Wisdom of changing intended major from performance to composition?

SpiritManager
Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:38:12 +0000

Although I’m biased because my son attends Bard - I would say that is definitely a place for your son to consider - the college and not the conservatory. In the college he could major in music and study both electronic (with some of the experimental leaders in the field such as Richard Teitelbaum) and classical composition, and he could study percussion, as well. And it is not audition based so he wouldn’t need an impressive portfolio to get in - and could develop it before he was required to declare his major. And percussion players have lots of performance opportunities (as do the composers in the college.) Bard is SAT optional so his scores aren’t important and his GPA and passions fit the school.

What state do you live in? There are many electronic music opportunities at some of the state universities - even unlikely ones like Univ. of Montana. Univ. of Illinois and Univ. of Virginia are others that quickly comes to mind.

Does he want academics, or does he only want to study music? That makes a difference, of course. You might look into a conservatory like program such as Cal Arts, for instance, which is connected, like USC to the film/media world. Check out USC - although they are into SAT scores there.

So many choices out there, really. Let us know more about your son and we’ll keep throwing ideas at you.