I’ve just come across Berklee’s Contemporary Writing and Production major (https://www.berklee.edu/cwp/major) and it seems perfect for me. It combines a lot of my musical interests and definitely seems like it would prepare me for the type of career I dream of pursuing in music. I like that it has more of a focus on the writing side of production than the technology side. However, since I have a lot of academic interests, and because I’m not 100% sure music is going to work out, I’d like to get a thorough liberal arts education as well. Berklee does offer some liberal arts classes, but I don’t know if they’re going to be enough for me. (But if any former or current Berklee students could give me some info on what liberal arts are like there, that would be great as well!)
Does anyone know of a school that offers a diverse music program like this, as well as high quality academics, in a way that I’d be able to study both? I’d also be open to doing a double degree, bust most of the ones I’ve seen have been with conservatories, which don’t tend to offer the type of music education I’m looking for.
Belmont in Nashville, Tenn often comes up when people are talking about contemporary music. So does USC and the Clive Davis program at NYU Steinhardt.
Check out University of Miami - Frost School of Music. They have a contemporary songwriting major and a very interesting production department too. Academics are excellent.
I don’t know this first hand but others have said that the walls are very high between programs at USC and double majoring or shifting isn’t a viable option for most.
My D graduated from Berklee with a CMP degree last year. She also attended Boston U down the street for some of her liberal arts and those transfer in nicely to Berklee. The CMP coursework is demanding and time consuming, but if you need a cross section of mental challenge, taking courses at other campuses close by is an option, plus you get to meet other types of students.
ProArts allows students from the Consortium of colleges for the Fenway to cross register at other colleges. So you could potentially take classes at Emerson College. The talent pool at Berklee is quite deep. So although there may be many students that are not as academically inclined as you, there will likely to be students who are your academic peers.