Suggestions of Colleges with Music Majors

<p>I have to suggest Vassar College as a school that is strong in academics and music. My son is a freshman there and is loving it. We heard the orchestra rehearse and I got ‘goosebumps’ - they were excellent. You can do a double major at Vassar (BA Music and another major). Also, they are Div 3 so it would be possible to do a sport if you can arrange it around the concerts and rehearsals. Although some do not consider acapella groups ‘serious’ music, the fact the Vassar has eight such groups shows how prominent music is in the overall culture of the college. This year, one group has 2 openings and 45 people auditioned. Music is very strong at Vassar.</p>

<p>For those beginning to look, the thread here <a href=“Music Industry,Business,Technolgy,Engineering - Music Major - College Confidential Forums”>Music Industry,Business,Technolgy,Engineering - Music Major - College Confidential Forums; may be as good a place as any to begin.</p>

<p>My son has made both all county and all state bands. His primary instrument is the bass clarinet, though he also plays tenor sax in the school’s jazz band. At first he wanted to go the conservatory route, but now he is rethinking this, since he seems to have talent in baseball as well. Has he flipped his reed, or is this thing possible(majoring in music & playing baseball)? If it’s possible, any suggestions for woodwinds? I’ve seen a lot here for trumpet players, but not as much for the woodwind performers.</p>

<p>Are there conservatories, or top music university programs, that consider bass clarinet as a primary instrument? I would guess that most audition-based music schools would expect an audition on the soprano (Bb or A, as needed).</p>

<p>woodwindmum, there is a similar question and some links to a few music and sports threads here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/793672-so-whirlwind-begins.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/793672-so-whirlwind-begins.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Yes, you’re right about that–most do require auditions on the Bb rather than the bass clarinet. He seems to be able to switch between Bb, bass clarinet & tenor sax without any problems. He keeps current on all three, though less on the Bb.</p>

<p>Hi my name is Titia Smith Im a Pottsville Senior and Id love some advice on the college process. My passion is music and I want more than anything to make a career out of it but Im not sure how to start the process. It would be great to talk with someone thats already over come this battle or maybe facing it now… Anything is better than nothing at all! Thanks… Titia</p>

<p>Welcome. You may want to contact a moderator and have them edit out your personal info.
Most who use the site want a remain a bit anonymous, as there are some admissions people here who may read your posts. </p>

<p>The place to start for info is here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Post some of your musical background (instrument or discipline, experiences, years of training), your intended path and some idea of what you are looking for in an undergrad experience and many here will be able to guide you.</p>

<p>A conservatory which I don’t think has been mentioned on CC is Mount Royal Conservatory which is part of Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. Like almost all Canadian schools, Mount Royal offers an excellent education at a bargain price. Even though internationals pay more than double the tuition that Canadians pay, the international tuition is still only about US$11 000 for a year. Rent for a year in a campus suite runs from about US$4500 to $6000 depending on the number of suite mates (everyone gets their own bedroom). So a year’s tuition and living expenses is around $20 000. </p>

<p>Instruction in strings and piano is excellent. I don’t know enough about the other disciplines to comment. In the past couple of years, students from the conservatory have been accepted at Colburn, Curtis, Rice, San Francisco and other top programmes. </p>

<p>Calgary is a growing, wealthy city of about 1 000 000 located 75 minutes from Banff and the incredible outdoor opportunities in the Canadian Rockies. Calgary is headquarters to an airline, so it has relatively good air connections compared to most Canadian cities.</p>

<p>The downside: at present Mount Royal offers only a two-year certificate in music, but students seem to have no trouble gaining acceptance to the best institutions to complete a degree. Obviously the transfer of credits from Mount Royal will be institution-specific.</p>

<p>Adding the link [Music</a> Lessons, Schools, Workshops, Classes, Festivals | Bridge to Music](<a href=“Music Lessons, Schools, Workshops, Classes, Festivals | Bridge to Music”>Music Lessons, Schools, Workshops, Classes, Festivals | Bridge to Music) provided by percussiondad.</p>

<p>Unless you make it into Curtis or Juilliard, it is foolish to major in performance with no backup. Look at schools that are strong overall first (Oberlin, Rice, Indiana, Eastman/Rochester), and at least take a minor in an employable area. UChicago is a fantastic place but it is not known for producing many instrumental performers. If you attend a good conservatory, like NEC or MSM, you need to both be extremely intense and consistent about your craft and your career, while considering a backup. Beyond music schools that are traditionally considered in the top 5 to 10, it just gets harder and harder and harder to make it once you are out.</p>

<p>uh would be better than most for music ed.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Sorry, but I do not fully agree with you. Curtis and Juilliard are excellent schools. BUT not every performer with EVERY orchestra or chamber group is a graduate of those two schools. For some, the perserverence necessary to gain a job is what makes them rise above others…and a back up plan is something that would just get in the way of the preparation for being a performer.</p>

<p>I’ve got to side with thumper1 on this as well. Performance is tough row to hoe regardless of the name carved in stone on the institution’s edifice. Studying at Curtis or Juilliard is not a precursor of success let alone a “guarantee”. </p>

<p>It may help, but exceptional talent, motivation, instruction, exposure to superb instructors, peers, exceptional opportunities can be had at any number of institutions. It takes all that plus blood, sweat, tears and a good bit of luck or being at the right place at the right time. There’s no formula or yellow brick road that will make the process any easier or help one define the right path. </p>

<p>Take a peek at the backgrounds of the current fellows that comprise the New World Symphony (as good an indicator as any that I know of who MIGHT be occupying some of the greater and lesser pro chair positions in the foreseeable future). You’ll find a number of undergrad, grad and beyond degrees from both Curtis & Juilliard, as well as a pretty broad range of some of the schools beyond what some may consider the “top five”. IU Jacobs, UMich, Eastman, MSM, Peabody, Oberlin, NEC, others as well including Lawrence and Williams off the top of my head.</p>

<p>As for the “Plan B”, anyone not having given it serious consideration before embarking on a performance path falls somewhere between being an unbridled optimist or possessing the talents of Nostradamus. How one handle Plan B is really a personal choice. </p>

<p>I’ve personally argued on this forum about the merits of a BA/BM being as good as any as a precursor to entry level opportunities or grad study in other fields, but the realities of the current economy suggest that even this may not hold for the short and potentially long term future. </p>

<p>I’ll just reiterate what I’ve said in the past:</p>

<p>Think long and hard. Don’t go in with blinders on. Have accurate professional assessments. Be prepared to bleed, sweat and cry. Realize upfront the odds are stacked agin ya.</p>

<p>If you handle that, and can’t live with not trying, or don’t want to “what if” yourself decades later, them go for it. You do only get one shot. </p>

<p>But that’s just my two cents.</p>

<p>I want to address this, too, but I’m not sure how. Violadad said a lot of what I’m thinking.</p>

<p>In one sense, I understand it. I think it would be more accurate to say: if you are not competitive for schools LIKE Juilliard and Curtis, you will have a tougher road ahead to reach star soloist or major orchestra position. </p>

<p>However, as it is stated, there are several misleading assumptions: One is that Juilliard and Curtis are the only schools producing successful students. This is obviously false. My Juilliard kid has been auditioning for the past couple years. Most of the auditions have been won by non-Juilliard/Curtis kids. On his instrument, Rice has an amazing track record.</p>

<p>Many talented kids go elsewhere, for multiple reasons. Might be a bad audition, or it might be teacher fit, or dislike of the city, or it might be late-blooming, or it might be money, or myriad other scenarios. </p>

<p>Another misleading assumption is that Juilliard/Curtis kids are shoo-ins. There is no such thing in the music world.</p>

<p>And still another assumption is that star soloist / major orchestra is the only goal worth pursuing. Many music majors find jobs - performance or support - outside that box. (Several other threads about that!)</p>

<p>Back-up plans do not have to be concurrent. Some kids choose to give 100% focus to the primary goal. Back-up plans are developed down the road as needed. It is a very individual thing, with many, many factors. Level of talent, level of drive, support, finances, family/social responsibilities, tolerance to sacrifice…</p>

<p>Juilliard is a great school. I’m glad my kid went there - it has been a great fit and opened a lot of doors. It is not, however, all things to all people, and it came with no guarantees.</p>

<p>It is particularly true that success as a singer cannot be predicted by the school attended. Because of the unique development of the voice, lots of kids don’t even know what they have until graduate school so the undergrad experience for voice is all about nurturing and building technique and not causing damage in order to see what develops. Take a look at major competition lists and the resumes of successful performers and you’ll see a wide variety of schools represented - some that I, at least, have never even heard of.</p>

<p>If you’re good, avoid UC Berkeley. I’ve spoken to singers who were side-tracked because their voices were too strong while weak singers were promoted. Their music program centers around a choir, instead of anything involving strong solos.</p>

<p>Here’s the scoop on Berkeley. It’s OK for musicology. The school is lacking in performance, possibly because of budget cuts and partially because of the direction the department wants to take. </p>

<p>I also know students at Berkeley who were led to believe they would have opportunities they didn’t wind up having. After they got there, the opportunities disappeared. I’ve heard some horror stories, particularly of students from past years going over the edge after expected opportunities turned into nothing. I haven’t heard of anyone offing themselves this year.</p>

<p>A lot of schools with choral directors for music directors don’t want strong voices. They fear that the choir will be overpowered by powerful singers and, so the powerful and probably the best singers get cut out of the opportunities.</p>

<p>If you are a soloist, pick a school with a music director with an opera or solo performance background.</p>

<p>Non music majors have it the easiest as there is an ensemble music program that is higher quality than the regular music program. It won’t give you any units, though. Most of the ensemble practices conflict with music department choirs and students usually can’t do both.</p>

<p>I would suggest that performance students considering Berkeley pick another major and join the ensemble groups.</p>

<p>Hello! Thank you so much for all the information that has been posted here - it has been very helpful. I am currently an undergraduate conservatory student in Europe, and would like to find out more about the universities (not conservatories) in the US as I would like to do a more academic-based graduate music course.</p>

<p>Which universities are known to be strong in their academic music graduate programmes? Particularly in music history and music research. Performance does not matter to me - it will not be a problem if I take external private lessons.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>Sirap3108, welcome. There’s one prior existing thread on the topic here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/520907-best-grad-programs-music-history.html?highlight=music+history[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/520907-best-grad-programs-music-history.html?highlight=music+history&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I would not hesitate to contact any of the posters within that thread using CC’ private message feature, if they don’t reply directly to your post as they are longtime contributors to this forum. </p>

<p>Part of the selection process as you narrow down schools should include a backgroubnd knowledge of faculty, or specific area of expertise in the area/genre/composer(s) or performance practices/periods that interest you.</p>

<p>You can look at the requirements for grad music admissions at the schools within the cited thread. There may well be a broad spectrum of requirements, and policies for internationals will be institution specific. Pay particular attention to the requirements for having taken the GRE’s. In most grad music academic programs, the GRE is a requirement (as opposed to grad performance programs), where it is typically not required at many institutions.</p>

<p>As a point of reference, the “Suggestions” thread is largely informational, and specifc questions may get overlooked or go unanswered. For a question such as yours, it’s usually better to start a new thread.</p>

<p>Edit: one more related post from this forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/710146-agony-musicology-phd.html?highlight=musicology[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/710146-agony-musicology-phd.html?highlight=musicology&lt;/a&gt; and one additional related post from CC’s graduate forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/532586-grad-schools-musicology.html?highlight=music+history[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/532586-grad-schools-musicology.html?highlight=music+history&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;