Top school in piano performance

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>hi everyone! I am a international student applying for piano performance (BM).</p>

<p>I wonder which schools/conservatories have good reputations in this program. </p>

<p>You know sometimes reputations are quite different between what natives and foreigners think about.</p>

<p>I know Juilliard, Curtis, which I think they are the best... And I am about to submit the applications to these schools. </p>

<p>However, to my great curiosity, why Eastman always be no.1 on almost every rank(about conservatories in US) in recent years? Though these ranks has many different versions spread in my country. I know esm is very good, but second to none...Is that true? </p>

<p>Also, about oberlin conservatory... It seems not to be a top school in my country according to the ranks(only at top 20) and school location(a lot of people are crazy about NY). I don't care about that, but I want to receive the high quality of education. How is oberlin?</p>

<p>You can also recommend the other schools which gain high reputations.
Thx!</p>

2

<p>Oberlin is fantastic – great faculty and highly selective. Eastman is also wonderful. Add to your list Peabody, NEC, USC, Manhattan and Mannes. There are more – and ALL of them are highly selective for piano.</p>

3

<p>@‌ musicdream- </p>

<p>The simple answer to your question is that the ranking you see online mean next to nothing, they often are based on criteria that have no meaning in the music world, things like AP’s taken by students and so forth (I question those rankings for academic admits, too, but that is for another thread). </p>

<p>The think about rankings, whether it is online, or in perceptions of people in a place, is that they often reflect popular perceptions, often by people who may not know. With Piano or any performance instruction in music, how good a program depends on a lot of factors, but the faculty is probably the most important on the instrument you are on. The schools people have mentioned all have strong reputations,but a lot depends on what teacher you can work with (and they with you, of course). </p>

<p>Obviously, schools like Juilliard and Curtis, that have this incredible brand all over the world, also have great faculty and they attract the very top notch students, so ranking them highly is not based in perception or hype, That said, that doesn’t mean that Juilliard or Curtis is the only place to go, schools like NEC, CIM, Rice, Oberlin, U Mich, etc, etc, the schools usually thought of as being top music schools, have both great faculty and students. With Piano, because there are so many people studying it, with many of them at a very high level, the top programs are going to be full of really talented pianists. Even ‘lesser’ schools , those that might be seen by some as ‘not on the same level’ with a Juilliard or Curtis, could have fantastic faculty and students, but simply don’t have the brand other schools do. </p>

<p>The key thing to remember is going to Juilliard or Curtis by its name is not going to get you into being a musician, lots of students go to Juilliard or Curtis and never make it in music, large majority probably don’t (I am talking as a working musician making their living primarily from being a musician). There are advantages going to those programs, in things like networking, and if later on you want to be a private teacher there are parents/students who will be impressed by that name, but in the end it doesn’t buy a golden ticket, it doesn’t work for example the way it would in a country like Korea or China, where what college/school you go to directly influences what you can do after college</p>