soozievt

Since I try to become well versed on MT programs and recommend a wide variety of them to suit the needs of various students...I want to make sure I understand the posts. Musicman said there were no vocal classes in addition to the half hour private lessons. MTlive, you are saing that the singing teacher/student contact time at UB is comparable to NYU CAP21. Since you are making what appears to be a statement of fact, I want to make sure I get what you mean as one student says NO vocal classes. You mention a sophomore class where you learn to "sing a song well." So, is that it? One vocal class of any kind for four years? I'm not clear, thanks. Since you mentioned CAP21....every semester at that program has vocal classes of one sort or another in addition to private lessons. It may be Vocal Technique. It may be Vocal Performance. It may be Audition Technique. Every student works on their own songs with the teacher in these classes. Some classes focus on technique of singing and others on acting/performing a song. But there are voice classes every semester. Is that what you have at SUNY Buffalo (it doesn't truly matter if you have the same but I'm asking as you say it is comparable to CAP).

As you say, a half hour lesson with a competent teacher is better than an hour lesson with a mediocre teacher but I would hope that voice teachers in BFA programs are not mediocre in the first place.

I do appreciate having a current student explain and share about the program at UB from the inside and so thanks for your time in doing so. It sounds like you are very enthused about your program which is ideal for a student.

lsd87

Susan,

I've been starting to look at UB and based on your questions I thought this link might b helpful:

UB Undergraduate Catalog 2007-2008: Music Theatre: Degrees & Policies

Looks like MTR 460 Applied Voice for MT is suggested for the first 5 semesters, the performance in sem#5 and performance and vocal training in sm 5-6.

I do know that you aren't really admitted to the BFA program until you audition after or during you freshman year...seems difficult to sign up and then find out if your in.

So far I have more questions than answers.

Course selections look comprehensive, not sure how or if you can get the training you need or want, class sizes, program size and the like.

lsd87

MTlive,

What are the differences between Fredonia and Buffalo? I asked each of the colleges the same question and they weren't even aware that the other program existed...strange considering they are only 5 minutes apart.

lsd87

Edit to Soozievt reply...I'm wrong about the BFA audition after or during freshman year...sorry.

Also found out they accept about 10 out of about 75 that audition.

Courses listed in catelog are required...you take private voice each semester.

You dance each semester, but all levels start in the same place, and progress together...with the exception of tap...you can start intermediate tap in the spring semester of you freshman year if your advanced.

Required that freshman audition for all shows.

Looks pretty good actually.

mtdog71

Again, you are only offered a half hour of vioce, the standard at most mt schools is a full hour. Dance for MT majors that are not already excellent dancers is very limited. The acting training is good, The price for New Yorkers is good. The weather is bad. The facilities are good.

cptofthehouse

You take semi private voice, at least that is what my son says. I don't know how long the lesson is. He takes private voice as well which we pay for out of pocket but it is reasonably priced. He also has taken repertoire classes which is essentially voice. They did go over more than two songs a semester; he was not thrilled with the choices as they were more obscure numbers, but that seems to be fine to me. After all when do you learn those? Also there are audition and show requirements and you do have to sing when involved with those. The dance requirements are more comprehensive than most schools along with the required music theory. It seems to me that there are an awful lot of required courses, and much choice if you can get your requirements done. There are also courses you can retake as the material changes each term-- MT repertoire and MT dance are in that category. Lots of predance and movement classes as well. You do also have to fulfill university requirements.

Son has enjoyed it and has made many NYC contacts and worked each summer racking up equity points. Wants to do summer stock this year and is looking into companies. Lots of work opportunities and they do let you audition out of program, even letting you know what's available. I did not like the different directors for each show, but that has been an advantage as the kids learn different styles and expectation, in addition to getting to know another working director, rather than stuck with the UB faculty.

Do look at the website with the required and available courses to see what the offer. As to quality of instruction, I cannot say, though their shows are quite polished for college performances as they are held in the Performing Arts Center and advertised to the general Buffalo population in the Arts offerings. The shows I've seen have been well attended, and not just by parents, friends and departmental students. There are several shows going on, so if you have a part in one, you serve as crew for the other, as they are staggered that way. Their Media studies program also is somehow linked to Theatre and so there are opportunities there as well. Also a number of student run productions. Much going on from what I can see. At the same time, the kids are integrated with the other UB kids because of the required courses they take with them and the housing. Son does not seem to mind the weather. There are buses regularly making the rounds as in Michigan, and there isn't much outside distance he has to transverse since many of his classes are in the PFA and the athletic center which is right near the PFA, not much distance at all. Also regular classes are in what is called the Spine and you can go to those without going outside at all and again it is a very short distance from the SPine to the PFA. When he was in the dorms, he did not even wear a coat as the bus came through a tunnel area so he was only outside for seconds. Even now in the apartments, he does not feel he will be out much in going to classes.

Don't know the quality of the teachers for acting, voice, etc. His private (out of pocket) teacher is excellent, he says, but I would not know. The dance instruction is top notch from what everyone says, and theory was quite advanced (he was already well versed in that before going there so I assume he can judge). Name recognition is not as good. There was a fallout a few years ago when a very popular dept head left--now at Elon. It was a bitter pill for those kids who were there and resented the departure. THat can happen in many places. Happened at my college and there`was much disappointment and resentment when a popular prof did not get tenure and left.
It seems to me, that the training is solid, and with the many guest directors, a NYC introduction comes with the program. If you can take advantage of that, it is beneficial. Son has worked in the field every summer and has even gotten paid, rather that working as a camp counselor or teacher at a summer program as many kids he knows are doing. He is actually auditioning and doing, thanks to those contacts. Whether it leads to a living wage is a whole other story. But that seems to be an issue in this field anyways--flow of enough money to live. The good news is that what we are saving in tuition, I am partly saving, so that he can have a few years still subsidized when he graduates. Had he chosen a $40k+ school, it would not have been possible, and we would have been scraping right now to make payments.

Tommy P

Hi, just thought I would put in my two cents on the UB program. I was a freshman music theatre major at UB from 2006-2007. I left the program after a year, but I can tell you that it was NOT because of the training I was given.

The Dance program is excellent, and while it is true that dancing for MT majors is limited, you still do get a lot of good out of it. In my personal experience, I had not dance a day in my life before coming to UB, in fact I was lucky if I could walk across the room without tripping. However after a year of dance at UB I find that I now can dance in shows very confidently and at least appear (if not actually being) competent with my dancing.

The Acting is also very strong, there are many great professors in the program and between acting, singing, and dancing you recieve the most training in acting.

Singing, well let me say it's not as bad as people make it out today. True it could improve and i would have loved to have longer voice lessons, but even with just the half hour per week I found that my singing improved immensley.

Another great thing about the program is that the freshmen have just as good a chance of being cast as anybody. I was cast in two department productions while I was there and I must say that both were excellent. In addition to department productions, there a several student productions each semester and it is more than likely that between the department and student productions that everybody will be cast in something.

To make it clear I left the program not because of the training I was getting, but because I didn't fit in with the other students and it was making it miserable for me to be there. But I thought the training I recieved was excellent and I would suggest at least giving the program a look.

Glad I could help.

Lulu'sMomma

Regarding the differences between Fredonia and Buffalo, I can tell you that Fredonia has longer voice lessons each(1 hr/wk) and each singe also has a session with their accompanist. This is for vocal performance, not MT, so that may make a difference...