<p>I don't know if that title made sense lol.. but I'm looking for schools with good programs for musical theater or theater or vocal performance, that don't necessarily offer MT as a major. I honestly want to go to school to get a good academic education, but I want to make sure I go to school that has lots of opportunities for performing and maybe even well-thought of performing art classes.. maybe schools I could double major in for theater or vocal performance? Because I've noticed it's nearly impossible to double major as a MT major, so I thought I would see what my other options were.. can anyone help? I would REALLY appreciate it!</p>
<p>D will be starting at NYU this fall as a vocal performance major in music theatre. It is a BM degree through Steinhardt. A music concentration of 30 credits is required as well as other academics including language, liberal arts and sciences. The Music theatre concentaration is another 30 or so credits. If you come in with AP credits, a minor is doable if you are willing to take 18 credtis/term.</p>
<p>D is a strong student and was torn between going for an more "academic" degree and pursuing her passion/talent. As a starting point, she liked the academic aspect of the music degree at Steinhardt with its many required classes in theory and compostion. She chose to go that route over Tisch. There is a real emphasis in Steinhardt on education of the whole person. She has been very impressed with the vocal teachers she has worked with (she attended a summer program there last summer) and really likes the head of the department's philosophy about the program and education in general.</p>
<p>That said, D knew that NYU was her first choice if she was going to major in music theatre. She did not apply to other music theatre programs, but chose schools that offered vocal performance and theatre opportunites, whether or not she chose to major in music.</p>
<p>Her final list was:
American, GWU, Muhlenberg, Barnard, Brandeis, SUNY Binghamton</p>
<p>She was accepted into all of these schools and rec'd substantial merit aid from all that offered it (ranging from $11K to $22K)</p>
<p>Her final top choices came down to Barnard, Brandeis and GW (the best schools academically.) However, none came close to having the vocal and performance opportunities that NYU offered. </p>
<p>In the end, her decision was between NYU and Barnard. But Barnard had mainly student-run productions (and mostly revues) that got very mixed reviews and the music department would not arrange for a practice voice lesson and could not guarantee that she would get any vocal lessons even as a music major.</p>
<p>Brandeis was more accomodating, but the voice lesson D took was just okay and the theatre class she sat in on was filled with students who were taking it as a "fun" course, but who had little experience.</p>
<p>Ultimately, D decided to pursue her best option for music theatre, knowing that she could always persue an academic path in grad school if she wants. She can apply to MBA programs, law schools or pursue a masters in music or education and teach. </p>
<p>She felt that if she did not take vocal performance now, that she may never be able to. She feels that she will be more than challenging herself by taking 18 credits: Writing the Essay, Freshman Scholars Seminar, Honors Seminar in Literary Theory and Analysis, Keyboard Harmony, Vocal Production for Singers, Music Theatre Workshop (dance and acting), Private voice lessons, Collegium Seminar for Vocal performance majors and Choir. (She tested out of Music Theroy 1.)</p>
<p>Other schools we looked into were Skidmore, Vassar and Tufts. But since none of those offered merit aid, we scratched them off the list. We kept Barnard on the list because of its NYC location and Columbia connection. Good luck with your decison!</p>
<p>Let me follow up the last post by reiterating that you should give Muhlenberg a close look. It is a very well regarded small liberal arts college that has strong academics and dance, voice and theatre programs. The Theatre Department stages many shows each year, including a couple of mainstage musicals, and also runs a professional summer stock company that stages several musicals during the summer season for which students can audition. The school has a very warm and welcoming atmosphere and is an interesting combination of academic and artistic types. Is a school at which you could easily double major in an area of performing arts as well as a more traditional academic interest.</p>
<p>I second that Muhlenberg is a good option. They were also very generous with merit aid ($19K). But in the end, location won out. D wanted a big city. Although there isn't a music theater major at Muhlenberg, it is easy to major or minor in vocal performance, theater and another unrelated academic subject.</p>
<p>Check out Northwestern! One of the top schools in the country for theatre and...normal stuff haha.</p>
<p>unskoolfish...when you say it is easy to major or minor in vocal performance, etc., do you mean it is easy to get into that major or that the curriculum is easy? Just curious...</p>
<p>I believe that unskoolfish meant that, once one has been admitted to Muhlenberg (which is not easy -- it's a selective school), then one can just designate that he or she is majoring or minoring in, say, vocal performance. It is not an admission-by-audition program, so those who are accepted simply sign up for that major. However, I want to be clear that very few people would describe admission to Muhlenberg (especially these days) as "easy" and though I don't have firsthand knowledge of the curriculum in VP, I seriously doubt it's easy.</p>
<p>I'd also recommend Muhlenburg! The school has reason to celebrate actually in that one of its graduates (from 2005) is now in the ensemble of "South Pacific"! He was a double major in Business and Theatre so its safe to say that their training must be quite good!</p>