The USC Thornton School of Music is one of the finest schools of music in the Country…right up there with Curtis, Eastman, Juilliard, New England Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The Percussion Program, has produced outstanding students, the most recent impressive news is the appointment of USC Thornton School of Music Alumnus Matthew Howard as the Principal Percussionist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Both percussion professors there are members of the L.A. Philharmonic: Joseph Pereira the Principal Timpanist of the L.A. Phil (formerly a percussionist in the New York Philharmonic) and James Babor a long-time percussionist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The USC Thornton School of Music is VERY well endowed and is generous with scholarships to extremely talented applicants. USC Thornton is far and away THE BEST CHOICE of schools on the West Coast and in the West ad as I mentioned before, right up there with the big names from the East Coast. That being said, it should come as no surprise that admission to Thornton is EXTREMELY TOUGH as they only accept the cream of the crop. If you feel that your son is indeed good enough to compete with the best kids in the country, The USC Thornton School of Music can bend the arm of the general USC admissions office when they really want to admit an exceptional player to the school.
The Colburn School of Music is building a great program, however, the school is still too small and too limited to provide the king of performance options that either the USC Thornton School of Music or the East Coast Biggies do. Tuition is totally Free at Colburn, as every student is on 100% Scholarship, once again admission is extremely competitive at Colburn as they are looking for the best of the best players.
UCLA has never been know to have a great music program…I would personally choose Cal-State Northridge over UCLA any day for it’s School of Music. Cal State Northridge is an unsung hero…kind of a jewel that gets overlooked too often when students look for schools of music, and the academic expectations are not as rigorous as UCLA.
In terms of the best of the best schools schools of music on the East Coast with particularly strong Percussion Performance Programs check out:The Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music.
I attended Both the Manhattan School of Music and the USC Thornton School of Music and could not have been happier with my choices. I hope I helped you out!