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I think I posted this before, and it doesn't look like you are looking for west coast schools anyway, but UC Santa Cruz offers a BM. When I looked at their music faculty, I saw that a number of them have continuing relationships with the SF Conservatory of Music, who, in turn, have some quite wonderful vocal instructors. SF Conservatory also has some pretty strong connections with other strictly-music conservatories, like Julliard and Manhattan School of Music, which really helps if a singer has ambitions in those performance directions. Santa Cruz also has some very interesting professors who teach in the social sciences. Santa Cruz is one of the smaller University of California campuses, is organized into colleges (like San Diego), and has relatively small class size overall. It's quite possible to get a small liberal arts experience in this university setting at Santa Cruz. They also have a brand new performing arts center and in-residence Shakespeare company.

I really tried to get my daughter to give them some serious consideration, but it is just too close to home, and she was, at the time, too hung up on other people's images of what they think UCSC is or is not.

By Sopranosmom (Sopranosmom) on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 05:06 pm: Edit

Thanks, Theasrhs. My D hasn't expressed much interest in the far west -- plus, as an out-of-state student, is she at a big disadvantage? However, my older daughter just took a job in Santa Cruz so she may think differently about that far from home now that her sister is there!

By Hautbois (Hautbois) on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 05:07 pm: Edit

Small world ... I'm hoping to attend UCSC's opera next week. They are doing "Marriage of Figaro". If I do attend, I'll fill you in on what I hear if anyone is interested.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 05:57 pm: Edit

Do post, Hautbois. Reminds me, however, that for some of us of a certain age cohort, it's impossible to hear the music from "The Barber of Seville" without thinking of Bugs Bunny.

And then there's my lyric, sloppily arc-welded to music from "Rigoletto":

o/~ My name is Mario
And in this scenario
I don't have far to go
To become impressario.

By Hautbois (Hautbois) on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 06:13 pm: Edit

Now I have even more incentive to attend!

Love your lyrics; isn't it funny how so many like to make up our own lyrics to replace the already ridiculous opera lyrics?!

OT (sorry ... sort of): Our symphony played William Tell Overture for a Kiddie Concert set one year - back-to-back performances for 5 days (a whopping 10 shows). I was the English hornist of the orchestra. Every time we got to the flute/EH duo the kids would begin to giggle. This was probably 14 years ago or so ... which tells me that at least some of the kids then (and I hope now) still saw those great cartoons. (By the time we'd get to the even more famous trumpet part "Hi Ho Silver!" the kids would pretend to be riding horses. Now I never saw that show, and I don't know if the kids did either, but somehow they all connected the music to riding horses!)

Ramble off.

Back to schools: D and dad went to visit UCI again. They sat through two Classics (Latin) classes. She was thrilled, and he was impressed with the students in the smaller class (12 students!) where they all were able to participate. I mean HIGHLY impressed!

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 12:00 pm: Edit

Well.... Our route to D's high school involves taking the very last exit on Interstate 10 before it turns north and merges into California 1 (Pacific Coast Highway). What's silly is that we take the freeway to make a journey of less than four miles but the way the exits, streets, and approaches to the hs are laid out, it's actually the most logical.

We see rural country at least a couple of times a year. I've been known to comment on the brown and white chickens grazing in the fields only to be informed that they're cows...we city slickers can get a little hazy on such stuff.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 12:30 pm: Edit

My favorite "city slicker" tale-----

A few years back, when I was still in full hunter-gatherer mode, I was hauling a recently shot deer up to our local gas station---which doubles as a check-in for hunters in the area. The way it works (for the benefit of the less rurally inclined readers on the forum) is that you get a license to hunt deer...then when you shoot one you're supposed to fill out a tag, attach it to an antler, and then bring the carcass to a "check-in" station---so that the Natural Resources folks can count how many deer have been "harvested."

Of course the check-in station is a hub of great hunting tales and other assorted guy-stuff, but there are occassionaly even some women that show up--mainly wives lying about themselves actually shooting the deer... so their husbands can continue hunting deer. On this particular hunting day, there were more than the usual amount of guys milling around---most of them congregated around a shiny new SUV with New York plates. I soon found out what all the fuss was about. A pair of city slickers shot, tagged, and were attempting to check in... a goat.

----

I can only hope that, on the eventual day when the tables are turned, and these New Yorkers are confronted with the spectacle of some ol'country boy pushing the wrong way against the revolving door of some posh Manhattan hotel, that they act as reserved, kind, and understanding as did my neighbors at that check-in station.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 01:17 pm: Edit

Might not get that far. Some country folk were driving to NYC, saw the sign that said "New York City LEFT," looked at each other and said, "Wonder where it went?" and turned around and drove back home.

By Emeraldkity4 (Emeraldkity4) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 03:55 pm: Edit

Ok enough with the Beverly Hillbillies jokes
Many schools do seem to be located in what could only be called the "stick's.
My nieces school is in a town that is smaller than the population of the school, and the next city of any size is 60 miles away. That might not sound far when you are a senior in high school looking at the school, but when you are in the middle of finals, in the middle of winter, and dying for a change of scenery, it could be a major problem.
I didn't even want to live in the suburbs when I had kids, so I definitely wouldn't want to live in a rural area. Our suburbs have pretty much eaten up the countryside anyway, I used to live in a small community that now has housing developments up the wazoo, with three car garages, kitchens too small for anyone to cook in and a side wing for the au pair and the kids. ecch!
It wasn't a surprise when my daughter limited herself to schools that were in small cities and larger. She liked the resources that a city had to offer,not to mention the transportation issue is fairly easy to negoiate.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 04:12 pm: Edit

Morgantruce, LOL! That was tooooooooo funny.

We, by the way, live in one of the few remaining rural areas in Southern Calif. (in the mountains east of San Diego). My daughter, a real country girl, has one major requirement for a college location: there must be a metroplex cinema with at least 8 screens nearby. Had a good laugh about her sense of priorities when she told me this.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 05:20 pm: Edit

Well, some people have the requirement that local radio stations play *both* kinds of music.

Both kinds?

Country *and* Western.


TheDad, whistling tunelessly while quickly sauntering out of EmeraldK's reach....

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 06:31 pm: Edit

emeraldkity: Here's a deal... I'll back off on the hillbilly repertoire (and here, I was just gonna brag about the new fan in the outhouse...) if you lay off further updates on the ever-expanding universe of yuppie suburbs. I choose to think that the nearest au pair wing is still hundreds of miles from this small clearing in the woods that I made thirty years ago.

Even though I recently discovered that I have completely forgotten how to parallel park and tie a Windsor knot, I sense that some fool is soon going to open an 8-screen multiplex within my limited range of travel---and will be cheered by my neighbors who will call it progress.

Down at the post office, a fellow needing directions drove up in a Volvo---probably the first ever Swedish iron in the county. In five minutes of casual conversation, I was able to determine that he was a land speculator--and gave him directions that would carry him over the hill into the next county. It's coming. I see ads in major city papers 150-200 miles away... people looking for vacation get-aways. I have trouble imagining driving that distance to get away from unpleasant surroundings.

I guess I'd better hurry and make up a "Goat" sign....

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 08:28 pm: Edit

(perplexed) First Volvo? But how do people go to get their Brie and chardonnay? Wouldn't that be a little hard on the Birkenstocks?

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 09:59 pm: Edit

We don't "go" for it. Now, I've never turned out anything approaching Brie or Chardonnay but...

...we used to milk a couple of Brown Swiss cows and turned out a reasonable (if somewhat squeeky) white cheese.

...our Concord grape wine always has more kick than Gallo, and since Concord is the only grape we grow, we are never at a loss to remember which wine to serve with any particular food.

While I cannot imagine real men wearing Birkenstocks, I routinely cut down my old leaking black rubber knee-high boots into something that closely resembles very yuppy looking clogs---perfectly suited for quick trips outside.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 10:59 pm: Edit

(dubiously) Well, out here I'm sure that they would want cows that spoke English--not to mention that green cards and stuff like that tend to be sensitive issues...and the black-rubber thingies sound as if they might be a bit sweaty on the feet for trips between the hot tub and the granola bar....

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 11:02 pm: Edit

...not to mention the problem of no white wine to serve with fish, lobster, etc. or after Memorial Day.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 11:29 pm: Edit

I'm certain you'll get a chuckle out of this... but we do have a hot tub... and it's heated with a wood fire. There is actually a small wood stove that is submerged in the water along with you!

That must make me something of a Yuppie in denial.