Did you see that Berklee has started a program for dual degree with Harvard. And the merger with BOCO will be great too. New dorms too. Some people are reacting to the Berklee that existed a few years ago: it seems like a not of things are happening for Berklee right now and it is a great place for a multi-faceted musician.
That was a great thread to read through as my son’s #1 choice now is USC Thornton but we’ve also been to Berklee and he will be applying there too. Congrats to your son. What a great dilemma having to choose between two of the best music schools in the country!
Berklee seems like a great school for the best of the best. Challenge can be for the rest as Berklee has 5,000 music undergraduates. That’s more than USC, Juilliard, Rice, Northwestern, Indiana, Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Eastman combined.
I thought I would update for the sake of continuity in case anyone considering Berklee reads this thread.
My son’s been at Berklee for a month now and, so far, very happy. All new students have a placement audition and a proficiency test for theory, ear training, etc. during orientation week. The placement audition rates them 1-8 (based on things like tone, improvisation, sight-reading) and is used for ensemble placements and teacher assignments. First semester students have little choice for teachers since returning students had “first dibs” on teacher slots last spring.
For audition ratings, I’m told they roughly equal the semester-level, i.e. a “3” would mean a 3rd semester equivalent. Hard to know how freshmen rate on average but my son got a “5” and was pretty happy until he met his ensemble; didn’t think they were exactly 5th semester caliber. He also wasn’t that impressed with his assigned teacher, but he knew to expect this going in. Placement audition was with the dept chair, who let him know that he could expect a better situation as early as second semester.
So, I think the first few days of classes were a bit of a let-down, but he was meeting a lot of people, some great musicians, jamming all the time, so all was pretty good. But he was on a quest for a better ensemble. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what he was supposed to do, but he went and auditioned for two of the advanced ensembles and managed to get in. So, then, he was in 3 ensembles and didn’t know how to extricate himself from the two he didn’t want to be in… while I had visions of Berklee billing me for the extra credit hours. He’s in the big band directed by Tia Fuller and loves her as an instructor. I think he’s also keeping the original ensemble so that he has a combo (taking it for no credit.)
So far, Berklee is pretty much what we expected. It’s a big student body, with lots going on. They’ve already had some great people in for masterclasses but the students have to know to take advantage of them. Some things seem incredibly disorganized (our friends whose son just started at NEC is convinced this is a “music school” thing and not just at Berklee…)
Good to hear your son is doing well and enjoying Berklee. So many musical opportunities exist I know it can be overwhelming but it sounds like your son is sorting out how to navigate it and find his people. My own son started the grad program Berklee Global and seems quite happy with it. Although we hardly hear or see him. His challenge is balancing grad work with gigs and paid work. Most of his weekends are spent gigging and so he has very little free time. But it is wedding season and I suspect things will slow down a little before the holiday parties and corporate events start coming up.
My son just told me that he’s taken Berklee off his list. He said he would love the chance to attend one of their masters programs but for an undergrad he felt it was too narrow in focus. He said quality general ed courses are important to him. He also wanted a more diverse student body (not all musicians)
The music program there was a little too restrictive for him. He’s a singer/songwriter/producer and wants the ability to get into the recording studio on both sides of the board. It was explained to him that only audio engineering majors get the classes that allow them to sit in the big chair.
So its Thornton in the lead now with Belmont a close second, and a winter trip to check out Miami Frost on the Calendar .
I am so happy to have found this thread! My son is a jazz sax player – rising junior – who sounds like he will be following in your son’s footsteps. He’s at Berklee this summer for the five-week, and says he will definitely keep it on the list but wants to try a few other places as well. His current list includes a wide range: Eastman (don’t know about jazz program there though), Oberlin, NU, Michigan, Bard and Ithaca so far. At this point, he doesn’t want to go either south (Frost) or West (Thornton) – he likes the cold (yes it’s crazy). He is torn, I think, between performance and teaching as his main goal (understanding that he will probably do both). Any advice would be most welcome. P.S. Though jazz saxophone (tenor, alto and bari) is his first love, he also does choir, marching band, and plays piano (and would love to learn other instruments). So he’s a little bit all over the map.
@akapiratequeen, I’ve responded to some of your posts in another thread. Whether to go for an ed major is mostly about teaching at a K-12 institution, which is generally going to be a symphonic band type of environment. A lot of schools may also have a jazz big band, but not too many where there is a different teacher specifically for that. An ed degree isn’t required for private teachers or collegiate teaching positions.
Like I said in the other thread, I would strongly recommend using his junior year to visit schools. Others to consider are Jacobs (Univ of Indiana), Hartt, Michigan State, Western Michigan, SUNY Purchase, NEC. Also wouldn’t be so quick to rule out schools in NYC – I think an under-rated school there is City College. Steve Wilson is pretty special.
Ok thanks, that helps.
He should add New England Conservatory to list…great school…great jazz…in Boston
@akapiratequeen :
I just want to reinforce that there is a common misperception out there, that to teach you need a music ed degree, and that isn’t true. Music ed degrees are designed around public school music teachers, and the emphasis is around that, for example, a student has to learn how to teach the various instrument types (since in a public school music program they likely have 1, maybe 2 teachers), marching band, along with things like conducting and lessons on their primary instrument and the teaching classes needed to become a public school teacher.
That doesn’t apply to private teachers and doesn’t apply at a college level, either. A lot of musicians teach, and relatively few of them have music ed degrees,most have performance degree backgrounds. Among other things, while it certainly is possible to get a music ed degree and become a performer, the requirements of a music ed degree make becoming a performer more difficult IMO, because of all the things you take for Music Ed outside your primary instrument, it takes away from the work needed there (and again, just my opinion).
Another possible jazz program (don’t know if this has been discussed) is the New School in NYC, they have from what I know a well respected program (not in the jazz world, so take that as what it is, someplace to check out possibly).
Just saw this and appreciate it. NYC is out for now; we live nearby and he would like to go a bit further. I know the New School well and the jazz program is amazing but not, I think, right for him.