<p>erdna,
My S is a senior at Swat. He is a piano player and I can tell you that most musically “competent” freshmen will be offered a 1/3 subsidy for their lessons. The amount goes up to 2/3 subsidy, and for the most talented, there is the Garrigues scholarship which will pay in full for lessons. My S thinks that the music majors get a “preference” for the higher paying subsidies, which makes sense. As for the a cappella groups, they are popular and fairly numerous for a school of Swat’s size. There are co-ed groups and single sex groups, and they sing everything from 1960’s-70’s pop tunes to ethnic music. There are auditions for all the groups at the beginning of the fall semester. All the groups perform late in each semester in one big concert, and a number of the groups perform at other times on campus.</p>