Chalex

I've been reading your posts for several months and this is my first post. Thank you for all the great information! My daughter is also a soprano (we think, she sings alto in H.S. choir and could even end up being a mezzo) and will need to decide on a college very soon. She did not apply to any conservatories because she wanted to get a liberal arts education as well. She has been accepted to U of A (big scholarship offer),Chapman University (nice scholarship), Colorado (Boulder), and Indiana U. She is waiting to hear from Boston U. and USC. There has been some discussion on IU on this site, but not the other schools. Does anyone know anything about these other programs? How does Boston or USC compare to IU? Also, she got into Tanglewood. I'm wondering if she might be a little old for Tanglewood, as she's starting a college voice program immedidately following.
Thanks for any suggestions!

sopranosmom

Chalex -- Congratulations on all of your D's acceptances. My D went the small LAC/conservatory route so I cannot comment much on the choices your D has. IU definitely has an excellent reputation for voice but more on the graduate than undergraduate level. I have heard anecdotally that undergraduates do not get much attention or performance opportunities and, in many cases, may not be taught by a full voice teacher but rather a graduate student TA in voice. My D went to Tanglewood after her sophomore year in high school and loved it. There were many students (particularly boys) who had just graduated from high school. I don't think she is too old for the summer program, however, it is 6 weeks long -- ending in mid-August -- and, depending on where she enrolls, you may find it conflicts with college starting dates or only leaves her (and you!) a short time before she leaves home for college. BU has a solid program for voice -- Phyllis Hoffman (who is wonderful) is the voice teacher from there who directs the Tanglewood program. Again, like IU, BU has a graduate program which, to a degree, short shrifts the undergrad program. I don't know how much your D is committed to voice. BU's program is in their music school so there are limited choices for other courses and a double-degree is difficult. Plus -- without scholarship aid -- BU is expensive - over 40K!!!!

thumper1

DS went to Tanglewood (instrumental)the summers after his junior AND senior years in high school. There were plenty of other kids his age. He goes to BU majoring in music performance, and he LOVES it. The faculty is excellent, but the facility needs a facelift. Still, DS feels he is being prepared well, and the draw for him was his private teacher which really should be the number ONE thing an applied music student should be looking for in a college. Boston offers a wonderful environment for musicians...there are plenty of opportunities to both listen to and play good music. Yes, it's expensive...but so are most private universities. BU also has a study abroad arrangement with the Royal Conservatory of Music in London for 1st semester junior year. Ann Howard Jones (the Choral conductor) is terrific! An outstanding audition will also net you a good music merit scholarship. Good luck to your daughter.

lorelei2702

Colorado (Boulder) is a fine music school, with a great dean. The voice faculty is good, and the facilities are okay. The fellow who is (I think this is current) the opera director there was lured from NEC several years ago, and he has been a singer with degrees from Michigan, so he will be sensitive to the singing actor. If a musician can manage the breath at that altitude, going "down the mountain" to perform will be a cakewalk!

It is in an area which, except for Denver, is isolated from the rest of the world, and transportation logistics are difficult. There is no easy way to get between there and anywhere else. Consequently, extra performancer opportunities are limited. But the area is a lure for higher minded citizens, very appreciative of the arts as well as the outdoors. Pack your moisturizer.

Chalex

Thank you all for the information. I think my daughter will go to Tanglewood, as long as it doesn't interfere with the starting of college as Sopranomom pointed out. When we visited (& auditioned) U of Colorado, they stated that quite often for the first year to year and a half a graduate student is your voice student. Perhaps you can arrange with a teacher to have him/her ahead of time, but this did not seem to be how they do it there. Also, it is truly a party school! Every student we talked to talked about partying, and if they said they wern't into partying they'd go on to say how they "partied last night". My daughter didn't feel like it was a fit. Of all the schools that we visited, she liked IU the most. We met many dedicated musicians, the staff was so nice, the facilities were amazing, and it was a beautiful campus. But it's very hard to get to from where we live and we're a little concerned with being an undergraduate there. We haven't seen Boston University yet (auditioned regionally) and I've read a few posts that have said Boston College has the better voice program. So confusing.

MomofWildChild

IU's voice program is far superior to BC's. The only concern with being an undergraduate at IU is if you are used to being "Queen Diva" (which my daughter was....). The undergrads are low on the totem pole, but that has plusses, too. You have access to some outstanding role models and talent in the form of all those grad students. The Interlochen kids at IU are really happy with the program.

BassDad

Chalex,

I don't think your daughter is too old for Tanglewood. According to my daughter, there were several recent grads there last year and they had every bit as much of a great experience as the rest of the BUTI kids. I do not think she will be disappointed with the level of teaching or the amount of commitment shown by the other students - both are uncommonly high. I also do not think she will feel socially isolated because she is a year older than most of the others. My daughter hung around in her limited free time with a mixed bag of kids both older and younger, and that seemed to be the norm. Had she not been given an opportunity to travel and perform in Italy this summer, she would have gone back to Tanglewood in a second.

Chalex

But is IU's voice program superior to BU's?

MomofWildChild

Sorry, I got confused because you mentioned BC and BU in the same sentence. D thought IU was superior to BU's program for classical voice, but she did like the teacher she had at Tanglewood. She chose Rice over IU, Oberlin, BU, NEC and CIM. It is a personal decision, of course. She says now (as a soph) that she made the right choice, but could have done fine at IU or Oberlin. She doesn't talk about BU the others. I was not enthralled with BU's campus, and I hated NEC.

Chalex

Just got a merit-based scholarship for IU Music. I liked it before, now I like it even more!

gadad

I've got a curriculum question for all of you in the know. On this thread, we've talked mostly about high-profile vocal performance B.Mus. programs for which new students must audition (BU, Indiana, Oberlin, etc.). We've also addressed the idea of going to B.A. programs at top institutions (e.g. Yale, Columbia, LACs) and augmenting the B.A. by working with a voice instructor. I'm finding however that there's a middle ground. For some B.Mus. programs, one enters without audition a B.A. curriculum which includes lessons in performance. Then at the end of the first or second year, majors may audition to go on with the applied coursework necessary to complete a B.Mus. I've found that Wooster, Furman, Wash U, U. of Georgia, UNC-Chapel Hill, and others follow this mode.

I'm sure this wouldn't be the best choice for a serious intrumental musician, but on the surface it seems that it might be more appropriate for a vocalist who will not be able to practice as much as an instrumentalist, and whose instrument is still in the process of developing. Are these "delayed audition" B.Mus. programs inherently inferior for vocalists to those at which the slection process takes place during the senior year of HS?

lorelei2702

Most music schools have ongoing "barrier" exams, meaning that the jury held at the end of the year is determinate as to whether the musician can continue in the applied area degree program, whether it be music education, church music, or performance. Some happen every year, some are determined at the end of the sophmore year. Further, most schools have pre-recital juries to determine if the musician is ready for prime time, i.e. does he/she know the music and can the perform it? Most often a delay is nothing more than a rude awakening to a student and they go on to a successful degree recital. Additionally some schools have an ongoing repertory list which must be satisfied before the student can achieve the degree. So, while your list of schools may publish that a decision is made at the end of the freshman or sophmore year as to whether the student can continue to get private lessons, it is also the case that almost every music degree program has that process.

Unfortunately, it happens than students can be tossed from their program at the end of the sophmore year, not allowed to even continue in music. Some students simply do not make the necessary progress and/or sometimes there almost seems to be a physical deterioration of the technique which is evidenced in the performance. It is extraordinarily painful for everyone involved, but it happens fairly often. Some schools may disguise by yanking the scholarships, others will just deny continuation in the degree program. Most will allow one other attempt, but it is not encouraged, thought to be more time and educational money spent and/or wasted.

gadad

So, by not requiring an audition for initial entrance, the Music Dept. or School is opting not to set a cutoff for the level of talent required to begin the program, and might therefore be more less demanding about what is required for continuation and who is permitted to complete the B.Mus.?

lorelei2702

For the BM I would not count on it that the ultimate standard would be lower. There is some sense of self selection whereby students find their way to something else. But as all of us related to musicians/performers understand, there is no easy giving up the dream.

BassDad

My daughter just got the thin letter from Curtis Institute. It did, however, say that the faculty was particularly impressed with her audition and encouraged her to try again next year. Are there any other Curtis rejectees out there who would care to say whether their letter contained such language? Is this what they tell everyone, or do they only say that to those who just missed the cut this time around?