D is very interested in playing piano for musical theater productions in college. She has been the rehearsal accompanist/pit pianist for every musical in her high school and summer community theater production for the past three years and was the instrumental director/asst. musical director for two of them. She is also an accomplished classical performer. She wonders if piano performance is the right major for her.</p>
<p>My question is - How are piano performance majors who want to do MT perceived? Is it welcomed or is it like marching band and "not recommended"? Do the instrumentalists in a musical's pit orchestra come from the performance majors?</p>
<p>Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of this? Or -any insights into what might be the best route for someone who would rather be playing piano for the performers on stage than playing solo on a large grand piano in the center of the stage herself? </p>
<p>Any suggestions re. colleges that might welcome such a person?</p>
<p>My son is an '07 BM viola performance graduate from Hartt, which has stong programs both in opera amd in musical theater. During his time there, he played in the orchestra at least once annually in support of one of the major opera productions, and not once did he participate in the pit in support of an MT performance. This was not reluctance on his part. Although he is a largely a classical performer, he had always enjoyed and was adamant about playing in the pit for his hs annual musicals much to the consternation of his private instructor and his chamber music coach.</p>
<p>In conversations with him, the pit at a Hartt during his early years was a paid gig, and he always was a bit late in responding. Subsequently, it became an unpaid assigned orchestral assignment, and upperclassmen as a rule did not get the nod unless there was a shortage of a particular instrument.</p>
<p>As a classical pianist, your d may well have the ability to be able to audition into a number of very strong programs. A couple that come to mind with strong performance and MT programs are Shenandoah, CCM, Ithaca, Hartt, Boston Conservatory & Ball State. </p>
<p>You may want to cross-post on the musical theater forum and see if there’s first hand experience from students/parents in various programs. I’d also suggest contacting specific schools directly and see if there may be different piano performance programs available.</p>
<p>My sense is that this kind of accompanying is regarded as extracurricular – yes, probably kind of like marching band but that is not to denigrate it – in most programs. Classical musicians on piano generally concentrate on solo and classical chamber music repertoire. Collaborative piano usually is also classical. That doesn’t mean that your daughter would not have opportunities to accompany musicals (I understand, for example, that Oberlin students are putting on a musical over winter break and were looking for a pianist), just that her music professor would not be involved. Violadad’s suggestions of schools with MT programs may be worth exploring.</p>
<p>My son has a similar profile to your daughter, and also enjoys collaborative piano almost more than solo. He is an excellent accompanist, both for classical solo and ensemble, as well as musical theater performances.</p>
<p>Here is what he was told, at two different schools. Accompanists nowadays, particularly if they are accompanying top notch soloists, need to be AS accomplished as those they are accompanying. They are very much heard, not just as collaboration, but as part of the overall gestalt. They need the best possible classical training.</p>
<p>Musical directors, in general, have superb classical training as well. </p>
<p>My S is going the performance degree route, 100%, which he had always planned to do, but the advice from professionals corroborated what we had thought all along.</p>
<p>There is another parent here whose son is doing the MT/piano route. Hopefully, she will show up to give a different perspective, since I doubt there is a single answer to this question!</p>
<p>The School of Music at Arizona State offers a BM in collaborative piano and
since they also offer a BM in MT vocal music performance, the opportunities
to work with the MT students and productions are numerous. (as opposed to
schools that have their MT students in the Drama dept.)</p>
<p>Playing in the pit for musicals will most likely not be steady… most jobs in the arts are not… accompanying can be steadier… ie. playing lessons, auditions, rehearsals, classes, cabarets… than some other performance tracks. My colleagues who do this make a very good living. Most also Music Direct musicals, and often coach MT performers.</p>
<p>Shenandoah Conservatory has a degree in Accompanying for Musical Theatre. James Madison University, where I teach, has an accompanying track in the school of music. Although the focus of the track is not exclusively musical theatre, those student for whom this is a personal focus accompany more of the musical theatre performance majors, play for faculty directed operas and musicals, often play and music direct/ conduct student directed musicals, I occasionally hire advanced accompanists who are familiar with the MT repertory to play for my MT classes and auditions.</p>
<p>Depending on the school, the size of the piano and/ or accompanying programs, whether of not there are graduate students, the relationship between the School of Music and the Schools of Theatre (if they are separate schools, and assuming that musical theatre is housed in the School of Theatre), etc… the opportunities and support for the music students pursuing musical theatre opportunities will vary.</p>
<p>A piano performance major will most likely focus more on “solo” piano performance, rather than accompanying other musicians.</p>
<p>Your D sounds like my S. While in high school he was a paid musical director for three years for regional youth theatre productions. Musical theatre is his first love, but he decided that classical training would be the best foundation. He’s in the “Music with an Outside Field” BM degree at the School of Music at Ithaca College. He is taking “Pianist as Collaborator,” minoring in theatre, and is on stage in a student-run performance. He also loves acting. The college has highly rated Drama and MT programs.</p>
<p>He decided not to pursue opportunities for musical directing his first year. He has turned down lots of accompanying offers from voice and MT majors. He knows upper class piano majors who regularly work musical directing, both at the college and in the town of Ithaca. Cornell University is also in town and it is a culture-rich community.</p>
<p>Other schools he looked at are University of Michigan and Indiana University. He liked the smaller size of Ithaca College. I think the studio your D ends up in is also important. My S talked to the teacher at a visit for a lesson to assess his acceptance of his professional goals.</p>
<p>If someone is a piano performance major, it is assumed that she will be more focused on playing and practicing classical piano repertoire than being in MT rehearsals and practicing MT music. Certainly many piano performance majors go on to play MT, and their training in classical music certainly doesn’t hurt anything. But to warn you: her piano teacher will not like her focusing all her time on MT if she’s a performance major. Her piano teacher will want her to be practicing 3-4 hours a day at least on classical repertoire. Maybe your d can do both and make it all work out. But she really should have a love for classical music if she wants to be a performance major cause that’s all her piano teacher will want to hear in lessons. One thing should be pointed out: if she is dead set on doing MT for the rest of her life, then her time can be better spent in another music concentration instead of piano performance. Piano Performance majors typically major in it because they want to be private piano teachers in their homes or go on for doctoral degrees and teach at the college level.</p>