Schools with good music performance programs?

compmom
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:21:41 +0000

You might want to read this essay on the Peabody site about different ways to study music (and show it to your parents too): http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html

If you want to do a performance major, and also have strong academic interests, you might want to consider a double degree, which is different from a double major, and usually takes 5 years. Well known double degree programs include Oberlin, Bard, Lawrence, Peabody/John’s Hopkins, Eastman/U. of Rochester, Michigan, Tufts/NEC, Harvard/NEC (MM), Hartt, Ithaca, Juilliard/Columbia and probably many others.

USC allows a second bachelor’s but financial aid is iffy, and it is not set up as a double degree but as a sequential “second BA,” which is treated as a transfer. USC has double majors but there, as at any school, combining performance study with another major may be hard: look at websites, course requirements for a performance major, and for another academic area, and add the courses up to see if it fits in a schedule.

For performance, you have the option of conservatory (BM), or a music school within a university (BM). If you chose a BA at a college or university, music majors are often “general” music, meaning an academic subject with music theory, history, composition, technology, ethnomusicology and so on, and sometimes performance too. You can check colleges that you would choose for your other interests, and see how much performance is in their music curriculum.

A BM is usually 2/3-3/4 music classes, and a BA is usually 1/4-1/3 music classes, with distribution requirements of some sort usually required.

Another option is to study anthropology or international relations for a BA and do violin on the side, participating in extracurricular ensembles and taking lessons privately. Some performers don’t do music at all at college, studying something else, and taking lessons with a private teacher within or outside of the school. But a conservatory or music school will most likely offer the highest level of ensemble or orchestra, lessons are provided, and it is understood how much time is needed for practice and rehearsal.

I would look into double degrees as the most feasible way to study both performance and your other interests.

Good luck!