University/Colleges for 'Musical Director' or similar future

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Dear All,</p>

<p>New member. Read many threads here, and lots of good stuff - thanks.</p>

<p>My boy is in US high school (Junior 16 yrs old), and we are looking into US university and colleges for applications end this year. He would start September 2010. I (Dad) am based in Hong Kong but originally UK.</p>

<p>My boy has been playing piano since very young and got his UK-based DipABRSM (Diploma level Distinction) in 2007. Planning to sit for LRSM in August this year, which according to ABRSM info is equivalent to Degree (Hons) performance level. Good enough for conservatory entry auditioning, but...</p>

<p>Problem is that my boy, despite his talent, is not really interested in a classical performing future. He is most interested in film composition which does offer more potential for earnings, so possibly a better idea anyway! So a BMus is not relevant, and a BA with music/arts/other seems right.</p>

<p>We will review Juillard, Mannes, Oberlin, etc... and many other US (and UK) options. Looking for somewhere that wants high quality performance for admission, but then spends most study time on modern music, technology, composition, etc... Not easy to find. Again, the academic BMus is not suitable. My boy prefers to spend his practice time to pick up other instruments and already plays clarinet, saxophone, and guitar quite well.</p>

<p>The Berklee College of Music in Boston looks good. They try very hard to fit this modern niche, but sadly not considered a 'real school' by many. We paid a visit last year and it was a very busy musical place for sure. The local joke quoted elsewhere "What do you call a failure at Berklee? A graduate" is worrying. What else compares with Berklee? Hope that is not a poor question to ask. Is anything Berklee-like happening inside the so-called 'real schools'? :)</p>

<p>Another option we thought about was 'conducting/directing', but not for trying to get a rare conductor job! We are thinking a suitable conducting/composition/arranging type course would fit the film scoring and such jobs well. But need technology too.</p>

<p>I have advised our boy to think 'Musical Director' rather than 'Film Composer'. And I am making a start on researching where top Musical Directors for modern movies have come from. (Good question here somewhere asking about where some top Italian composers came from.)</p>

<p>Does anyone have any comments on this? Any real-world experiences? etc...</p>

<p>Thanks all for any help. I plan to join our boy in March and June for two whirlwind college visit treks.</p>

<p>Richard
Hong Kong</p>

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<p>Most of the film scoring programs are graduate degrees. UCLA, USC, NYU come to mind. UCLA's undergraduate music degrees are BA's and not BM's - but composers do have to apply separately to the music school and do have to perform an audition. They also have one of the best ethnomusicology departments in the country. Wesleyan also might be worth taking a look at - an unconventional music department with a renowned film school. Also, I mentioned Chapman in an earlier thread. I believe the degree there would probably be a BM, but what Chapman is known for is their film school - so it's probably worth exploring what the interaction is between the music school and the film department. They also offer an undergraduate conducting degree (the value of which was debated in an earlier thread.) Another different college to explore would be Florida State University. They do have a music school (about which I know almost nothing), and one of the best film departments in the country.</p>

<p>On the other hand, since most of the conducting and film scoring programs are for graduate students - perhaps your son could consider a more general undergraduate education - submit an arts supplement of his piano playing to assist with admission - take private lessons while a student - participate in various ensembles and then apply to graduate school for the more dedicated program after earning his BA.</p>

<p>Lots of different paths he could take...</p>

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<p>If your son wants to be a composer for films, a BA in music at a school with excellent composers on the faculty OR a BM in composition will make most sense.</p>

<p>If he wants to conduct (i.e. be a music director), he should develop as much experience as possible in orchestral and choral settings, and should become as proficient an instrumentalist as he can. This probably means a BM in performance.</p>

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<p>Spiritman. Thanks. Will follow up your Chapman and Wesleyan suggestions, as any close music and film department could supply the right atmosphere for the lad. FSU looks fabulous but he is not as keen on the film-making side as music composition, despite my endless advice for him to see the obvious link and advantages in being multi-skilled. And your suggestion of a more general degree is something I have tried too! Makes a lot of sense, particularly as my wife is so concerned our lad will end up broke after years of music practice and study, plonking away in a piano bar part-time (plenty other threads on that topic).</p>

<p>Fiddlefrog. Again good points, thanks. Our lad has been 'invited' into his school's inner chorus group thanks to his perfect pitch and keyboard skills! He has also been asked to mentor younger kids so this makes lots of sense for him to extend that as much as possible and do lots more musically. Checking out the BMs Composition and see quite some variety, so could be something there. Juillard's have same, and I guess if he ever got there he could choose his saxophone for instrumental lessons if 'done enough' piano. :)</p>

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<p>Hello Richard and welcome to CC. You're in good hands here as there are many many very knowledgeable people who post here regularly. Before proceeding, I'd suggest you take some time and read through the two posts at the top of the Music Major forum, just underneath "Featured Discussions." This will help give you an overview, as I sense this may be your first child to seriously consider pursuing music in college. </p>

<p>My first reaction to your questions is to ask whether your son shares all the same interests as you've stated, with an equal degree of uncertainty (by which I mean, whether he'd rather be a conductor, or a composer, or write jingles and film scores, or be a pianist), or whether you're taking his interest in music with some concern and are now trying to find a good vocational "fit" for his passions. </p>

<p>In the former case, I'd say he might be best suited to a liberal arts college that has a very strong music program, as this would then allow him to pursue music across a broad range of interests--composition, performance, and conducting. Ivy League schools are also excellent settings for entrepreneurial musicians, who want to use the freedom of a BA (contrasting with the rigor of a BM) to explore multiple interests. Conservatory training is, by nature, extremely focused on a single particular endeavor--and not necessarily best suited for a "jack of all trades" approach to musical study, as SpiritManager suggests.</p>

<p>In the latter case it might be helpful to clarify with your son where exactly he expects music to take him, and what kinds of educational environments would best allow him to achieve his goals.</p>

<p>Just so you're aware of the option, Oberlin's TIMARA program might be of interest to your son. It's quite an interesting and unique program. </p>

<p>Finally, I'm just happy to respond to and help anyone from Hong Kong. I attended CUHK in Shatin on a Freeman fellowship, and I also lived there on my own for a few years--mostly in Aberdeen, Ho Man Tin, and Fanling. I also lived in Macao for half a year, during the 1999 Handover, in fact. I have a particular fondness for the place, and each year we welcome several students to Bard from Hong Kong--usually ESF Schools, but also from the United World College all the way up on Ma On Shan. </p>

<p>Does your son attend the American school in Kowloon or the one on the south of the Island? (But perhaps that's more information than you'd care to divulge online--all this stuff is eternally googleable).</p>

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<p>I second the thought of Oberlin. In addition to TIMARA (Technology in Music and Related Arts), they have a good composition department, a LOT of music of diverse types being played on campus, many instrumental and vocal groups, an excellent Jazz program, options for either a BA or a BM in music, as well as a 5-year option that combines a BM in music with a BA in some other field. They have also recently taken delivery on their 200th Steinway piano and are in the process of building a major addition to their conservatory, which should open up toward the end of 2009.</p>

<p>They are primarily an undergraduate institution, with just a handful of grad students in early music and music education. That guarantees that the undergrads do not have to take a back seat to the grad students in terms of performance opportunity and teacher preference. </p>

<p>One option might be to do a dual degree program in Cinema Studies and TIMARA. Even without the 5-year dual degree program, all of the conservatory students get one elective per semester that can be taken at Oberlin College, so he could also do a 4-year BM through the conservatory and take several cinema studies courses, or else a BA in music through the college with a dual major in cimema studies. I think any of these would set him up well for graduate work at the school of his choice. In essence, he could pursue any of the paths there that fiddlefrog suggests.</p>

<p>It is possible to get secondary lessons on other instruments with faculty members at Oberlin. My daughter's primary instrument there is classical double bass, but she has found time for secondary lessons in Jazz bass, viola da gamba and a class in world percussion. Her viol teacher (Cathy Meints) and her percussion teacher (Jamey Haddad) are recognized as among the best in the world at what they do and her bass teachers have been excellent as well.</p>

<p>If it matters in your case, they have a history of providing very good financial aid and are one of not many schools in the US that meets 100% of demonstrated need for both domestic and international students. If you visit, March would be better than June because they have very few classes over the summer and the place is very different when it is in full swing.</p>

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<p>Echoing the sentiments of others, your needs here require institutions with options and flexibility, and an institutional/instructor philosophy that allows an exploration across and within a few disciplines.</p>

<p>While I have no specific recommendations and do agree with what the others have suggested, I'd also suggest that much of the detail you'll need is not immediately going to pop from the intitial overview webpages pages as you research.</p>

<p>You will need to dig deeply into the programs when comparing degree offerings, BA vs BM variants, cross discipline and potential dual pursuits. Your best source for this type of info is usually found in the undergrad bulletin or school/department specific supplements, normally a pfd or word document file found off a "current students/academics" webpage.</p>

<p>These are the operative, policy/procedural documents in terms of degree outlines, major requirements, cross discipline studies and all other institutional policies. Thorough readings of the mechanics and subtleties across similar degree programs of various institutions will help you fine tune some of the flexibility aspects your son may want and need in determining and achieving a focus. It helps when comparing apples and oranges, and helps in eliminating a potential stumbling block buried in the fine print.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for fabulous feedback. Give me a little more time to digest, research and get back to you all. Lots to work on. Have also ordered a couple of thick books to help: 'Creative Colleges', and Peterson's 'College Guide for Performing Arts Majors'.</p>

<p>N8Ma: My boy was at the ESF KGV school in Kowloon until last summer. Now a Junior at an MA boarding school, not too far from Boston. So college applications due end this year.</p>

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<p>Richard--aha! You meant "American School" literally! In which case he can see a large number of very different schools quite easily during his spring break. Everything from Brown to Bard to Bowdoin to Berklee to BU in long-ish day trips.</p>

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<p>Talking of breaks (trying to fix air tickets well ahead) I can appreciate Spring Break being better than Summer time for visits (ref BassDad).</p>

<p>But, can I still make good use of a May 28th to June 15th window? And would it make any difference to focus on West coast colleges in Summer time? Or East coast in summer, West coast in March? Can you see my thinking here?</p>

<p>I will be arranging Oberlin and other East coast outliers for same time as Boston/NYC, for example. But still need time to finalize choices.</p>

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<p>It sort of depends on which colleges you want to visit. Some, particularly the large publics, run classes over the summer and have a fair amount going on. Many others do not. If you look at the academic calendar section of each school's website, you can determine whether they run classes over the summer. If you can find a class schedule, you may even be able to get an idea of how much of the music department will be around at that time. You also need to be careful about when the school has its own spring break, lest you arrive in March and find the place deserted.</p>

<p>You may be able to get tours and speak with the people in admissions and financial aid even when school is not in session. You would probably want to contact those people before buying plane tickets to confirm that their offices will be open at the time you are planning on coming. Unfortunately, not being able to talk with potential teachers and their students, not being able to hear some of the student ensembles play, not being able to sit in on a class and not getting a feel for the general vibe of the place when it is occupied would render a visit to a music school much less valuable than it might otherwise be.</p>