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Can anyone suggest any ivy league schools that have a decent music program? I'm thinking of taking a double major, science/music or business/music and I was wondering if anyone knew a school suitable for that. Thanks

By Driver (Driver) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 08:59 am: Edit

Columbia has a joint program with Julliard that will permit what you describe...a bachelor's degree from both schools. Not sure what Yo Yo Ma did at Harvard, but the NE Conservatory of Music may have a program with them.

By Shennie (Shennie) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 11:41 am: Edit

Columbia does have a joint program with Juilliard, but it is very difficult and very few people do it. New England Conservatory has a program with Tufts, not with Harvard. (Yo Yo Ma did not get a music degree from Harvard. He got a B.A. in philosophy and studied cello privately.) I think the best Ivy music program will be found at Yale. They have a top-notch graduate music performance program that also provides lots of opportunities for undergrads. If you are looking to get a Bachelor in Music (a performance degree)rather than Bachelor of Arts, then you will have to look outside of the Ivy League as I don't believe any of the Ivy schools offer the BM.

By Sac (Sac) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 12:42 pm: Edit

Princeton has some sort of music performance specialty,though it is not a major, that can be combined with some other major.

By Enlightenment (Enlightenment) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 12:48 pm: Edit

alright, I'll go research in more details, thanks everyone

K

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 03:31 pm: Edit

Yale's graduate music program is supposed to be excellent, but I've heard that their undergraduate department is not that great. Columbia, like the previous posters said, has a joint program with Juilliard but it would probably take a superhuman to do that. The other ivies are just eh. My friend (a very accomplished high school singer) went to her sister's graduation at Harvard and said that their choir was not-so-good, to put it lightly. Cornell isn't much better either. I went to a Princeton admissions presentation a while ago and their program didn't seem too strong at all - they don't really have any performance degrees. My conclusion is that if you are serious about music, don't attend an ivy institution, because while they are incredible in other disciplines, music performance just isn't their forte - no pun intended (although, I've heard composition and theory is good at some of them). If prestige is what is drawing you to them (not saying that it is), then let go of it and seek some better places.

By Enlightenment (Enlightenment) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 03:46 pm: Edit

Thanks a lot, looks like I need to look into this a bit more and find out what it is that I want to do.

By Shennie (Shennie) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 06:26 pm: Edit

Enlightenment - I am posting a link for you that you might find informative.

http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/index.php?pageID=163

This site is at the Peabody Conservatory and talks about the difference between a double degree, a double major, a performance degree and a BA in music. It really is focused on programs in general and does not talk too much about their own program. I think that you will find it may help you clarify your own thinking.

By Enlightenment (Enlightenment) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 11:39 pm: Edit

I'll definately look that up, thanks

By Brownalum (Brownalum) on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 - 12:07 pm: Edit

Yale is by far the best, with the only music school in the Ivy League. Talented undergraduates often get their B.A. and M.M. degrees simultaneously (one from Yale College, one from the Yale School of Music).

Also, I hear that there are over 1,000 free concerts per year at Yale.

By Bobmcc (Bobmcc) on Friday, December 05, 2003 - 02:24 pm: Edit

Dartmouth is very good in "new" music. Harvard & Yale in the "traditional" sense. But why Ivy? Our son is basically getting personal composition lessons from one of the best composers, Marjorie Merryman, in the country right now at Macalester...
He was offered a math scholly at Oberlin..but combining math & music looked to be much more of a pain at Oberlin than at Grinnell or Macalester or even Davidson or UNC, the other schools he applied and got into. Grinnell has an awfully good music program, i think, too. When our son sat in on composition classes at Oberlin and Grinnell he was MUCH more impressed w/ the Grinnell class (and he'd already had some "objective" success w/ composing before college..winning the state and regional Music Teachers of America competitions 5/6 years he entered)

By Mstee (Mstee) on Friday, December 05, 2003 - 03:22 pm: Edit

Bobmcc--are you the guy in Harvard Schmarvard? My son is also applying to Grinnell and Oberlin. (Hadn't thought about Macalester--maybe he should consider it).