<p>While we are all waiting for 2011 audition results, Ill take the opportunity to share our experience from Ds search for schools with Jazz Voice programs. For those of you who may be starting to look, hopefully this saves you some time. My D was specifically interested in schools in the northeast, preferably with an urban campus, and with a BM or BFA program in Jazz Voice. She informed me that Vocal Jazz is not the same as Jazz Voice because vocal jazz implies choirs and chorale singing. We came to find that we had look for Jazz Studies programs where one of the instruments is voice. Needless to say, you cant do a search of CollegeBoard with that level of granularity so the process was very manual. We created a list of Jazz Studies schools (from CollegeBoard and CC) and put that together with a list of schools from a local VPA fair. Then we looked at the web site of each school to see the program description and whether or not prescreening is required. Surprisingly, many of the well-known jazz schools do not offer voice as an instrument, including MSM, Eastman, Oberlin and CCM. However, some of these schools do offer voice as an instrument for a Jazz MM degree.</p>
<p>Here is the list that we compiled and she used as a starting point (sorry for the poor formatting, it looks much better in a spreadsheet):</p>
<p>School, State, Jazz Voice? BM Voice? Comments
Berklee College of Music MA Yes Yes Has Early Action
Chicago College of Performing Arts - Roosevelt University IL Yes Yes
Ithaca College NY Yes Yes
McGill University Quebec Yes Yes Prescreen
Michigan State, College of Music MI Yes Yes
New England Conservatory MA Yes Yes Prescreen
Peabody Conservatory of Music MD Yes Yes Prescreen for voice but not Jazz Voice!
Rowan University NJ Yes Yes
Temple University - Boyer PA Yes Yes
The Hartt School CT Yes Yes
The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music NY Yes No Prescreen; BFA Jazz
Umass Amherst MA Yes Yes
University of Southern Maine ME Yes Yes
William Patterson NJ Yes Yes Recorded audition - no live audition
Uarts PA Yes Yes BM Vocal Performance
Anna Maria College MA No Yes BA Music, BM Music Performance
Boston University MA No Yes
Carnegie Mellon University PA No Yes
Cleveland Institute of Music OH No Yes
Columbia College Chicago IL No Yes BA Voice, BM contemporary/urban/pop
DePaul University IL No Yes
Duquesne University PA No Yes Has Jazz but no BM
Eastman School of Music NY No Yes Prescreen
Keene State NH No Yes
Longy School of Music MA No Yes
Manhattan School of Music NY No Yes Prescreen
Mannes College The New School for Music NY No Yes Prescreen
New York University Steinhardt Music & Performing Arts NY No Yes Prescreen
Northwestern University-School of Music IL No Yes
Oberlin Conservatory of Music OH No Yes Prescreen
Purchase College, SUNY NY No Yes
Syracuse University NY No Yes Has Jazz but no BM
The Boston Conservatory MA No Yes
University of Cincinnati-Coll. Conserv. of Music OH No Yes
University of Illinois IL No Yes
Adelphi University NY No No BS Music
Bridgewater State College MA No No BA Music
Johnson State College VT No No BA Music - Jazz Concentration
Manhattanville College NY No No BA Music
Penn State University PA No No Bach Musical Arts
Saint Bonaventure University NY No No BA Music
Sarah Lawrence College NY No No BA Music
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth MA No No BA Music & Jazz Studies
University of Massachusetts Lowell MA No No Music Performance
University of New Haven CT No No BA Music</p>
<p>Thanks so much for sharing this information. My daughter’s short list includes
Chicago College of Performing Arts (Roosevelt University)
Butler University
New England Conservatory of Music
Peabody Conservatory of Music
Michigan State University
New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
McGill University - Schulich School of Music
Bennington</p>
<p>Also for jazz voice…she’s a senior now and will be taking a gap year, but we thought we’d look now and talk to the schools to see if they want her to apply/audition now or wait until next year. Any comments on any of the schools on her list? We’re just planning our visiting trips now and I want to make sure we haven’t overlooked a gem.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi bevildo, my D is at Berklee now in Boston, and her instrument is voice. You may want to look at it if you look at NEC as they are very near to each other. When she was applying, NEC didn’t have an undergrad focus on jazz voice, but they did have a strong Masters program. </p>
<p>I would also suggest you consider applying now, as you can always defer later. If she doesn’t get into the top school she had her eye on, she can still defer to whatever school she got in, and consider re-applying in the next cycle if she feels that add’l lessons or experience will make her audition stronger. </p>
<p>@bevildo – your DD’s list has a good mix of different types of schools and programs to use as a starting point for the college search.</p>
<p>Not sure about Bennington though. Is it really a general music major (BA program) with concentration in jazz? It’s hard to tell from their web site. Since the rest of the list contains schools with BM programs she might consider replacing Bennington with another school like UArts or William Patterson or Univ of Southern Maine.</p>
<p>It’s a good idea to look at Berklee as SnowFlake suggests. If your DD likes Berklee, they offer an early action option, which can take the pressure off other auditions by having an early acceptance in your pocket. There is also the potential to apply for Spring admission which could cut the gap year in half.</p>
<p>It was our experience that NEC does have undergrad jazz voice. The jazz voice instructor at NEC is very good and teaches both undergrad and grad students. However, we have heard some rumors that she is about to leave for Europe so NEC may not be taking many/any new jazz voice students. You’ll have to verify.</p>
<p>Another school to consider is Temple. We’ve heard good things about their program. </p>
<p>Good luck with the college search. It is quite an adventure.</p>
<p>Hi SnowflakeVT–Just wondering how your daughter is liking Berklee? She had considered looking there, but then heard some bad press re their voice program. Always open to hear more comments though. I think it was something about a “way too relaxed” atmosphere. Most all of the school suggested that she wait to apply/audition next year due to scholarships, etc. being rewarded for the year they apply.</p>
<p>Hi Bevildo … D is loving Berklee. I saw her a few weekends ago and could tell that her voice skills are improving by leaps and bounds, but I can especially see that her piano skills are improving as well, probably due to the amount of time she practices as well as the theory and arranging classes. The classes she’s into now are intense, as she’s a 5th semester student and so some of her classes have seniors. If there is a perception that Berklee is too relaxed, she does not mention it, but she also skipped Freshman year as she transferred in 3 semesters after everyone else. It’s possible that some 1st semester students take it too casually, but they sure aren’t around by the 3rd semester. My D has a strong connection with her vocal teacher, who also encourages her to try out for various opportunities that come along. All very fun, but a lot of work. My D transferred in in January and was still able to get a nice scholarship, so take the gap year, audition, and start when she’s ready to dive into music full time.</p>
<p>Others I’ve heard of but not investigated are Cornish College, Sacramento State, San Francisco State and U Denver (Lamont). Maybe after you research some schools you can contribute back to this thread.</p>
<p>Hi–My D took her gap year–spent some time in Europe, then getting ready for auditions. It was so nice not to go through a month + of auditions during her senior year–that would have been so difficult. She was accepted to all of the schools that she auditioned for: Butler, Chicago College Perf. Arts, The New School for Jazz & Contemp. Music, Berklee, McGill, Bennington (no audition there). Seriously looking at all of them…wondering if Berklee is really worth the cost. She did get some scholarship from them.</p>
<p>I presume these were for the BM in Jazz Performance on voice at everyplace but Bennington, and for the BA in music there. Please let me know if any of those guesses were wrong. Good luck on the decision among all those fine schools, and please let us know which one she chooses.</p>
<p>Not only is it great to see another jazz vocalist on the list but it is also encouraging to hear of a successful gap year. Your D’s hard work paid off with an impressive set of acceptances. Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing her final decision.</p>
Hopefully I can revive this thread. My D is a HS sophomore now, currently at Interlochen camp for their singer songwriter program. She is disappointed because there is no focus on jazz and she is pretty much the only kid there interested in jazz voice. The college lists are fantastic. I am looking seriously into sending her to Berklee for their 5 week summer program next year. Anyone have any thoughts? @bevildo where did your D end up? How much scholarship did she get from Berklee if you don’t mind me asking? the price tag is hefty. This is such great and useful info for me. Thanks so much and hope to hear from some of you!
Oh and we are right here at Michigan State and I am flabbergasted that our lovely school made the list! Her vocal coach formerly taught jazz voice at MSU but of course she doesn’t want to go to school here…not when she can get a tuition discount because my hubby works here! Good grief…lol 8-|
One of my D’s voice teachers at Berklee attended MSU for her undergrad. From what I have seen that is a great school as long as the same faculty is still there that brought the Jazz flavor.