Wisdom of changing intended major from performance to composition?

compmom
Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:59:40 +0000

It sounds like your son is a hard-working, disciplined, and serious student of percussion. He practices 2-3 hours/day and has been studying for years. It is always possible that he will want to continue this study once he adjusts to the new teacher. You may be thinking the same thing…(Also, I think the person who said composers love the marimba these days is right!)

My daughter had the same experience when she switched to an amazing classical guitar teacher (and also bought herself a used guitar from a luthier who transformed it for her to an amazing instrument). The new teacher commented that it was as if she was “in a canoe without a paddle,” but it really did not take as long as she originally thought it would, to acquire that paddle (this was maybe 6 years ago). (She is still practicing every day, but ended up in a BA program for composition, not a BM for guitar.)

About distribution requirements and the number of classes in the major: this varies, and was a major factor in our daughter’s choice of schools. Her school (Harvard) has only 8-9 classes for distribution requirements, and I believe she will take 16 classes in music overall. She liked that she could do so much music.

Oberlin and Bard sound like great schools to look into for your son. Oberlin has a “low wall” between conservatory and college and your son could have flexibility in his choices for the future. At Bard, a double degree is mandatory for conservatory students (BA/BM).

I think that really looking into each school and considering the specifics of what your son wants and needs, is well worth the time. It sounds like you guys are doing that. Just as an example, our daughter did not want to do a seminar, such as the one Yale offers. She prefers to be left alone (!). Some of her friends love the Yale seminar, by the way. Harvard lets students do independent composition work for credit, so she works outside of Harvard with a teacher, but can have a concert of the work at Harvard, for credit. Yale may offer the same kinds of opportunities, but at Harvard, seminars are generally for non-majors. So there are these differences between schools.

Personally, I love Peabody’s vibe. I love that they emphasize learning by having your pieces played frequently. This is a big drawback for students at colleges who are composing: harder to get musicians, and students have to be very entrepreneurial to get music played. It’s possible, but harder.

This is all kind of random, but just some things to think about.

I love reading about kids who are involved in music in diverse ways, who have a sort of “holistic” passion for it as well as some really deepened skills. Your son sounds great!
It is hard to be applying and deciding at a time when his interests may be changing, so just letting you know, again, that this seems to be fairly common, and most find that even at this time when there is pressure to decide some things, there is still flexibility in the path that they may choose.

I hope he applies to “reaches” because he sounds like a great prospect for any school. People here can also give ideas on “matches” and “safeties” too.