<p>I’ve only been on the Colburn campus once. It was a weekend afternoon, so probably not as busy as it might have been during the week. The campus is lovely. It’s in a nicer area of downtown, has gated subterranean parking, and a feel of being its own little island. For that reason, it feels very small and intimate. The music hall we were in was very nice, and I understand it’s actually one of the smaller halls. The students were VERY nice, very gracious. We hired a dozen of them to perform on a couple of my son’s original compositions and they did a fabulous job. We even ate in the cafe, which was quiet when we were there. In all, a positive experience.</p>
<p>Now, that said, Colburn is a musical conservatory. Unless you are aware of a joint relationship with another university, I’m not sure your son can work on a dual degree there.</p>
<p>Northwestern is a well renowned music school for trombone playing so should be considered if academically strong enough. Rice is not well known for trombone studies at this point.</p>
<p>Alexmarie,</p>
<p>I think the concept of basses, plural, might have done me in, and that is before adding in tuba! I guess I should be grateful the trombone is more portable and the only ohter music he performs is vocal.</p>
<p>OB cusci,</p>
<p>A conservatory is not out of the question, particularly one that offers a free ride to all accepted students! It would make a return to school for additional coursework financially feasible.</p>
<p>NJ Jazz Dad,</p>
<p>NU is top of his list. He has audited a masterclass with Michael Mulcahy, and would be delighted to attend!</p>
<p>Thanks everybody!</p>
<p>headoflife, Glad to hear NU is no 1 with DS as that sounds a great fit. Other suggestions of good trombone specific schools if you need any more on your list as you already have a good selection are, New England Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon, SUNY Purchase and Rutgers. A lot of the big state schools have very good trombone teachers but Rutgers being close to NY has a very strong faculty. My DS applied to 10 schools for his undergrad in bass trombone four years ago and may be similar number for his Masters the way things are looking. Lot of work doing ten auditions but worth it in the end.</p>
<p>As a parent of a music major (VP) at NYU, I can also attest to the fact that being part of a small program in a large school makes all the difference. There were about 40 incoming VP freshman in D’s class. 26 of them or so had a musical theatre concentration–so there were 2 sections of smaller classes and some seminar-style classes that involved all 40. The VP majors were also integrated with other music majors to take classes like theory and keyboarding. This allowed D to meet other music majors (which lead to many friendships and collaborations), but it was still within a small enough group that there were always a lot of familiar faces.</p>
<p>D enjoyed taking classes outside her major, but most of those classes began in Sophomore year. By then she had a very tight circle of friends in her major and she welcomed taking classes with students in different majors.</p>
<p>D developed some close friendships from her freshman dorm floor among non-music majors, but beginning with Sophomore year, D shared a suite on campus with VP majors. Their dorm became the center for many parties.</p>
<p>So I would not discount a large university or LAC if you are choosing a small major that is tight knit and social. It really made NYU feel like a small school!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>