musicsparks

I am a junior in high school right now and I'm debating whether I would like to study voice performance or musical theatre in college. One school I've been looking at is Lawrence University because it has a great music program, but I am not sure if that's the right place for me because I don't want to focus on classical music. I know that whichever college I choose must have many groups that I have the opportunity to perform in. I am mainly looking for colleges with great a cappella groups. If people could list the colleges that they know of that have good vocal performance and/or musical theatre programs as well as extremely good a cappella groups that would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!

soozievt

Off the top of my head that meets your criteria:
NYU
Northwestern
USC
FSU
UCLA
U of Michigan
Penn State
U of Hartford/Hartt
Syracuse

There are some schools that don't have a MT or VP degree per se, but have strong theater/MT opportunities and very strong a capella such as:
Yale
Brown

Senior0991

maybe stanford. their acapella groups are good enough for me. although I bet Yale's are better.

soozievt

Others...
James Madison
Elon

soozievt

Stanford isn't that great for MT though.

Senior0991

no it's not. well I don't have much to compare it to but I'm pretty sure they don't have a program and there's only one or two big legitish musicals a year. my bad I didn't read the entire OP's post.

musicsparks

Ok, that helps a lot! If you have any more input or ideas please let me know! Thank you

MomCares

As mentioned, Northwestern seems to have A LOT of great acappella groups... for example check out Purple Haze (and others) on YouTube.

anne1244

UCLA has a number as well. Check out the website for AWAKEN. The lead singer of the group that came in third in this year's Sing-Off is a member. They have YouTubes as well. If you are a guy, there is Bruin Harmony. They recently appeared as the "Harvard Glee Club" in the film, The Social Network.

MomCares

I just saw this year's list of groups selected for BOCA, which might indicate some schools with great A Cappella groups. I notice NU is well represented with 3 groups selected this year;


BOCA 2011: Best Of College A Cappella

1. Sing A Song - University of Oregon On The Rocks
opb Earth Wind and Fire

2. Fireflies - University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers
opb Owl City

3. Before The Worst - Northwestern University Undertones
opb The Script

4. First Train Home - Boston College Bostonians
opb Imogen Heap

5. No Substitute Love - Brown University Chattertocks
opb Estelle

6. Lost Without U - Cornell University Last Call
opb Robin Thicke

7. Telephone - University of Virginia Sil'hooettes
opb Lady Gaga

8. I'd Like To - University of Chicago Voices In Your Head
opb Corinne Bailey Rae

9. Hit 'Em Up Style - James Madison University Low Key
opb Blu Cantrell

10. Tainted Love - Elon University Sweet Signatures
opb Pussycat Dolls

11. Open Your Eyes - North Carolina State University Acappology
opb Snow Patrol

12. Awake - Northwestern University Freshman Fifteen
opb Josh Groban

13. Black and Gold - Duke University Pitchforks
opb Sam Sparro

14. Hot Air Balloon - The Chorallaries of MIT
opb Owl City

15. What A Good Boy - The Duke's Men of Yale University
opb Barenaked Ladies

16. High and Dry - New York University N'Harmonics
opb Radiohead

17. Backseat - Brigham Young University Noteworthy
opb Noteworthy

18. Coming Home - Northwestern University Purple Haze
opb John Legend

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musicsparks

ok thanks so much for your guys' help; I really appreciate it! I'll look into the schools that have those groups and see if I like any of them. thanks again!

SDonCC

The names of these groups are great! I particularly like the MIT Chorallaries!

musicmom1215

SDonCC, I was thinking the same thing. I thought the Duke (Blue Devils) PITCHforks was quite clever.

MomCares

I love the names too... have a soft spot for The Freshman 15. ;-D

I wonder how many of these groups were named a long time ago and have a rich history? I also wonder how many of them are completely student run?

soozievt

A couple of things....

Keep in mind that the OP was asking about colleges with MT that had strong a capella. Not all of the BOCA schools have MT. Some do.

Also, keep in mind that BOCA involves selection of college a capella recordings, not live a capella competitions (though many groups do well in that too). So, if one is truly interested in the best college a capella groups, then they should examine results of ICCA competitions in the past few years. You also may wish to look at the Contemporary A Capella Recording Awards' collegiate divisions....this year's nominees and recent years' winners.

I am very familiar with all of the above, as my daughter and her college a capella group have been involved in the ICCA competitions, as well as have won those and been on BOCA and won the Contemporary A Capella recording awards too, including current nominations.

MomCares, almost all of these college a capella groups are completely student run, including their musical directors, arrangers, etc. My D was heavily involved in this throughout college (was musical director and wrote arrangements for her group too) and continues to be nominated post college and I have seen many highly talented groups from other colleges as well. This was a very significant part of my D's college experience and I recommend it to any singers here who enjoy contemporary music (it is not MT repertoire). Many in my D's a capella group have gone onto Broadway and such.

There are lots of samples on YouTube of college a capella too.