Which music schools would you consider to have top notch or “anesthetically pleasing” music classrooms or practice rooms?
Which schools have your favorite performance venues?
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I was recently at Sonoma State’s Green Music Center in Rohnert Park for a Wind Ensemble festival. I had never been before and really loved it. Beautiful venue. Weill Hall has lots of blonde wood with windows overlooking the beautiful scenery. It reminded me of modern concert halls in Northern Europe I’ve been to. Lovely acoustics as well. Very intimate.
UNT. The outsides of the buildings were not that terrific…but wow, the facilities.
UMD ran a close second.
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Well, between both my music applicants the ones that pop to mind for beautiful music facilities are Northwestern (though ended up not applying for other reasons), DePaul, UDenver Lamont. UW Madison has a brand new music performance building the last couple years that is gorgeous. And actually I like their antique building they use as an opera hall too. Though their music classroom/practice rooms are in a very ugly building. But doesn’t every campus have one or two of those? 
I do think that one is slotted for replacement.
Though I love a gorgeous, shiny new music facility, for us it’s a pretty secondary consideration.
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We were blown away by Nwestern and DePaul also.
TCU has a new performance hall that is amazing, as does Rice. Boston Conservatory was very nice, but old. But that has its own charm, as well. Newer isn’t always better. MSM and Curtis would also fit into that mold of old and traditional but really cool because of the history. The practice rooms at U of Houston were old and nothing to write home about, but their performance hall is really nice.
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We had a tour of the faculty of music at McGill before one daughter decided to major in something else. The music facilities at McGill were definitely very impressive. The music library was impressive. There was a recording studio that was amazing. The whole thing pretty much blew us away.
We just happened to visit on what was a near record cold day in February. This was not a good idea.
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Northwestern
UNT…beautiful spaces within the Music Building BUT Murchison? Amazing performance venue. Also, Belmont Univ…we didn’t apply after touring but the new Fisher Center was jaw dropping!
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I heard about UNT from my son, and it sounded awesome! At Miami, they’re soon going to unveil an amazing performance venue, but I didn’t get a peek inside the music buildings for lessons, classes, etc.
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So, it is hard to say because we found it all to be a mixed bag. Some schools had new and beautiful performance spaces but older practice and classrooms. Some were all new across the board but the rest of campus or dorms would be old and dingy. DePaul and Lynn Conservatory (Boca Raton)both had unbelievable performance spaces as well as new practice rooms and decent classrooms. Eastman had great performance spaces but old practice rooms and classrooms. Indiana University had older performance spaces, older practice rooms (one building newer and sound proof). CIM had great practice space in the new (only) dorm, nice performance spaces, but is an old middle school and it shows. Vanderbilt has beautiful performance spaces but the classrooms and practice spaces are old. Miami was older with classrooms, newer practice spaces, beautiful library, and the performance space they are building will be amazing. Cincinnati has a mix of amazing and older performance spaces, older practice rooms, and some newer classrooms.
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Instead of the typical basement/cell rehearsal rooms, App State had a bunch of rehearsal rooms on the top floor of their music building with windows to the outside.
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Oberlin has beautiful practice rooms with architecturally interesting windows and really nice performances spaces. And a ton of pipe organs!
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UNT renovated parts of the music building, including the choir room and Voertman hall (one of the performance spaces) in 2020. The Murchison is built to look like an armadillo from the outside but it’s a very nice concert hall. The dorm nearest the music building has some fantastic practice rooms in the basement, in addition to the practice building. There’s a wonderful performance space for the jazz ensembles or smaller groups in the student union with regular lunchtime performances.
UNT also has some high quality audio systems for live-streaming performances and most are streamed, which I love as an out of state parent.
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Thanks for this! VERY out of state future parent here! Love to hear about the live-streaming…also about Bruce Hall (I assume that’s the dorm?)…my son will be living there
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Hello there! If you haven’t, make sure your son requests Bruce Hall on his housing application.
He did! Thanks so much! Any other pointers/tips are welcome! We are coming all the way from CT. He will be a Jazz Studies/Guitar student
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hahahah…I didn’t see who I was replying to! You know this!
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Yes it’s Bruce Hall. My son lived there freshman year. I can share all kinds of hints and tips if you’d like. Message me if you think of questions. There’s no elevator in Bruce so keep that in mind for move in. It’s easier not to overpack when you’re coming from out of state, but know you’ll be carrying everything up or down stairs. The rooms are huge, however.
You can catch UNT livestreams and see what’s upcoming at https://recording.music.unt.edu/ although today maybe they’re doing updates as only one performance is listed. 
They also stream a selection of the ensembles on the college of music YouTube channel.
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As far as facilities go, Bienen School was super impressive and very scenic. The Fisher center at Bard where the conservatory orchestra rehearses and performs is amazing (the surrounding areas are very tranquil and scenic as well). NYU’s New John Paulson bldg is very impressive and has a bunch of floors for the music program and seems to have plenty of modern practice rooms if you like the big city.
It was great to see the amount of support some of the schools have for their music programs with some pretty incredible buildings and facilities.
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I hesitated to comment on this bc it gets kind of complex. What is good for a soloist or jazz ensemble, may be different for an opera singer. And, for UG, I’m not sure how much it matters. But below is my opinion, experience…and hopefully I get it right.
The comment about IU’s main performance building being old is true. The main performance hall (the MAC) is a behemoth of concrete on the outside. It is so “dated” in the interior to be cool now. And, I know it has been given a make-over but I doubt they’ll change the “iconic” rugs and interior. Still, the opera stage is pretty special. It’s an incredibly large space which is important to opera singers to learn to project to the back of the hall. Also the stage is nearly (or slightly larger than the Met). The back area which houses the sets is very large as well. My D’s first opera (La Boheme) had a set that was a two story cityscape on a turntable. When the curtain opened the whole city turned and moved outward towards the audience (so it could spin and move forward and it was huge…the whole cast was “riding” on it!). There are few stages nationwide that can use that set. In addition, the stage is so large, it stuns younger singers bc they have a really hard time hearing themselves. While this features may seem bad…it creates very technically good singers. For anyone who has been close to opera singers, you will understand the volume that is produced and need to be able to sing the right notes (without always being able to hear yourself well). The IU stage can replicate what young opera singers will experience in the real world. It’s a good training ground (I’m sure not the only one), even if it looks like a “Brutalist” monster from the outside.
So that’s my 2 cents.
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