<p>are there any good colleges for this major? i guess i am looking for a small college, but i am not sure yet.
i also want to major in a science.</p>
<p>More information please, such as what year in HS are you, length of time you’ve been studying cello, the type of school you’re interested in and why you want to double major in science. Most intense performance majors really don’t allow time for an academic major although a five year program is possible some places. It’s very difficult because you have all of your music subjects ( theory, music history, rep class and others,depending upon the school) lessons, chamber and orchestra rehearsals, practice and performances, and science labs usually interfere with those since they’re also scheduled in the afternoon.
There are many fine school of varying degrees of excellence. Do make use of the Search feature on this forum to look up other threads about cello programs and also about double majoring.</p>
<p>It sounds a little bit like you are still young and finding out (which is good). There are a number of programs with good to excellent cello departments, so you do have choices. However, music performance is different than academic studies, students often go to a school because of its reputation, rather than the reputation of a specific department (that varies, of course, some students do look at individual departments, especially if looking for training in a relatively small fall, or want to go to grad school in that area). With music performance the single biggest key is the teacher, it is a one on one apprenticeship and it isn’t one size fits all. Take calculus, and the teacher doesn’t matter much, take data structures in CS, not going to be all that different, with music, it is very personal. Even at a ‘great’ music school, there may not be a cello teacher who works for you, even though others rave about him. Obviously, the school itself, the music program, have major influence, but the teacher is going to be key. </p>
<p>As Mezzo’s mom said, it is possible to dual major, Bard Conservatory requires it (and could be one school on your list), other will allow it if the music school is part of a college/university, some either strongly discourage dual majoring or outright don’t allow it…On the other hand, it also is very, very difficult, the perception that BM degrees are all playing the instrument and orchestra have never seen a typical day for BM students. Classes will conflict, and you would have a difficult time trying to do it, though students have and do.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that to get into a top level college and study science, you probably will have to take a pretty intensive college track in HS, including math and science, often to the AP level…at a time when you would need to dedicate significant practice time to being at a level high enough to get admitted to a school of music of any kind of decent level. The cello is quite competitive (all instruments are, some more than others, cello is up there) and you will be competing against kids who have been going at it intensely for a number of years,playing at a very high level…and the audition is everything plus also having a teacher there willing to teach you, which in turn usually is because you are playing at a level they are willing to accept. </p>
<p>My advice is this…depending on where you are in terms of school (are you high school, middle school, early high school, late high school), you should try and get an idea of what it is like to audition for a music school, there might be cello specific websites that can talk about that; also, look at competitive or highly competitive music programs and see what the audition requirements are. If you are working with a private teacher (and if you aren’t, you should IMO), talk to them about what it takes, though be forewarned, not all teachers are aware of the reality of what is out there, how competitive admissions are…look at the audition repertoire, and judge where you are towards making that, if you are younger, do you see your skills improving to where you could do something like the elgar concerto or the dvorak in the time you have left till then…if younger, are you committed enough to start a rigorous practice schedule,where you will need to practice several hours every day. as much or more than you do homework?It takes a lot of dedication and passion to want to major in performance, and it in terms of admission to a program and studio can make getting into an Ivy look easy.</p>
<p>Also depends on what your goals are. If you see yourself as a scientist where you want to study music performance or want to continue playing in college to have music, your choices may be different than if you are thinking “I would love to make a go of it as a musician, and maybe become a scientist if music doesn’t work out”, that is another story. There is a threat about the reality of majoring in music (disclaimer, I started it:), that has some great thoughts, plus there are other threads on here that are worth searching, some of the pinned ones at the top of the forum, on lists of schools and such, that are worth reading through.</p>
<p>Mezzo is right, though, you need to share a bit more about yourself, not personal details, but rather, where are you in school? How long have you been playing? do you have a private teacher? What are you currently playing in terms of working on with your teacher? What are your goals, as I mentioned above…the more you share of that, the better people can give advice. if you say you like city settings versus rural ones, if you like a big program or a small one, all those can help people guide you.</p>
<p>You might want to read this great essay on the Peabody site about different degrees/ways to study music, including double degrees:
[Double</a> Degrees | Peabody Conservatory](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html]Double”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html)</p>
<p>Hi,
Thank you for the advice. I’m an incoming sophomore. I have played cello for about four years now and I have a private teacher. I’m actually not sure about my goals right now…I just want to further my studies in music and join the university’s orchestra, that sort of thing. I am not sure if I want a city/rural setting or big/small school.</p>
<p>andover, it’s a good thing you’re looking into this now. You’ll have to look at each school individually to see what it has to offer. </p>
<p>My D was interested in bio and cello performance. Here are some of the schools we looked at and some comments:</p>
<p>Case Western: very good science and music is conservatory level via Cleveland Institute of Music partnership. They talked up double majors a lot.</p>
<p>University of Rochester: Ditto, partnership with Eastman.</p>
<p>Oberlin: good science but not in D’s area of interest. Our tour guide said it was like going to college with a sound track constantly running! I believe it.</p>
<p>One school would not allow double major with performance major (Temple U). Arizona State made it impossible to do an audition without our flying the cello out both ways. No go on that! Rutgers wouldn’t accept a taped audition. Ruled that out as they were lower on the overall list. </p>
<p>Our state university worked out best, especially money-wise. They are very large and flexible with double majors. </p>
<p>The thing to keep in mind is that it does take a lot of time to prepare taped auditions, required for the more serious schools, as well as drive and fly around doing live auditions. It really adds a lot of pressure to the admissions process, so look carefully, well in advance, and consider the audition requirements and timelines.</p>
<p>Small liberal arts colleges generally will not require an audition. Whether a non-major can play in the college orchestra depends on the music program. There is lots of variety, no 2 programs are the same, so research really is the answer.</p>
<p>A word about the Case/CIM connection: you can only take advantage of CIM’s faculty and facilities if you are enrolled there primarily and then select an academic major from Case, and that is a 5 year program (sometimes can be done in 4 1/2 years). You get a degree from CIM and one from Case.
But, you can double major at Case as they have their own music department and orchestra, but that is completely separate from the conservatory and your degrees come from CWRU.
Baldwin Wallace University is another place where you can study music (they have a completely redone conservatory facility that opened a couple of years ago) and have an academic major as well.</p>
<p>Music theory is still taken at CIM even if only enrolled as a music major at CWRU</p>