Piano At Swarthmore?

TheGarnetTide · 10-14-2004, 07:43 PM

I was just wondering if anyone knew the quality of Swarthmore's piano program and piano majors. I am a very passionate, dedicated pianist and am deciding on where I want to go to college based on, although not solely, piano.

Also if you do not think that Swarthmore is a good pick, I would be very thankful if you could tell me others you think would, preferably a school like Swarthmore, but doesn't have to be. Also the school has to have a tennis team, although not the best.

marlgirl · 10-14-2004, 08:22 PM

I'm not 100% sure about the quality of instruction, but I know that if you're really good you get lessons for free. If you're pretty good you play about 1/3 of the cost and if you're just ok you play 2/3 of the cost. I thought that was pretty cool...

interesteddad · 10-14-2004, 08:59 PM

Here's the link:

http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/music/

From there, you can find info on both the faculty and the instructors who give private lessons at the school's facilities. It looks like one of the piano instructors is a fairly accomplished soloist with symphony orchestras.

Swat's location is probably an advantage in the range of options available for private lessons. Being located in a large city, colleges like Swat and Bryn Mawr have more access to part-time instructors that might not be available in a more remote location.

The Lang Performing Arts Center and Lang Music Building are fabulous.

TheGarnetTide · 10-14-2004, 09:59 PM

I have been to the website and read about the music program and everything else, but I felt like it was just too general. My real question is what would the difference be if I played piano at Swarthmore as apposed to Julliard.

achat · 10-15-2004, 07:44 AM

At Swarthmore, you would be getting an excellent liberal arts education as opposed to Juilliard but Swarthmore is not Juilliard in terms of playing piano.

nngmm · 10-15-2004, 08:16 AM

If you are a Juilliard caliber pianist, and piano is your primary interest, Swarthmore is probably not the best choice for you.

momofthree · 10-15-2004, 10:50 AM

Hi Garnet,

I agree that it is rare for students of concert caliber to attend Swarthmore, but it does happen. I know of one student who graduated last year and now attends the Curtis Institute studying conducting. His focus at Swat was piano and organ. As Marlgirl mentioned, there are scholarships to help pay the freight for lessons. One of the positives my daughter discovered as a music major is that there is relative ease getting a practice room, and a lot of individual attention is available for music students. I would definitely recommend a visit before you decide.

TheGarnetTide · 10-15-2004, 02:31 PM

>>>If you are a Juilliard caliber pianist, and piano is your primary interest, Swarthmore is probably not the best choice for you.

The only dilemma is the fact that I am also a very serious tennis player, just as serious as with piano. I have heard about the joint program that Julliard has with Columbia, but I still don't understand exactly how it works and what benefits I get from each college as opposed to going to one separately. Basically I am curious if I can be at Julliard playing piano, and Columbia playing tennis.

achat · 10-15-2004, 10:16 PM

Then you should pose the question on a visit to Columbia.

celebrian25 · 10-16-2004, 10:30 AM

If you don't mind women's colleges, Barnard also has a joint program with Julliard, and you could play varsity tennis for columbia, as I understood from the website becuase of their affiliation with one another

TheGarnetTide · 10-16-2004, 11:49 AM

celebrian25

I am somewhat confused...first of all I am a male. Second of all are you saying that someone can be attending Barnard, Juilliard, and Columbia college at the same time?

marlgirl · 10-16-2004, 12:33 PM

They have programs where you can do that... dual degree programs. I know there's also one with Tufts and NEC. Maybe you should do some research on the top 10 or so conservatories for piano and check out any nearby colleges that have dual degree programs

celebrian25 · 10-16-2004, 05:15 PM

sorry I didn't know you were male

mini · 10-22-2004, 11:34 PM

Have you checked out the new Bard conservatory program? You'd get a topnotch liberal arts education AND topnotch famous faculty from New York (Richard Goode, Melvin Chen, and Peter Serkin are going to be teaching piano!), and most importantly (and what you'd be much less likely to find at Swarthmore) a community of really serious musicians, both students and faculty.

http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/

Swarthmore is a great, great school. But honestly (and we did this search last year), I can name 10 topnotch liberal arts colleges with better music programs.

(P.S. Columbia and Julliard do have this thing on paper - but try to find someone who has actually done it!)

interesteddad · 10-23-2004, 02:52 AM

>> Swarthmore is a great, great school. But honestly (and we did this search last year), I can name 10 topnotch liberal arts colleges with better music programs.

I know absolutely nothing about music programs, but I would be inclined to agree. Swarthmore didn't even have a music major until the 1950s or so....I believe that P.D.Q. Bach was Swat's first music major. I'm sure their music programs are perfectly fine for your average talented college student, but probably not at Julliard soloist levels in terms of resources. Frankly, if I had an unusual talent/interest such as professional level music ability, I would be on the phone to the head of the music departments at all of these schools asking questions straight from the horse's mouth. I would guess that most would give pretty straight answers about what they do and do not offer.

But, hey...Yo Yo Ma "went to" Harvard, which isn't exactly a musical powerhouse, either. (I suspect that he made "other arrangements", or to be more exact, Harvard made "other arrangements" to accomodate his career as they probably did when Natalie Portman was busy with Star Wars episdodes).