Voice or Composition Major? (At Oberlin)

College Majors Music Major
1

I am going to be a senior in high school this fall, and since the beginning of my junior year, I knew that I wanted to attend Oberlin College. Along with the beautiful campus and environment, what really caught my eye about Oberlin was the 5-Year Double Degree Program. As of right now, I know that I want to attend the college as a Computer Science major, and I am not too worried about getting into the college, considering I am in the Top 5 of a class of 526, with a GPA of about 3.85 and an SAT score of 2100. The real challenge for this year has been trying to decide what my intended major would be for the conservatory.

    Ever since I was little, I loved to sing and perform: whether it be in the church choir or the Madrigal Singers or in the Winter Musicals. I always dreamed about one day becoming a famous singer, selling albums and touring the world. Though I never had any real private lessons from a private teacher, my voice has really developed thanks to my high school choir teacher, and I even made All State Choir this year with the second best score as a Bass. I would like to believe that I would be somewhat up to par with others auditioning for the Conservatory, however I am a little unconfident. As the year progressed, I began to wonder about being a vocal major and a looming question consumed my thoughts: what exactly can you DO with a degree in vocal performance?

  As a result, I began to explore other options, and Music Composition became a front runner for me. I took the Music Theory class at my school this past year (also led by my choir teacher), and if I do say so myself, I definitely excelled. I loved the class with every fiber of my being, and I thought about how amazing it would be to be able to compose my own music for films and musicals. As I learned more about theory, I became more interested in the "behind the scenes" actions that happens when making music. Although I have been writing music at a young age, I haven't really started "composing" until this year, but I feel that if I was given the opportunity, I could do really well in the composing field. 

  Singing will always be my passion, but being a composition major seems more realistic and I actually feel as if I would enjoy it more than being a vocal performance major (which involves dealing with opera-a genre I am not particularly fond of) However, I feel that I am sort of in a rut because at a competitive school like Oberlin, experience is most likely key, and as interested as I am in composing, I feel as though Oberlin leaves no room for "beginners" and "amateurs." In addition, it would feel weird for me to audition for a music school without using my voice, considering all my years of vocal development. 

    Sorry for the massive word jumble, but thank you so much for reading if you made it this far! I guess what I'm mainly trying to ask is: which of the two majors, if either, is more/less competitive than the other?   And which major would make more sense for me to pursue?
2

Oberlin offers a degree in the college itself in music, where you can explore lots of different aspects of music. That sounds like a smarter path for you than getting a double degree in subjects for which you’re not yet fully prepared. You can always double major in the college itself. If you get in. I think you need to consider that you might not, and make sure you have other options that excite you equally.
As for composition in Oberlin conservatory - for someone who wants to score films and write musicals - it’s not the place I would recommend. They are much more into concert music.

I would recommend you get a private voice teacher right away. And a private composition teacher - or find a composition class at a music school. However, if you decide to apply for a BA in music, without an audition, that can wait until college…

3

Welcome and you might want to read this essay about double degrees and other ways to study music.
http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html

Combining music and computer science will be rigorous but could be done in a 5 year double degree program.

You can do a BS/BM double degree (Harvard and NEC have a BA/MM); you can do a BA in music and take some computer science classes, you can study computer science and do music as a minor or take some classes; you can study computer science and continue voice and/or composition on your own, privately (believe it or not, many talented students do this). I did not mention double major as an option because both subjects are rigorous and sequential and scheduling might be difficult.

I am not sure why you are fixed on Oberlin. There are other pretty LAC’s with double degree programs: Bard and Lawrence, Ithaca, many others. Check out the music departments of any college (for instance, look up the Colleges that Change Lives" site.

There is no hurry with either voice or composition. You can always go to a school and progress, outside of a conservatory, if that works better for you.

You mention selling albums (voice) and scoring films (composition) so your interests seem both contemporary and relatively commercial. I am not sure Oberlin is the place for you. Schools like Berklee, Belmont and Miami Frost ight suit you more. Look into Boston Conservatory as well, and maybe NYU.

Finally, I have to ask what you mean when you say composition is more “realistic” than voice. Do you mean for admission? Composition is extremely competitive. You would need a portfolio of 3-4 pieces, at least some of them performed by excellent musicians. Auditions will truly be about the music and your potential, not awards or competitions etc. Many applicants have written string quartets and other chamber music and some have written full orchestral works.

If you apply to a college for a BA or BS rather than a BM, there are often no auditions but you can submit recordings of either your singing or composing, in an arts supplement to the common appllication, if they are good enough to make a difference, along with a music resume, music teacher letters, and awards. However, you will have already put the theory class on the transcript and the All State will be on your application so you would have to have very impressive recordings for the supplement to be worth doing.

There are many many schools where you can be happy, study computer science and continue music in any way you might want to. I suggest, most of all, that you 1) learn more about Oberlin, particularly whether their composition dept. is a fit and 2) that you try to learn about a lot of colleges and get excited about them- again, suggest Loren Pope’s books “Colleges that Change LIves” (also a website) and “Looking Beyond the Ivy League.”

Good luck!

4

@compmom I do have other options, don’t get me wrong. University of Rochester, Ithaca College, Carnegie Mellon, and Hofstra University are also some options I have, but Oberlin is without a doubt my top choice. As for the composition program not fitting my musical interests, I emailed a double degree student who just graduated this year with majors in Computer Science & Composition, and he told me that the Fall 2016 Composition faculty (my first semester) will be entirely different from the current faculty, as they are moving in a mainstream direction, so that is something to note.

 When I said realistic, I meant more geared toward the career aspect. It just seems like there is much more you can do with a Composition degree rather than a Vocal Performance degree.

  I guess I'm mainly just pressured that I have to eventually focus on one aspect of music that catches my interest, as opposed to doing a BA in Musical Studies for example which would take in all aspects (though it is still an option), and I'm scared that I'll choose to audition as a Composition Major, not make it in the conservatory, and then regret not auditioning for Voice, or vice versa.
5

You have not given a lot of information about your composition work…I described the requirements and you no doubt have seen them on the Oberlin website. Will you have a portfolio done by December 1? Or is a prescreen for voice more likely?

Many composers do not go to conservatory but do a general music major. I was trying to say, that you do not really need a conservatory for composition. You can choose from hundreds of schools. That idea should take the pressure off. You can study theory, composition, music history etc. and then do grad work that is more focused.

Again, if you want to do voice, or if you want to do more commercially-oriented work, that would mean a different list of schools.

I am aware of changes at Oberlin, mainly with Hartke starting, but I still think you might want to think about fit. Who are your favorite composers? What do you, or your contact, think of as mainstream?

And what do you mean when you say you can do more with a composition major? What do you have in mind?

You might want to combine technology/CS with music. You haven’t mentioned TIMARA. Does that interest you. Check out Brown’s music major: the three strands used to be composition, ethnomusicology and technology.

6

I agree with @compmom, when the student you emailed said ‘mainstream’ because of Hartke coming, he still didn’t mean musicals and movie scoring - although certainly it will be a bit less diametrically opposed to that than the department at Oberlin has been historically.

I would recommend adding more matches to your list, and a safety or two. It seems very top heavy right now with mostly reaches - and doubly so if you intend to apply for auditioned programs. I also think you need to research more the tenor of the music programs at the schools of interest to you - will they be teaching the style of music that you find of interest? Are you willing to study strictly classical for your undergrad years?

I would also recommend that you listen to the music of the professors at the schools of interest, and to other living composers, as well as current students if available, or recent graduates.

7

Alex Ross’ book “The Rest is Noise” might be helpful too.

8

Hello! You seem like a talented and motivated young lad! Have you looked into Yale? I feel like that would be a great school for you to look into.

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Hartke does not mean a U-turn for the Oberlin composition program. Oberlin will learn from him and he will learn from Oberlin. I think he will very much enjoy and appreciate the work of the current students in both composition and TIMARA. Admission to any program in the conservatory is extremely competitive. Moreover, unlike many other top composition programs, a theory exam is part of the admissions process and is used in making admission decisions. SpiritManager is correct, broaden your list.

10

FYI-Oberlin will allow students to audition and take lessons in music disciplines as a non-major… So you can be in the college and take voice or piano or other instrument lessons in the Con without being a double major. A spot as a voice major is highly competitive. It is a pre-screen process and you need to be able to sing in English, Italian and German or French.

11

Nice post Compdad, with a balanced viewpoint that I am sure is appreciated.