<p>My D’s strong point is her vocal skills. Which MT schools would but most inclined to accept her? It seems that most schools I’m familiar with are more focused on either acting or dancing. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Musical theatre programs housed in a music school or conservatory, such as NYU Steinhardt or Boston Conservatory. Best of luck to your D.</p>
<p>JMU in VA has a BM degree with an emphasis in Music Theatre through the School of Music. The audition for the BM program consists of only a singing audition (one classical piece – I believe in foreign language, and one MT piece), music theory placement test.</p>
<p>JMU also has a BA in Musical Theatre through the School of Theatre and Dance this program auditions separately and does require an acting and dance audition.</p>
<p>The students in the two programs are integrated in Musical Theatre, Theatre, Dance, and certain music classes. The difference is in the program emphasis – the BM students are Music majors with a cluster of required courses in Theatre and Dance. The BA students take many of the same courses as the Theatre students – and have additional course work in Music, Musical Theatre, Dance.</p>
<p>Baldwin Wallace offers a BM in Musical Theatre, as does OCU (I think).</p>
<p>I’d look towards BMs. Remember, also that you want your D to become a well-rounded performer. So while she may be the best singer, she may not get jobs if she can’t act or dance. I’d actually suggest finding a BFA school that works very strongly on acting and dancing, aswell as singing.</p>
<p>After last year’s audition, I came to the conclusion that, with the exception of a few schools, most BFA programs look first at vocals because you can teach someone how to dance, you can teach someone how to act, you can teach someone how to sing better, but if you can’t sing in the first place, MT isn’t right for you. The most noticable exceptions I saw were CCM (strong emphasis on dance) and CMU (strong emphasis in acting). There are many more exceptions, but those seemedmost prominent</p>
<p>If vocal music is your D’s strength but she wants to be a well rounded performer, she might do well to consider a college program that will help her develop her acting and dance skills further.</p>
<p>In addition to the above comments and to confirm KatMT’s note - BW and OCU both have BM’s in MT and have a strong emphasis on music in their programs. They have more required music courses than most of the other schools my son considered.</p>
<p>Also, we didn’t visit them, but I understand that both FSU and U Miami offer 2 MT programs, similar to JMU, where one can go with a BM in MT if so desired.</p>
<p>Michigan places a strong emphasis on voice and also general musicianship - not all UM students are phenomenal singers, but a majority are very gifted, and already skilled when they arrive - although they all develop tremendously over their four years. This is fresh in my head after having seen their 2008 Senior Showcase in NYC yesterday, and having known this class since their Freshman Showcase. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. She is a pretty good actress and an adequate dancer and would also like to develop those skills. Right now we are looking for schools she would have the best change of getting into.</p>
<p>D’s strength and emphasis in high school has been vocal performance. Prior to HS she studied ballet, tap and jazz, but really couldn’t fit it into her weekly schedule anymore in HS. In HS she concentrated on being a vocalist through her experience in choir and as a private voice student studying both classical and MT repetoire.</p>
<p>She was cast as leads in school shows and had to do a lot of dance in shows like Tommy and Cats. Based on her former ballet training, she was always chosen for featured dance roles.</p>
<p>Her acting experience has been more limited and she has never had any acting classes. This year she was cast as Belle in Beauty and the Beast and she was able to nail the part and captured the audience. However, I do not think she would have gotten the chance to get the lead if she hadn’t had strong vocals.</p>
<p>Last summer D attended the MT program through Steinhardt. A big emphasis of the instruction (which I believe is indicative of their undergad program) was learning how to “act the song.” I believe this “acting” instruction helped her make the Belle role come alive for her. She did well in the dance for the summer program’s showcase and was placed in a top grouping and given some featured dances. The dance instructor said that she placed her in a more advanced group because she was graceful and fluid as a dancer, even though she could tell she was less experienced in jazz dance than others.</p>
<p>D was accepted into Steinhardt for the fall and will be pursuing a BM degree in vocal performance with a concentration in MT. She will get acting, song analysis classes, dance and private voice lesson in addition to a heavy load of music classes. Steinhardt is considered the NYU program “for singers who act.”</p>
<p>D is prepared to supplement her dance training with various classes in the city. They are about $15 to $20 per class. I would rather pay that than the $80 to $90 I have been paying for private voice lessons! As for additional acting classes, we will play it by ear.</p>
<p>We did not look into other BM programs when she was applying to schools, as she was told from the summer program at NYU that she did not have to audition again and we knew her academics were strong.</p>
<p>It sounds like there are similar programs out there. I believe we are headed in the right direction with our daughter and think that NYU (Steinhardt) is the perfect fit.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone mentioned Ithaca College. It started out as a music school, so that is their primary emphasis. They don’t have a dance component at their audition, although students do take dance classes as part of the MT degree.</p>
<p>OCU is a BM degree in the school of music so obviously a great deal of emphasis is put on vocal training, but they also have a very strong dance department and MT majors take classes with the dance majors (according to their level of ability, and there are many levels). They also have strong acting classes. The audition requires classical and MT selections plus a monologue, but no dance, unless they have changed that. You have to be a strong singer to get in, but there is no need to supplement dance or acting classes.</p>
<p>FSU does have a BM in MT. It is the same MT classes as the BFA MT but you are registered in the School of Music instead of School of Theater and Dance. You don’t have to have the same level of dance skills as the students applying through the BFA program but you need stronger musical skills (theory, etc.-I think) The only thing to keep in mind is that they accept only 2-4 BM/MT students while the BFA/MT program accepts aprox. 12. (Still VERY competitive.) The challenge is that if you’re dance skills aren’t strong and you want to get into a BFA MT program-you are in a weaked position to be accepted and yet if you don’t go to a school with a strong dance cirriculum you lose out on the training that you need the most. I think you just need to try a variety of approaches and then see what your options are…</p>
<p>University of the Arts offers a BM in Vocal Performance, a 4 year Vocal Performance program which differs from the BM by having no LA requirements, and a 2 year certificate program in vocal performance. BM Vocal performance students can also minor in MT and pick up some acting, dance and MT performance studies.</p>
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<p>I just wanted to chime in on this one. The BM isn’t any more competitive than the BFA because we don’t have a quota of acceptances for each concentration. There are usually fewer BMs because fewer auditioners choose the BM concentration. We accept approximately 12 BFA/BMs combined. Everyone is evaluated using the same criteria (we have students who have chosen the BM track who came in as accomplished dancers and students who chose the BFA who have never had a class.) We look at them all as MT students regardless of which College is their home and we don’t pay much attention to that at the audition. Where it does make some difference is in the curriculum once a student has been admitted to the program. So, apply to the program in which you like the curriculum the best. Anyone who is interested in the differences, please feel free to PM or e-mail me (I won’t take up space on the general forum.)</p>
<p>My understanding is that CCM is looking to develop “tripple threats” All candidates are expected to be highly competent singers and excel in either acting or dance and demonstrate an aptitude in all three areas at time of audition .</p>
<p>Northwestern has a great Vocal Performance major through the School of Music. These students have the chance to audition to the MT Certificate Program at the end of their freshmen or sophomore years. Also, anyone can audition for every production on campus (through the school and student groups). There are many voice students actively involved in theatre at NU so this might another option to look into.</p>