I’m a senior with interest in Jazz on Piano, Classical on Trombone and Art/Drawing. Besides, I play Euphonium and Trumpet, enjoy sports. All of these activities, and some others are very important to me, and no matter where I end up, giving up even one of those will be tough. Most of these are very time consuming- practicing Brass takes me about 3-4 hours a day, another one or two on piano, add sports and Art- the day is over.
So, here is my QUESTION:
NEC
Berklee
Lawrence
Oberlin
Welesley
USC/UCLA
how good are any of them for a person like me, with many time-consuming, but strong sides? Will I have to give up on all but Music? Or do some of these let students explore more/double major/minor in the Arts?
Also, any other schools with better options that I’ve not put up are veeerrry welcome. Aand, I’m not considering majoring in Art- my personality fits the stage more than a studio, and Art is TIMES less time-consuming than Art- I simply don’t have to practice in Art as much to noticeably improve, and doing Art for a longer period of time demotivates and Exhausts me- and opposite is with music. For me, at least.
Are you in school now? Do you have any academic interests? How would you feel about a BA program versus BM, that would involved more academic classes but might also afford you some flexibility? You might want to read the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted closer to the top of this forum, which is actually about the different ways to study music.
Your list is mostly conservatories/music schools for a BM. But Wellesley is a BA degree and music there is a liberal arts major. If that is a route you are interested in, and you have these multiple interests, try to find programs with fewer distribution requirements so you can take courses that you want. Amherst and Brown are examples. Also look at Bennington or Sarah Lawrence for a different kind of option. Have you considered Bard? (Conservatory students do a double degree for 5 years, with some room to explore more than one area. At Oberlin, Lawrence and other schools double degree is possible but not required.)
Since you spend so much time practicing, it does seem as if a BM program would be good for you, but most of them will want you to specialize.
Either way, BM or BA, you can continue lessons and playing your instruments on an extracurricular basis.
I can only speak to Lawrence. There are many schools that offer what you want but the time management is on you and if you want to pursue everything you may be looking at a more than four year graduation time period.
We have been to Lawrence twice and had two long meaningful interviews with the admissions person for the conservatory. If you want to pursue music as a major (BM) you will have to be admitted to the conservatory no matter your major choice within music. That is because they consider all musicians to be performers. They do have dual degree BM/BA programs that you could do. They are generally five year programs. If you are pursuing the BM or the dual degree and not accepted to the conservatory you will not be accepted to the school. In rare circumstances you could be admitted as a BA and re-audition at the end of freshman year if they felt you were on the cusp but not quite there, or if they don’t need your instrument. The dean of the school went that route many years ago on trombone. He still plays and does recitals with the trombone studio (we just saw a performance a couple weeks ago on our second visit).
Or you could go the BA strictly route. They offer BA’s in music as a major and their art programs are BA’s. They have self designed majors there. You could create your own combination of what you want from the school and they help you turn it into a degree. Many of their classes are one on one or as small as 3 people. They take academics setiously no matter what your major is. And lastly they offer competitive sports. I can’t tell you which ones but I have seen some of the athletic facilities open to all students.