Could anyone give me an idea of how the music departments are at any of the following schools? I’m not looking for conservatory level training, but I’d like to be in a place where I can continue piano, sing in a choir and study history and theory.
skidmore college
macalester college
kenyon college
bates colleges
reed college
grinnell college
haverford college
Have you looked at music department websites? These are all excellent schools and I cannot imagine that you would have any problem continuing music at any of them, but there may be subtle differences. You can research faculty, curriculum, and course offerings online, as well as distribution requirements- and schedule visits to coincide with concerts. (The head of our high school music dept. actually went to Macalaster and is very multi-faceted: teaches, plays in a regional symphony orchestra, performs in an indie/cabaret band (violin) and got MA at an Ivy for music ed.)
My daughter graduated from Grinnell. She worked with Nancy Gaub while there. Part of her decision to go to Grinnell was so she could have an excellent violin teacher and good chamber experiences (she was not a music major). Nancy’s husband, Eugene Gaub, is a pianist and also teaches at Grinnell. Here is a link to his data: https://www.grinnell.edu/users/gaub D played in many chamber groups at Grinnell and was impressed by the quality of playing with her classmates. During her freshman year, she played in a chamber group with a pianist who had gone to the same festival she had several years earlier. The Gaubs are solid musicians and, according to D, very nice people too. Here’s another link with info on them: http://www.kruufm.com/node/15360
I know of one young woman (a close friend of my son’s ex-girlfriend) who went to Skidmore and is pursuing a career in music. She did a year abroad in Vienna at some music program.