Info about some NE/NY music programs?

violadad
Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:35:26 +0000

The Bard BM is a classically based conservatory curriculum, but I believe you can craft a BA through the college and not the conservatory. A link to the Bard College BA music program is here [Academics | Music](http://www.bard.edu/academics/programs/programs.php?id=591248&pid=780)

Hartt’s Jackie McClean Institute of Jazz may be worth a look from a jazz standpoint. It’s an entity in and of itself under the Hartt umbrella. Again, it’s rooted in jazz, not rock or contemporary popular music. The Barney School of Business and the Ward College of Technology are the best known of U Hartford’s academic programs.

Purchase has a strong jazz program, but I couldn’t speak to contemporary genres. Purchase has a rep as a suitcase school. You might find specific academic info within the separate forum here http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/suny-college-purchase/

Berklee is the go to school for contemporary/pop genres, but it is a conservatory, and you not find much academic depth or options. I was under the impression you could pursue an academic degree in conjunction with Emerson College, but I could not locate a link within Berklee’s webpages to verify. You might wish to investigate that aspect further.

BU may work from an academic standpoint, but I’m not familiar with the jazz aspect of the program. Others here might be.

Beyond NE/NY, and besides Berklee, the major places I’m familiar are linked here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/729957-does-any-school-teach-contemporary-music-music-performance-major.html The Jazz & Contemporary program at The New School may be worth a serious look.

None of these are a shoe-ins from an audition standpoint. I’m not familiar with the admissions/audition aspect of the Bard BA program. The conservatory BM is highly competitive, as is Berklee for contemporary/pop genres.