<p>A very fine musician we know just got back from a visit here and was raving about this school. It isn't even on my or S's radar screen.</p>
<p>Any thoughts? I looked at the website and was intrigued.</p>
<p>Many of us New Yorkers are not too thrilled about the SUNY system. Funding has been a serious issue. Over the past 10 years, a 1000 faculty positions have been cut and during the same time attendance has grown substantially. The State is starting to restore some of those positions, but it is too little, too late. My D toured but would not consider Purchase. Too bad the instate tuition is dirt cheap at all of the SUNYs. The academics at Purchase are very modest and acceptance is quite easy. Graduation rates are well under 50% even for 6 years. Another SUNY issue has been underaged drinking and drug abuse. This is a problem at many colleges but the reputation for many of the SUNYs has been especially bad and there seems to be little or no action by the administration. With that list of negatives out of the way, there are some positives about Purchase. Due to the proximity to NYC, Purchase has been able to attract some very good adjunct faculty members. It is possible for a student - who would not be admitted to a conservatory and could not afford the costs - to study under a faculty member who teaches at one of the conservatories. For this reason, Purchase is one of the SUNY undergrad colleges with a fairly substantial percentage of out of State students. I am sure there are some very capable and dedicated students who attend, but overall the quality of the students and school is inconsistent.</p>
<p>Blech. Well, there goes that idea. Still searching for a safety, but doesn't sound like this is the one. </p>
<p>Campus looks very unappealing from the photos, but they have played up their music program well. Wonder what this other kid liked there.</p>
<p>PS, we wouldn't consider our "Flagship U" (and that is really a generous descriptor), due to all the drinking, nonsense, underfunding etc, not not mention that so few serious musicians seem to go there.</p>
<p>Back to the drawing board....</p>
<p>DS has a very good friend who is studying trumpet performance at SUNY Purchase, and he loves it there. I'm sure that there are issues with facilities, and staff as there are at most state universities. Still...there are some nice opportunities at Purchase as it is the SUNY performing arts school and is so close to NYC. SUNY Potsdam (which is most definitely in the middle of the boondocks) is the SUNY "music" school. Also we know some very fine musicians at SUNY Stonybrook. Would any of those be "safeties" for your kiddo? What instrument?</p>
<p>There are some problems with undergrad music at Stony Brook. My D played in the UG orchestra the last two years of HS. It was definitely worse than her HS orchestra. There are some great music faculty members at SB - again mostly adjuncts. Unfortunately my D was not able to get into the studio for her instrument. We pulled every possible string and but the policy was firm. UG instruction was only available from grad students. The very well-known faculty member could not accept any UG students.</p>
<p>I don't know much about Potsdam. My D would not visit or apply based on reputation. She did use Ithaca College as a safety. The college is fairly decent, especially the music dept. They gave her a fairly hefty merit scholarship.</p>
<p>It had been long enough that I forgot. Potsdam is primarily music ed, with relatively few performance majors.</p>
<p>I've never seen Purchase, and I'm not a New Yorker, but the rep of its music school is strong in Boston, and I know it's not that easy to get in. I have a friend who was waitlisted there although accepted at BU, Hartt, and Minnesota. The faculty is very strong-- don't be misled by the adjunct titles, a full time conservatory professor is a rare beast.</p>
<p>Indeed, fiddlefrog. S has a friend who transferred into Juilliard who was not accepted there. I did not know anything about Purchase when we were visiting so we did not check it out, but I later found out that several of S's friends did visit and were impressed with the program. It's easy to see how the depth of the faculty and the attactive tuition would enable it to attract students of high caliber, in the jazz program anyway.</p>
<p>DS's friend is a trumpet player, and they have a terrific teacher, apparently. He was raving about the faculty.</p>
<p>My son is just an intense, focused kid, and seeks very strong overall student commitment to the music program, as well as musicianship (he doesn't much care about student commitment to academics in other areas at the moment, tho that could change, which is why an academically sound university conservatory still makes the most sense for him). It's good to know that there are higher caliber musicians there than seem to be attending our state U. </p>
<p>Purchase is a relatively easy driving trip for us. Perhaps we should still check it out. Thanks.</p>
<p>If academics are not a major concern, then Purchase should be worth the visit. Definitely make arrangements to meet the studio head and arrange for a lesson. Since most of the faculty is part time, that might mean a lot of advance planning and flexibility in your travel plans.</p>
<p>Purchase was one of the schools our son's private tuba teacher recommended to him, besides all the 'big' names in NYC.<br>
Proximity to NYC is a plus.
But we never visited. I figured Mason Gross at Rutgers instate would offer same quality at instate tuition so he already had his safety.</p>
<p>Purchase was recommended to my D for classical voice also. It's on our list!</p>
<p>What does anyone know about SUNY Fredonia? It looks like music is one of its areas of emphasis. What kinds of students go there? What is the area like? Does anyone know any of the faculty there?</p>
<p>I know the violin prof there. She's really a phenomenal player, absolutely world class. However, her students are very low level. I would not recommend Fredonia, considering that even a violinist of international caliber can't attract better students there.</p>
<p>AllMusic</p>
<p>The Conservatory of Music in the school of the arts at Suny Purchase is an excellent program and not easy to get in to.</p>
<p>For a jazz trumpeter, Jon Faddis and Ray Vega are both on the faculty</p>
<p>i don't know about classical but for Jazz Purchase is an excellent program. The faculty are very engaged with the students and help plug the students into the New York jazz scene. It may not be as well known as Berklee, UNT, or Miami but the musicians are right up there. Check out who teaches which classes and who is ACTUALLY there to teach.</p>
<p>The contrabass teacher (Tim Cobb) at SUNY Purchase is fantastic. I study with him at a different conservatory, and he's wonderful.</p>
<p>I spoke before about how good the program is and the amazing quality of teaching staff - for jazz percussion alone the school received more than 30 cds from all over the world and are only taking 3-5 and live auditioning only a few more than that. The jazz program only has 65 kids in it totally across all 4 years but they get great instruction.</p>
<p>Allmusic--
You might want to check out Bard in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, and Furman, in Greenville, SC.</p>