Music for Non-Conservatory students

Steverino
Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:39:42 +0000

Our S is also considering Oberlin, but is concerned about availability of music opportunities for non-Conservatory students. There are some other CC threads on this topic and what I have gleaned from them is this: If you just want to go to concerts and listen to music, Oberlin is a great place. But if you are not in the conservatory and you want to perform music, take music classes or take music lessons, it may not be so great.

I do not believe that Convervatory music ensembles are open to liberal arts students. In recent years, they have created an orchestra just for liberal arts students (conducted by a Conservatory student). However, my S plays jazz and, as far as I know, there are no jazz ensembles set aside for liberal arts students. Regarding music lessons – except in unusual circumstances, liberal arts students cannot take lessons from Conservatory professors; they can take lessons from Conservatory students. Regarding music courses – Conservatory students get top priority in registering for music classes, so liberal arts students may get shut out of many of them. There are, however, a few sections of the introductory music courses reserved for liberal arts students. Majoring or minoring in music is not an option for liberal arts students.

I’m sure that there are plenty of opportunities for amateur musicians to jam together informally, create their own bands etc. But I don’t think they should expect any musical guidance or support from the college.