<p>My daughter is looking for good schools, strong in academics, as well as in theater and music. She doesn't plan to major in music, but loves to sing, and it is important to her to have access to an excellent voice teacher as a non-major.</p>
<p>These are some of the schools she is thinking of applying to:</p>
<p>Barnard, Tufts, Brandeis, Kenyon, Northwestern, Lawrence, Vassar </p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>You might consider looking at U of Rochester. On our tour recently, the guide (a math major) mentioned that she was taking voice lessons from an Eastman teacher, and that she had taken many classes at Eastman.</p>
<p>Mstee, both Lawrence and Northwestern have music conservatories, so you might want to check into the availability to non-majors. I suspect music is more accessible to non-majors at Lawrence, though. At Barnard and Tufts, don’t know about the voice teachers specifically, but know students at both who are active in music as non-majors. Has your daughter checked out St. Olaf? They have a fine music program, and give merit scholarships to musicians, even non-majors Perhaps others can chime in on your other choices.</p>
<p>I know Bard would fit the bill for an instrumentalist, but am not sure about undergrad vocalist. Maybe M8Ma or someone else could weigh in.</p>
<p>The undergrad voice program at Bard is very strong - my son has a number of friends who are studying voice and they say the teachers are fantastic. For majoring in music with a vocal concentration, it is by competitive audition at the end of the second year - but classes and lessons are available to all. There is no vocal program in the conservatory for undergrads - only Dawn Upshaw’s graduate program - so all the undergrad singing is through the college program. The graduate program presents numerous concerts and master classes throughout the year. The head of the college music program, James Bagwell, is the conductor of the Collegiate Chorale in New York City and also runs the choral program at Bard. A number of undergrads also seem to get work in the summer at the Bard Music Festival which always stages a full length major opera. And there are often student composer operas performed each year with opportunities for undergrads.</p>
<p>As for theater, Bard is a major center for study - many students apply there specifically for that. And the academics are wonderful. If you’re looking at Vassar, definitely take the time to check out Bard.</p>
<p>There are tons of vocal and theatrical music opportunities at University of Michigan’s SOMTD, but I’m not certain how accessible the vocal-studio-for-a-grade is for non SOM students - first pref is majors, then music non-majors, etc. However, there’s no shortage of performance opportunities in either. There is also a degree of Bachelor of Musical Arts through SOMTD, wherein someone academically inclined can double major between schools if she wanted to continue to pursue music on a slightly different level than BMUS performance.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback everyone! </p>
<p>SpiritManager (what is a spirit manager, pray tell?) – She had Bard on her list, then took it off, but I’ll tell her to reconsider. She is leaning toward majoring in theatre, but has a beautiful voice, and is at the level where she definitely would be finicky about the vocal teacher.</p>
<p>SJTH – Both her dad and I keep trying to get her interested in St. Olaf, but so far she is resistant (probably because we like it so much). I have a few relatives who are graduates of St. Olaf, and some that are graduates of Concordia in Moorhead, MN. </p>
<p>flute – I will definitely have her take a look at U Rochester as well. That one has never been on our radar, but it looks interesting.</p>
<p>kmccrindle, I think she has decided UMich is too big, though it is an awesome school. She is enamored of the smaller schools, though I’m making her apply to a couple of UC’s here in California to have in-state options. It is unlikely that she will choose to go to a UC, but they are a good value.</p>
<p>mstee - I’m from the Bay Area, too - and I manage a distillery (right now the clanging of the vodka bottles is driving me nuts!) - hence SpiritManager - but it also often felt like my role as mom - with two high spirited boys. If she looked at Bard once, definitely have her look again. There is a past post by N8Ma about the vocal options at Bard. They’re often overlooked because they’re not part of the conservatory - but, because they’re not part of the conservatory that makes them much more accessible to all the students, majoring or not.</p>
<p>At UVA, the process for auditioning for performance classes is unrelated to the declaration of major. Students are accepted into the University Singers, or into the higher-level voice classes, solely based on their audition (or their juries, if they are already studying with someone.)</p>
<p>One of my cousins, a very good flutist, attended the University of Rochester but did not major in music. After an audition, she was able to perform in ensembles with the Eastman kids, and take lessons from Eastman faculty. I’m not sure whether voice works the same way.</p>
<p>mstee - I am curious whether your daughter, who sounds like she loves theater and singing, might consider music theater?
If that were the case, I would also note that while UMich is a large school indeed, the actual School of Music Theatre & Dance has approx 1,000 students and a supremely intimate feel (at least in my son’s program). The music theater studio accepts 20 students each year, for example. It is also possible to do a BFA in theatre and access the vocal studio (my son is doing a BFA and is in the vocal studio). Being on north Campus, it would be entirely possible for a student to feel that ‘close’ vibe without feeling lost on the huge central campus. Eg. my son came from a small gifted school with a class of 85 and seems to feel very much that he has the best of both at the SOMTD. So if she hasn’t made a visit, it might be worth it, just based on her interests alone.</p>
<p>For a completely different vibe, more LAC style, I am not sure but believe one can study theater at Oberlin as well, which has a strong conservatory (not sure about vocal).</p>
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<li>And Spirit Manager – how fun to learn the origins of your name. In honor of Fridays everywhere I thank you for your very important work! TGIF ;)</li>
</ul>
<p>^ My initial thoughts conjured images of mediums and paranormal investigators. </p>
<p>Pass the vodka. It’s almost noon here.</p>