<p>does anyone know of good schools in California for undergraduate music composition? I have heard good things about Cal Arts and UC Santa Barbara, any others?</p>
<p>UC Berkeley</p>
<p>Cal Arts is good if you're interested in computer music. The best traditional programs are probably USC and UCLA. CSU Northridge isn't bad. Santa Barbara has a generally mediochre music program. You're limiting yourself quite a bit if you're only interested in California schools. The best composition programs in the country and virtually all on the East Coast (with the possible exception of USC). Whoever told you that Berkeley has a good composition program doesn't know what they're talking about. Berkeley has an absolutely pitiful excuse for a music program.</p>
<p>USC, Stanford are both in no way inferior to the composition programs on the East Coast. For that matter, they are probably more open to new ideas than some of the more well known East Coast conservatories and Ivy programs. I tend to think it's very important to be not only open to, but also have the opportunity to be exposed to the works of composers you would otherwise not come in contact with without a good teacher so I recommend researching the types of music faculties are interested in, and unfortunately, this is quite difficult without some inside knowledge since faculty profiles don't exactly list 'my favorite music' and unless you have someone who is well recorded and well known, it's hard to find samples of faculty music for that matter. (Also realize that the faculties on even the best music schools are prone to change; Northwestern had one of the best faculties about 4-5 years back but in the last several years, 3-4 of the faculty members left at the same time causing the students a good amount of misery. Fortunately, the temporary faculty were quite good. It may get better again as Lee Hyla has just been appointed a permanent, tenured faculty member. Eastman's program used to be amazing as well but it is much less interesting these days.) </p>
<p>UC Berkeley's music program is not the MOST ideal for undergraduate, the graduate composition program is much better so MahlerSnob maybe making a terrible judgment call against it--though at the undergrad level, I agree, I wouldn't go there. </p>
<p>Some programs are much more cosmopolitan than others--Cal Arts is really good if you want to have a chance to experiment a lot. On the other hand, schools like Juilliard, Eastman and NEC tend have good composers who write for more traditional forces (orchestras, string quartets) etc. Again, these are generalizations, but the differences are clearly there. You will also see a marked difference in the type of composers who come in to do master classes. Harvard brought in people like Magnus Lindberg and Tristan Murail because Julian Anderson was on the faculty. Don't expect the same composers to come to CalArts or for that matter, Juilliard.</p>
<p>WindCloudUltra- do you know much about the Stanford composition faculty? Even though we live in the Bay Area we never hear anything about the Stanford program. As for UC Berkeley, it's definitely a program for grad students - the most innovative work being done there is usually in The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT).</p>
<p>Stanford's star faculty is undoubtedly Brian Ferneyhough, a British composer whose music is rather experimental, modernist and challenging. His stuff isn't performed too often in the US because some performers think what he writes doesn't make sense and that its difficult for the sake of being difficult. He has quite a reputation though; next year, he is on leave and taking a one-year position at Harvard as Visiting Professor. He has a reputation of being a very good teacher and very open to various styles despite the extremity in his own compositions. (Again, secondhand accounts; I'll tell you more after some lessons with him this school year)</p>
<p>Again, the undergrad program is not a composition degree per se, but rather a general BA in music (though you can focus or concentrate on composition I think). The (CCRMA) or Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics is one of the best in the world in what it does--it once boasted people like John Chowning who basically invented FM synthesis, which is the basis of MIDI technology today. It is still very, very strong today. Again, grad focused if you want to do purely composition. (Though there's nothing wrong with the undergrad BA degree; you can still take courses with the faculty)</p>
<p>If you want a conservatory experience on the West Coast on the undergrad level, USC is the choice school. On the east coast, Juilliard, Eastman, Curtis and Manhattan. In the midwest, Northwestern, Oberlin, CCM. (I'm probably forgetting a few) I have very strong opinions on all the programs and the composer culture on each. If anyone would like to know more, we'll talk via PM or email or something. Anyway, I find some of these programs painfully conservative and boring...others are dynamic and exciting, but my opinions are probably not without quite a bit of subjective and aesthetic bias.</p>
<p>San Francisco Conservatory of Music</p>
<p>From friends who have attended Stanford music and later transferred, stanford's music department SUCKS. you're better off at a cal university or UC, although they are not notable for their music department either.<br>
for music, i would NEVER go to stanford. it'll be a waste of your time. </p>
<p>if you want the best, go to a conservatory like san fran or the east to the ones mentioned by windcloudultra: curtis, juilliard, manhattan, eastman..even peabody. new england. also, YALE has a really good music deparment with amazing faculty.</p>
<p>No one ever mentions UCLA. For a good reason?</p>
<p>Also, my understanding of Yale is the professors in the Yale School of Music are only available to the grad students. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>yah i think music is only for grads at yale. they have CLAUDE FRANK!!!!</p>
<p>Hi, I posted a thread with this question in the graduate school forum, but this thread was too perfect, so I would like to ask the same question here.</p>
<p>What are good graduate programs for music composition? My friend who just graduated from CSUF in piano performance is looking for a strong composition program in, preferrably, Southern California.</p>
<p>No one mentioned Cal States, are they really that awful? Is Northridge good?</p>
<p>I don't know if they're awful, but they're just not that well known within the composition community.</p>
Hi, I’m an international student, looking for an undergraduate degree program in music composition, with a concentration in screen / film music. What do you think of Columbia College of Chicago in terms of their music education and networking?
Also, it is wise to straightaway go for an undergraduate degree in film music? Or should I focus on composition first? Liberal arts college or music conservatory? Hmm dilemmas dilemmas.
So far I’m deciding on Berklee as they have a transfer program in my country (Malaysia). However, do give me suggestions if there are any other less costly colleges that i can pursue my career in film music.
Stanford music department does not suck, let’s get that straight first.
It’s an academic program tailored to grad students that focuses on research, emerging technologies, electroacoustics, and experimentation. Both Ferneyhough and Applebaum are monsters in their field. It’s not a conservatory atmosphere, so you won’t have tons of performers, making it more like the Ivies on the east coast.
There are a few other options in the bay area:
San Jose State - I got my undergrad in comp there. 2 wonderful faculty (Furman and Belet) who are super connected in the EA community, and can give you the information and put you on a path to greater things. I am finishing my MM at Bowling Green, and am starting my PhD at Brandeis in the fall, and they helped make that happen. It’s a good sized program for a state school, but they have very little money (luckily CSU’s are cheap).
SFCM - Super expensive, and very conservative. No electronic program really to speak of (that might have changed with Mason Bates there, but really he’s not exactly active in the EA community). Good performers though.
Berkeley - Really tailored to grad students, similar to Stanford.
I wouldn’t recommend anything else in the Bay Area.
SoCal:
CSU Long Beach: I’ve heard really good things. Probably at the level of SJSU.
USC: I have a few friends there that love it. Rather conservative though, but great opportunities and resources.
UCLA: Again I’ve heard good things, but not very familiar.
CalArts: Obviously a solid choice. More experimental than some of your other SoCal options.
UC San Diego: Very strong experimental and EA music program.
So there are a few solid options in California, but you have to first decide what kind of experience you want to have. Is it important to you to have the conservatory experience? Is money an issue? San Jose State would be my top recommendation in the Bay Area for an undergrad as you get a well rounded education, with plenty of performers, and the composition faculty are well connected. Also it’s relatively inexpensive, and can put you on a path toward grad school.
@Jovelure This thread is from 2007! 9 years ago. (I miss @WindCloudUltra! He was so helpful to us when we first came on this forum.)
@Jovelure There are many more recent threads about composition, and about studying film scoring. And, yes, it is usually recommended to get a solid grounding in composition before studying scoring - which is why most undergrad programs do not offer it. But if you know for sure that’s what you want to do - then your choices are rather limited. NYU, Berklee, San Francisco Conservatory’s new TAC program specifically for scoring for media), University of Michigan’s PAT program, and maybe Columbia College of Chicago?
If you need financial aid, then as an international student, your choices will be more limited still. I would recommend going to a college that will give you significant aid and that also offers classes in music composition, theory and orchestration, and possibly has a strong film program so you can make filmmaker friends. Save the worry about the scoring part and networking for grad school and internships.
@mmmarimba Congratulations on choosing Brandeis for your PhD. ( @Mezzo’sMama take note.) Your recommendations are for EA - which I assume is electroacoustic? If so, that’s probably not what @Jovelure is asking about - most young composers who want to write film & game music are thinking more along the lines of John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Yes, they use electronics - but it’s not what I would classify as electroacoustic art music. And, for EA in the Bay Area, one should always include Mills College in a list for grad study.
First decide whether you want a BM at a conservatory/music school (2/3-3/4 music classes) or a BA at a college or university (1/4-1/3 music classes, generally). Composers can follow many paths. Some feel a foundational program in music, with composition, theory, music history, ethnomusicology, and technology, is best, rounded out by classes in art history, poetry, anthropology and other areas that eventually enrich composition. That would be a BA general music major. Some BA programs allow focus on composition, others don’t, and some offer lessons with a teacher, others don’t.
If you want a free standing conservatory, or music school within a university, that would be a different set of choices. The curriculum would also be foundational for music in many schools, though some will allow early focus on film or media work. And there would be fewer liberal arts classes or gen eds of course. You would have an individual teacher.
You really have to go to the websites and research details of the degrees, curriculum, teachers, students. Some schools that are excellent for grad work may not have the same opportunities at the undergrad level. Check into this as well. Listen to the works of undergrad faculty, though they may teach in a way that is open to other styles. Go to student concerts if you can, if you ever visit the area .
There are good lists of California schools here, but there are many more where you can study composition, for instance, U. of Puget Sound or U. of the Pacific or Lewis and Clark- on the west coast, or Pomona for that matter. (I have no idea who the faculty are there.) Glad Mills was mentioned.
It also depends on what kind of music you want to write. Symphonic? Tonal? Experimental?
You can apply to both BM and BA programs if you like and decide later.
Columbia College of Chicago certainly may be a good choice for you considering what you want to end up doing.