<p>Question for current student - how are the practice rooms at Middlebury? My son is a pianist and it seems to be the one thing he cares about when he visits schools. Are they available to non-majors? Some of the schools we've visited have them in the basement and are windowless, some have windows. We are thinking that Middlebury with its Bach festival and its greater support for pianists than most of the SLACs might have nice ones.</p>
<p>The practice rooms are located in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, on the second floor I think, most do not have windows. They are available as long as there are not lessons being taught, and there is a schedule posted so you know when the room is in use. I’ve only used them to practice my vocals so I can’t really speak to the pianos/Middlebury’s general support of pianists.</p>
<p>Have you visited Vassar yet? Someone was playing a Steinway grand piano for almost 3 hours in my son’s dorm during move-in day yesterday. Some dorms have a Steinway grand in them. Most practice rooms in Skinner (the music building) have windows and it is just a gorgeous building. We loved Middlebury also but for music, Vassar won us over both in the actual music facilities and in the emphasis of music on campus…for both majors and non-majors.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve already thought about this, but for LACs and music it’s hard to beat Oberlin. Having said that, I don’t really know any specifics about the music program at Vassar, Middlebury, or Oberlin.</p>
<p>Yes I posted the same question on the Oberlin forum and they have 150 practice rooms 2/3rds of which have with a Steinway baby grand and windows. Hard to beat that.</p>
<p>Speaking as someone who lives in Oberlin, with many connections at the school, I can tell you you’ll be hard pressed to find a LAC with better music. The conservatory is an incredible resource, and one that even Midd might not have a match for.</p>