<p>I know two Maryland Distinguished Scholars in the Arts - Vocal Performance, both sopranos. One is at U Miami, the other at UMD (also was admitted to Peabody and other places). Both of them are extremely impressed with the music programs and their teachers.</p>
<p>Those Peabody articles are a MUST READ for anyone who has a child considering entering a conservatory or university program as a music major. We received them from Peabody when DS went for his first interview there. They are excellent.</p>
<p>Not to mention that the new music building at UMD is absolutely gorgeous.</p>
<p>The performing arts center at UMD is state of the art. To us, it was like a mini Lincoln Center. The performing arts programs at UMD are in a position to really be first class also because faculty are attacted to the facility and the resources it provides. Keep in mind, however, that to attend UMD as a performing arts major you must ALSO be accepted at UMD which for out of staters is quite a lofty thing to do at this time. And they also accept a very limited number of students in their performance studios. The year DS applied there, they were only accepting ONE student as a performance major on his instrument. They do NOT over enroll their ensemble needs. Just an FYI.</p>
<p>IMO, music is one of the most difficult undergraduate majors a student can study. Music majors (particularly music ed majors) carry 18 credits, have to practice at least 2 to 5 hours a day in addition to many ensemble rehearsals. The result of that effort is that even in major metropolitan areas, hardly anyone makes a living solely as a performing musician. I have occasion to come in contact with some of finest jazz musicians in the country. They all teach. Look at the faculty of the universities. Some full time faculty members are Chris Vadala at UMD (former saxophonist with Chuck Mangione, played the "Feels So Good" solo), Terell Stafford at Temple University, Denis DiBlasio (Maynard Ferguson band) at Rowan University, Sean Jones at Duquesne University, Conrad Herwig at Rutgers. Even the very small (much less than 1%) number of undergradute music performance majors that hold full time symphony jobs also teach. I am not aware of any real music auditions for performing positions where there is a requirement for a music degree, much less than concern for where you went to school. Most auditions are done blindly behind a screen. Ithaca College was mentioned as one of the fine music schools in the country. When a student auditions at Ithaca, there is a session where the applied music teachers introduce themselves to the students. At that session, the faculty tell the students that almost no one will get a full time performing position. The very elite collegiate musicians probably will never graduate. They will leave for performing jobs. Again IMO, a student should look for a school where they will learn how to play and they will have opportunities to perform. If you have money and are willing to spend it, look at Eastman, BU, NEC, Peabody etc.. For music performance or Music Ed, don't overlook the state universities like UMD, UMich, MichState, UWiscMadison, Temple. For an excellent price with top music ed programs and many sucessful grads look to schools like SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Fredonia and in PA Mansfield and Indiana Univ of Pa.</p>
<p>don't overlook Duquesne and U of North Texas...both very fine music education programs with terrific applied faculty. Duquesne also has a terrific music technology program. U of North Texas is very well known for its jazz programs.</p>
<p>interesting reading your posts. my d is a classical soprano. she loves her music but is realistic about the life of a performer and feels she wants to pursue her academicswhile not give upsinging. she has just heard from her first two schools. She's accepted to the dual degree program a northwestern , accepted to oberlin but waiting on the conservatory decisions to be released. She applied to Harvard and Tufts program with NEC but was sick the day of the audition and didn't think it went well. The rest of the schools she applied to are strong liberal arts schools with good music departments with performance or good choral opportunities. She should be hearing from the rest soon. Then comes decision time. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Let me know what you hear from Tufts. D (soph vocal performance major at Rice) applied to some of the dual degree programs, too. The only place she wasn't accepted (except for Julliard) was Tufts. She did get into NEC (which H and I hated, and it turns out many of her classmates from Interlochen are miserable at NEC or have left). Tufts made it clear that almost no one is accepted to the dual degree program. In fact, academically, Tufts is very hard to get into, even for students who get into more selective schools. Our tour guide yesterday at Colgate (looking with S) told us she got into 12 of 13 schools and the one from which she was rejected was Tufts. D had crossed it off her list anyway, even before she was waitlisted. I posted earlier that she has some former classmates and Tanglewood friends who are very happy at Oberlin, and she says now that she would have been fine there. She loves Rice, and wouldn't trade it, but as a couple of years have passed and she can look back, she thinks either Indiana or Oberlin would have worked for her, too.</p>
<p>Well, rmom, you still have a lot of unknowns in that equation. The only sure thing at the moment is Northwestern. If she got accepted there and made it through the pre-auditions at both Oberlin and NEC, she must be quite good, because I know some excellent young sopranos who did not get that far.</p>
<p>The life of a student doing a dual degree program at a conservatory and elsewhere is vastly different from that of one attending a good LAC, taking some voice lessons and singing with the choral groups. The former will be taking far more music theory, music history, aural training, conducting, basic piano skills, diction classes, etc. The latter will have time for voice lessons, an ensemble and maybe one other music course in a good semester. Would your daughter be satisfied doing an hour or two of music-related activities on a typical day? Would she find six or eight hours too much? </p>
<p>If you have not already done so, you may want to go to the Northwestern or Oberlin web site and plot out the curriculum for their double degree program. Then go to one or two of the LAC web sites and plot out their program in her intended major. By plotting out, I mean to make a list of courses that she could be taking for each semester there. Go through their course catalog and write down all the classes she needs to satisfy the requirements and then start looking for electives that look interesting. Make sure to pay attention to pre-requisites/co-requisites and no fair scheduling fall-only courses in the spring or vice versa. Once you have done this exercise, compare the lists. For extra credit, find the actual class schedules at each school and work through the exercise again to resolve any scheduling conflicts. Once you have done this, it may well become obvious which type of curriculum is more appealing.</p>
<p>If a voice major is still a possibility, you have to start thinking very strongly in terms of her potential voice teacher. What does your daughter think about the voice teachers at each school? Did she have a chance to work one-on-one with any of them? Might you be able to arrange a sample lesson with some of them in the next five weeks? The relationship between student and principal applied teacher can make or break the whole college experience for the student.</p>
<p>The decision whether she wants to concentrate on solo or choral singing may play a part in the decision as well. Some voice teachers will not let their students participate in choral groups beyond the bare minimum ensemble requirements imposed by the college.</p>
<p>Once you have narrowed things down a litte and gotten decisions from a few more schools, let us (the CC community, that is) know what is going on and you will probably get several more opinions.</p>
<p>rmom - I agree with BassDad that if your D is serious about pursuing voice in a university/conservatory/LAC that the choice of her voice teacher is absolutely paramount. That person and your D's connection to him/her can make or break her college experience. If you have time at all before she makes her final decision, try to at least contact or, at best, have a sample lesson with a teacher (or two) at her top choices. Remember that the small LACs may only have one or two voice teachers so that if one doesn't work out in the short run - there are minimal to no options to choose from. At Oberlin -- if you are not an enrolled student in the conservatory -- forget about getting the voice teacher you want -- in fact, you may not get anyone at all - the conservatory students come first! Northwestern, too, is similar if you aren't enrolled in the vocal performance major. My D looked very long and hard at NW (and finally did not apply) because - in her eyes - she didn't like the teacher choices (as well as the facilities -- although I hear they are to be upgraded in the future - don't know if that would happen while your D was there) . I also agree with BassDad about mapping out potential major(s). Schools vary widely on music requirements and outside liberal arts choices (within a music major). Music curricula have to have some rigidity as theory, aural skills, keyboard skills, etc., all have to follow a proscribed sequence (thereby shutting off other courses your D might want to take). When the chips were down last year for my D, she chose Lawrence where she feels (and it has been borne out so far!) that she can have the best of both worlds -- a very integrated double-degree in vocal performance (with a great teacher) and a liberal arts subject.</p>
<p>I've been reading your posts for several months and this is my first post. Thank you for all the great information! My daughter is also a soprano (we think, she sings alto in H.S. choir and could even end up being a mezzo) and will need to decide on a college very soon. She did not apply to any conservatories because she wanted to get a liberal arts education as well. She has been accepted to U of A (big scholarship offer),Chapman University (nice scholarship), Colorado (Boulder), and Indiana U. She is waiting to hear from Boston U. and USC. There has been some discussion on IU on this site, but not the other schools. Does anyone know anything about these other programs? How does Boston or USC compare to IU? Also, she got into Tanglewood. I'm wondering if she might be a little old for Tanglewood, as she's starting a college voice program immedidately following.
Thanks for any suggestions!</p>
<p>Chalex -- Congratulations on all of your D's acceptances. My D went the small LAC/conservatory route so I cannot comment much on the choices your D has. IU definitely has an excellent reputation for voice but more on the graduate than undergraduate level. I have heard anecdotally that undergraduates do not get much attention or performance opportunities and, in many cases, may not be taught by a full voice teacher but rather a graduate student TA in voice. My D went to Tanglewood after her sophomore year in high school and loved it. There were many students (particularly boys) who had just graduated from high school. I don't think she is too old for the summer program, however, it is 6 weeks long -- ending in mid-August -- and, depending on where she enrolls, you may find it conflicts with college starting dates or only leaves her (and you!) a short time before she leaves home for college. BU has a solid program for voice -- Phyllis Hoffman (who is wonderful) is the voice teacher from there who directs the Tanglewood program. Again, like IU, BU has a graduate program which, to a degree, short shrifts the undergrad program. I don't know how much your D is committed to voice. BU's program is in their music school so there are limited choices for other courses and a double-degree is difficult. Plus -- without scholarship aid -- BU is expensive - over 40K!!!!</p>
<p>DS went to Tanglewood (instrumental)the summers after his junior AND senior years in high school. There were plenty of other kids his age. He goes to BU majoring in music performance, and he LOVES it. The faculty is excellent, but the facility needs a facelift. Still, DS feels he is being prepared well, and the draw for him was his private teacher which really should be the number ONE thing an applied music student should be looking for in a college. Boston offers a wonderful environment for musicians...there are plenty of opportunities to both listen to and play good music. Yes, it's expensive...but so are most private universities. BU also has a study abroad arrangement with the Royal Conservatory of Music in London for 1st semester junior year. Ann Howard Jones (the Choral conductor) is terrific! An outstanding audition will also net you a good music merit scholarship. Good luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>Colorado (Boulder) is a fine music school, with a great dean. The voice faculty is good, and the facilities are okay. The fellow who is (I think this is current) the opera director there was lured from NEC several years ago, and he has been a singer with degrees from Michigan, so he will be sensitive to the singing actor. If a musician can manage the breath at that altitude, going "down the mountain" to perform will be a cakewalk! </p>
<p>It is in an area which, except for Denver, is isolated from the rest of the world, and transportation logistics are difficult. There is no easy way to get between there and anywhere else. Consequently, extra performancer opportunities are limited. But the area is a lure for higher minded citizens, very appreciative of the arts as well as the outdoors. Pack your moisturizer.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the information. I think my daughter will go to Tanglewood, as long as it doesn't interfere with the starting of college as Sopranomom pointed out. When we visited (& auditioned) U of Colorado, they stated that quite often for the first year to year and a half a graduate student is your voice student. Perhaps you can arrange with a teacher to have him/her ahead of time, but this did not seem to be how they do it there. Also, it is truly a party school! Every student we talked to talked about partying, and if they said they wern't into partying they'd go on to say how they "partied last night". My daughter didn't feel like it was a fit. Of all the schools that we visited, she liked IU the most. We met many dedicated musicians, the staff was so nice, the facilities were amazing, and it was a beautiful campus. But it's very hard to get to from where we live and we're a little concerned with being an undergraduate there. We haven't seen Boston University yet (auditioned regionally) and I've read a few posts that have said Boston College has the better voice program. So confusing.</p>
<p>IU's voice program is far superior to BC's. The only concern with being an undergraduate at IU is if you are used to being "Queen Diva" (which my daughter was....). The undergrads are low on the totem pole, but that has plusses, too. You have access to some outstanding role models and talent in the form of all those grad students. The Interlochen kids at IU are really happy with the program.</p>
<p>Chalex,</p>
<p>I don't think your daughter is too old for Tanglewood. According to my daughter, there were several recent grads there last year and they had every bit as much of a great experience as the rest of the BUTI kids. I do not think she will be disappointed with the level of teaching or the amount of commitment shown by the other students - both are uncommonly high. I also do not think she will feel socially isolated because she is a year older than most of the others. My daughter hung around in her limited free time with a mixed bag of kids both older and younger, and that seemed to be the norm. Had she not been given an opportunity to travel and perform in Italy this summer, she would have gone back to Tanglewood in a second.</p>
<p>But is IU's voice program superior to BU's?</p>
<p>Sorry, I got confused because you mentioned BC and BU in the same sentence. D thought IU was superior to BU's program for classical voice, but she did like the teacher she had at Tanglewood. She chose Rice over IU, Oberlin, BU, NEC and CIM. It is a personal decision, of course. She says now (as a soph) that she made the right choice, but could have done fine at IU or Oberlin. She doesn't talk about BU the others. I was not enthralled with BU's campus, and I hated NEC.</p>
<p>Just got a merit-based scholarship for IU Music. I liked it before, now I like it even more!</p>