<p>The Yale undergrad music disciplines are academic (history, theory, composition), not performance, and are all BA’s, hence a strong liberal arts curriculum in addition to the required music courses.</p>
<p>The certificate is not an academic diploma. It is a professional course of study for the performing musician, and is not to be equated with an undergraduate academic degree.</p>
<p>For an undergrad to expect to have lessons with Levine, Parisot or comparable SOM faculty, they would have to be at the top of the game. It happens, but it is extremely rare. A prior relationship with the intended faculty can improve the chances, and it is at the discretion of the instructor.</p>
<p>There are many extremely good undergrad players at Yale and the quality and quantity of the performing organizations is at a very high level.</p>
<p>Personally, I’ve known numerous Yale undergrads who could have gone the conservatory route, but have gotten degrees in academic areas (not necessarily music related) and have gone on to masters or grad pro diplomas, DMA’s in performance. A number are performing professionally.</p>
<p>These were all extremely accomplished players when they entered undergrad, had won some competitons, and a few had performed professionally prior to matriculating.</p>