'25 Best Urban Composition Schools

College Majors Music Majors
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Hey! I haven’t seen any of these “best comp school” threads active for a few years, so I’m just checking in :slight_smile:

I’m a class of 2025 high school student (current junior) trying to find composition schools to apply to. I’ve won a couple national competitions (think Tribeca, Ballora-Wang, etc.- not going to specify which for privacy’s sake), participated in 2 or 3 major composer mentorship programs, have had two pieces performed by a professional symphony orchestra and several others done by chamber groups, and have reasonably good academic standing- 3.9+ unweighted GPA, almost a dozen APs, college courses, 1500+ SAT, longtime honor society member. (In case it helps, I’m also principal in one of the main instruments- violin, viola, or cello- in my school string orchestra).

I’ve been trying to look into the best composition school options for a while now, and haven’t found too many decisive answers. I already have Curtis, Juilliard, USC, UCLA, and Northwestern on my radar, but I was wondering if there were any others that had similar standing or quality music programs (preferably with a slightly more feasible acceptance rate)? Two things- the school has to either be contained within, or a 30-minute drive from, a major (1mil+) metropolitan area- and, for my own personal safety as an LGBT person, can’t be within a Republican-majority state (which is too bad, since Indiana U and Oberlin both look otherwise fantastic). Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you so much!

(Just to be clear, I’d be fine with either film composition or traditional classical composition- though an environment with both available would certainly be preferable.)

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What about Carnegie Mellon? My comp son ultimately decided to go to the BA route as is going to Wesleyan (to study music and also film he’s interested in film composition) but he loved his interview with CMU and we had a great tour there and it is certainly in the city! Great location. Tagging @compmom though who knows everything !

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@compmom?

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@emmastevens we often suggest reading the Double Degree Dilemma essay in the Read Me section on this music forum, which is really about different ways to study music. Your most basic decisions include BA in music, BM, BA with double major music and something else . major/minor, double degree with BA/BM or BA/MM. If you do a BM it will be 2/3-3/4 classes in music and for a BA it will be 1/4-1/3 music classes. It is fine to apply to different options and decide in later senior year.

For a BM, of course there are often prescreens and then auditions/interviews. Some programs will want composers to audition on an instrument but many will do an interview where you go over scores and talk about your practice. For a BA you can submit a music supplement with recording/video, music resume (yours sounds good!) and one or two music letters or recommendation.

One option for composers, which is not covered in the Double Degree Essay, is to major in music or in something else for a BA and continue lessons and performance through extracurriculars. For that you would want to check and see if there is an organization that brings in outside musicians, or uses student musicians, or both, for performance of student works. You also want to ascertain the importance of the grad program vs the undergrad in terms of faculty focus: there are pros and cons to the presence of a vibrant grad program.

Summer programs and festivals continue to be important for performances and making connections, meeting faculty who might be mentors for grad school. You can do that while attending any of the options outlined above as long as you have pieces to submit for admission.

Pay attention to the prevailing aesthetic in the department if there is one (more important for grad school). Look at faculty, and listen to student composer works if possible, If you want to also do film scoring, USC is a great choice, and I know someone who did Boston Conservatory, where, since the merger with Berklee, work with film is also possible.

Double degree schools often mentioned are Oberlin, Bard, Lawrence, Tufts w/NEC, Harvard w/NEC (BA/MM) and Yale. Many others. Bard requires a double degree for Conservatory students.

Your accomplishments so far could very well help you get into some very selective schools. Not sure of your finances but the financial aid at schools like the Ivies and “little Ivies” can be helpful for a composer!

I’ll PM you as well. Look for the envelope inside the green oval top right

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Also maybe U of Denver Lamont School of Music?

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Hi! How about University of the Arts in Philadelphia (in a fantastic part of Philly, smack dab in the middle of the theatre district)? My daughter is at Bard Conservatory in NY State - extremely progressive school. Bard is more than 30 minutes from NYC, but there is a train to NYC. Definitely look at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.

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Do you want to consider schools in Canada? Quite a few of the well known Canadian universities are very good for music, and very good for composition in particular.

McGill comes to mind as excellent. The problem that I see here is that they are currently in a dispute with the Province of Quebec over tuition for out of province and international students (not including students from France). I think that McGill just filed a lawsuit against the Province of Quebec over this issue. This makes me suggest Toronto as probably a better choice right now. UBC is also very good.

All of these are in relatively safe cities (at least by US standards). Gay marriage has been legal in Canada for a long time, and even my conservative Canadian relatives do not see anything wrong with this and do not see any reason why the government should care who you want to date or marry (assuming consenting adults).

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@compmom
Does Chapman have composition?

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Yes Chapman has composition, either concert music or electroacoustic work.

BM in Music Composition | College of Performing Arts | Chapman University

There are many schools to suggest for any of the options for music study. I PM’ed @emmastevens and there are other great suggestions on this thread.

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Frost (u Miami) has composition- a metro ride from downtown Miami

I know Indiana is a red state- but Bloomington is definitely blue! Maybe worth checking out Jacobs and get a real feel for the area before writing it off? Although it definitely isn’t near a metro area!

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Every conservatory, school of music and music department has composition and it is a prominent component of any general music BA as well.

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Indianapolis is only 50 miles north of Bloomington.

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Costs are a major thing to keep in mind, as well as pros and cons of presence of grad students, prevailing aesthetic of the department, faculty and student works, and location near cities is a useful filter. Freestanding conservatories, except for Curtis, will generally have less aid than BM programs that are part of a college or university. Without knowing finances, it is hard to suggest schools. If you are interested in Juillard or Curtis, you could add NEC and Boston Conservatory, as well as Mannes and Manhattan School of Music in NYC. Peabody has a new program in Music for New Media as well as traditional composition. Oberlin is a progressive school near Cleveland and has both the Conservatory and the newish BA in Musical Studies. Bard Conservatory requires a double degree. People love Lawrence. College of Wooster. Northwestern, U of Michigan. McGill and U of Toronto. State universities often have BM programs so in-state can help. CA schools, U of Colorado, U of Washington, etc. etc. The list could go on.

Bottom line is that top grad schools have students from all kinds of schools and backgrounds. Financial concerns are important given the challenges of grad school financially, the challenges of making a living with composing, and the decline in teaching jobs.
Adding Hartt, Ithaca, Temple, Lamont. St. Olaf…again so many others!

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Right- but hard to get to without a car!
That’s my son’s main reservation about IU/Jacobs - especially when compared with Frost, UMich, schools in Boston etc.
Getting to/from the airport or the city just isn’t as convenient as some of the other schools