<p>Are Juilliard and Curtis good for under-graduate vocal performance?</p>
<p>There will be lots of varying opinions on this. If you look through lots of these threads, you will find a lot of information about both schools - how they handle auditions, etc. I know people with relationship to both schools. A woman that I’ve worked with got her degrees in vocal performance at Juilliard, and she told me that she would advise against Juilliard for a young undergrad. She feels it is a better place for someone closer to launching their career because of the environment, and also because of the types of connections you can make while there. I can understand where she is coming from because you really want to be at the top of your game when you have the opportunity to make such important connections. I also know a junior vocal performance major who loves the program there. It isn’t the place to go for undergrad if you want to perform a lot of roles, she’s explained to me. But she feels she is developing a really solid technique, which is the most important thing. She loves Juilliard, but she also has classmates that have left the school because it wasn’t the place for them. The same girl wasn’t a fan of Curtis for undergrad, but is considering it for grad school. I’m pretty sure there are some parents of students that have auditioned at both schools on here that could give better input on them. Different people, of course, will have different opinions.</p>
<p>Curtis only takes one or two singers per year so you might take that into consideration also. Lots of time and money for the odds.</p>
<p>I have posted about my D’s experience on here before. She did her auditions for vocal performance last year and was accepted to Juilliard, Eastman and CCM among others. She was not, however, accepted to the program that SHE really wanted to go to, which is Rice University. At the beginning of her freshman year at Juilliard she was very set on trying to transfer or drop out and try to reaudition at Rice or elsewhere. Now she is giving it until sophomore year to try this. I am hoping for her sake that it works out at Juilliard but she really does not seem to like it. Based on HER opinion, I would say that for an undergrad is probably not the place you want to be; but she is not like everyone else 
If you PM me I can give you her email.</p>
<p>I’d suggest leaving Julliard and Curtis until grad school application time. At Julliard undergrads are not only below the grads when it comes to performance opps, but underneath the post-grads and now those in the Lindemann program as well. Curtis may occasionally take a VP student, but not every year (let’s face it, Juan Diego Flores is a Curtis alum!). While stage time is not necessarily the best thing for young singers, learning to audition is important, as is a firm foundation in Bel Canto singing.
I know of several younger singers who have transferred out of Julliard as undergrads because they felt that they weren’t getting what they needed from the program and wanted more personal attention. Everyone is different but exploring other schools should be on your “to do” list.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your comments. My husband, daughter and I have been reading your post. We have heard many conflicting stories about Juilliard and it is dependent on the student applying. M would have to adjust to very large city and having no campus to speak of. Her other schools are:</p>
<p>Rice University
University of Southern California
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music at Cincinnati University
Oberlin College
University of British Columbia
University of Northern Arizona (back up)
Curtis Institute of Music</p>
<p>Most are wonderful schools with campuses and most importantly -good teachers.
So appreciative for your comments! We will wait till graduate school!</p>