The combo music/liberal arts programs we found were: UMich’s BMusA, Oberlin, IU’s BSOF, the Joint Music Program at Case Western, and Lamont at Denver University. Most other schools explicitly said it would be very hard to do a combo musical performance and another degree.
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IU Jacobs offers the BSOF (Bachelors of Science with an Outside Field). My oldest graduated with this degree in Voice and History. I know kids there now with outside fields in computer science, arts administration, film studies, musical theater, and psychology. They earn enough credits to go to grad school in either discipline.
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IU Jacobs is a major school for double bass performance - top 5 or 6 I’d say in the country. I’ve known kids from lesser bass schools transfer IN to IU sophomore year seeking the performance track, so they are pretty high level. That’s just something to consider. IU for double bass probably has some double majors, but it’s also very competitive and known for a rigorous orchestral training track.
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Let me second what Bridgenail said (and it is why I hung around/came back here, even though my S is now a working professional musician, been for a while), I know how hard it is when rejections happen, you get rejected by X school and think like “if they rejected me, wow, that means I am doomed”. There is no transitive property to auditions, it isn’t like “well, I got rejected by Y, which is not as competitive as Z, so Z will not take me”. In short, it could be audition at Y wasn’t good; it could be Y didn’t have a slot (yes, schools do that, it sucks but they do), it could be the teacher at Y had other kids in mind, or the panel was tired and hungry and just were grumpy. It could be Y audition panel saw a great audition and figured the kid would likely go elsewhere (it does happen; not that common, but it does IMO/IME). There is nothing scientific about the audition process, nothing logical or linear. I will add that quite frankly this process is good for being in music going down the road, there is nothing scientific there, because it isn’t a science. You audition for an orchestra and it doesn’t happen, you are a composer and get turned down for a commission piece competition. You form a chamber group, you have what you think is a great sound, musical expression, tight playing, go to a competition, and don’t even make it out of the first round (my son’s group had won some major competitions in chamber, they had won some top level awards, went to a competition in Australia, and didn’t get out of the first round (which shocked some of the other groups).’
In terms of auditions themselves, with what I have seen, try and go in with the idea that the audition panel wants you to do well, they hope you have a great audition, rather than the idea they are looking for any excuse not to pick you. Yes, there are jerks like that out there, that remind me of the late Dick Button, the figure skating commentator who could be really nasty, but most are not like that. They are teaching because they enjoy teaching and they know what the kids are going through, they have been there, they know the stakes. Even at the top schools IME the attitude isn’t ‘let’s keep out the riff raff’ or ‘well, they better be perfect or else’. Memory slips happen to everyone or mistakes, my sons group performs a lot, and after each performance he often texts or calls us, and he will talk about the things that didn’t go perfectly.I have seen soloists do some major slips, I mean really big name people…best funny story about a slip? Fritz Kreisler the violinist was doing a sonata program with Rachmaninoff at Carnegie Hall. Kreisler lost his place, and whispered to Rachmaninoff “Sergei, where are we?” Rachmaninoff replied “Carnegie Hall”). In any event they want you to do well, and they are looking for kids they think they can teach, who seem to love the music and can excel. If you have an intonation slip on the violin it likely won’t matter, but if you have a lot of them, that is different. It is much the same with in the strings world instruments. There can be kids auditioning on world class instruments either from a loan or well off benefactors, that most students can’t afford, they take that into account (and yes, they can tell the difference a superior instrument makes). It is kind of like they tell people about performing on stage or speaking on public, the audience is generally on your side:)
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Yes we plan to. We are attending the red carpet day next month. Would also get a feel for the drive from Louisiana to the campus.
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Congratulations! May I ask how soon after the audition did the acceptance came?
Also curious many many people were at the audition? Was it just the prof from the studio your child applied or the entire faculty?
He auditioned on Jan 31, so it was almost 2 weeks later. From what I’ve read these are released by studio, so it just means his instrument (double bass) sent out acceptances. I haven’t heard of anyone else applying to SMTD hearing from UMich yet, so I don’t think other studios have released anything yet. Double bass is likely a very small # of kids auditioning compared to most other instruments (I don’t know how many auditioned at UMich, but at CU Boulder there were only 3 bassists auditioning the day my son auditioned). The UMich audition was just my son and the bass prof in his office.
I thought we would have to wait for RD, so the fact that it came out now reinforces what others have said here - an audition at UMich likely means you’ve already passed the academic acceptance, so it depends only on the audition.
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Oh wow. 90+ auditions for my the studio my son is applying into. Some instruments are just crazy competitive.
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I wish other universities were like that. We’ve already auditioned at BU and Rice, but supposedly will hear nothing until mid March. Same with all the conservatories.
Anyone’s kiddo auditioning at Frost today? My daughter is there now with her Dad. She’s of course loving the weather and the beautiful campus. She reported they spent a long time with her in her audition. Crossing fingers that was a good sign as this program is the at the top of her list! She’s got one more audition left to go - Oberlin - and then we wait! Good luck to others who still have auditions left.
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I think they can audition again they can take lessons and join all campus orchestra which is for non majors.
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The jazz department at U MI said that about one-third of their jazz performance majors have a second major outside music, including some students with an spare major in engineering (!) They try hard to limit the mandatory music classes to free up room for other pursuits. They were also generally friendly and wonderful when my son went there for his audition
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My son and his friend auditioned at Frost today and now he’s catching a flight home in time for his performance tomorrow afternoon at a local jazz festival hosted by George Mason University. He’s got Peabody on Wednesday and a lot of catching up on schoolwork ahead of him.
Son’s DePaul audition went well too. We were wowed by that school and heard several students rave about the merit aid it awards
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Heading to Oberlin this weekend, fingers crossed the snow doesn’t mess with our flight. We are spending the night in Oberlin after audition. Curious if anyone has tips for interesting places to hang out or spend time?
And for anyone reading this for next year, we were at UNT a few weeks ago. I adored Denton. We had a blast exploring the town after the audition. So glad we spent the night there instead of Dallas 
- that’s my pro tip. Don’t miss the chance to hang out in Denton. Who knew?
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This cracks me up! I might have to use this joke in a rehearsal. Needs to be with a stand partner who will appreciate the humor.
Bard requires all BM students to also get another degree. Five year program.
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We are from CT and my son was hell bent on UNT for jazz…he is a sophmore now and LOVE Denton. We do different little trips from there every time we visit…who knew TX had so many cool spots!
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Oberlin itself is fun to explore but won’t take you long, LOL! Most things close up pretty early but The Feve (bar/burger restaurant) is open late. There’s a cute wine bar too, if that’s of interest. Usually there are performances and other things happening on campus if you ask around or just go to the events calendar on the website, at the “'Sco” a venue inside Wilder, which is their version of the student union. There’s also a bowling alley on campus that’s open late.
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We were there last weekend and auditioned at Oberlin on Saturday and CIM on Sunday. It started sleeting on the way to Oberlin, and by the time we were headed to Cleveland, things were getting slick. Oh, and we’re from the Houston area, so snow is NOT a thing we are used to navigating.
The main roads were fine. They spray with deicer and use salt, so they really didn’t get too bad. Cars drove slowly, so the 45 minute trip took about an hour, but we were not in any hurry, and I was glad people were being cautious. Side streets were a little more dicey. Some were fairly clear, and others were completely iced over. But it was never impossible to find a way through - you just had to get creative. And avoid hills. If you’re renting a car, I recommend getting something with front wheel drive if possible. We had a Nissan Rogue, and it handled pretty well. Oh, and make sure they give you an ice scraper, preferably with a brush for brushing the snow off the top of your car.
Speaking of the snow on the top of your car, the most dangerous thing we ran into was Sunday afternoon, when the sun was out, and everyone was driving around with a sheet of ice on the top of their car that would just fly off without notice. We had a near miss with one sheet of ice, so I backed off and gave a lot more room between myself and the car in front of me. Then some guy cut right in front of me, and the ice came flying off his roof and toward our car and hit our windshield. I thought we were goners. It made a lot of noise and scared the @#%* out of us, but it somehow did not damage the car or the windshield.
We’re headed to Eastman and CMU (and driving between them) next weekend, and I’ve been watching the forecast because I know we could run into similar weather up there. As of right now, there is no snow predicted, but a lot can change in a week. I’m hoping the weather will hold out, and we won’t get caught in anything.
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Gah! Snow/ice off the top of someone’s car into your windshield is the worst (and scary when it happens!). For all the southern drivers renting cars, Clara30’s tip about making sure you get a snow brush/scraper with rental car is smart. And as a New England transplant I learned the hard way when we first moved here not only do you want to make sure to wipe snow off the top of your car as a courtesy to others I had the terrifying experience of having not cleared the top of my car and it melts a little as you drive from car warmth… I went to stop at a light on a busy road and the motions of stopping / going sent the entire 3” high slab of snow/ice down the front of my car completely covering my windshield and being so heavy my wipers couldn’t begin to lift it. I had to drive blind a few meters until I reached a spot I could pull off to side and deal with it. Absolutely terrifying and after that I never just cleared my windshield again; always top too.
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