Lawrence Abernathy

cookie cutter answer: Mozart's Requiem Beethoven's 9th

good question....im going to have to say that the hardest piece of music i've performed is African Sanctus by Fanshawe, it's incredibly dissonant and the chords are very strange -- add some mixed meter in and it's tons of fun. However, close second is Chichester Psalms. One that i want to do: Symphony of Psalms....bring it on :D

yeah, 3.0 isint hard if you put a little effort into it. i was trying to seperate the actual getting into school vs. music school though. Oh well, i can say that in the states, 9/10 schools will make you audition.

really? everywhere in the states does...ive been to 5 auditions so far..luckily, no more :D

gona have to say Mahler. There seems to be no middle ground with him. You either LOVE him, or absolutely despise him

Actually, yes it does. Im currently in the process of enrolling into college and what people dont know/look over is that to get into college you need grades. From there, you must AUDITION to get into the Music School on your particular instrument. So to get into a music school you have to be somewhat proficient in performance. For instance, here are the audition requirements to get into Georgia State University: • All major and minor scales (natural, melodic and harmonic forms), 4 octaves, in 16ths; metronome speed of quarter note = 112. • All major and minor arpeggios, 4 octaves, in 16ths; metronome speed of quarter note = 40. • A two-part invention, three-part invention, or prelude and fugue from the "Well-Tempered Clavier" of J.S. Bach. • A fast movement of a sonata by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven. • A work from the romantic period or the 20 th century. • Intermediate-level sight-reading. Now, please note, just because you can do the requirements does NOT mean that you'll get in. As a musician you're competing with other people to get into the music school, so you need to be good. Good advice, there is no easy way to make it in music, period. You must be completely dedicated to your art. Probably the best advice of this thread. Im going to tell you this- in the United States, if you want to go anywhere in music, a bachelor degree in Composition, Theory, Conducting even wont get you ANYWHERE.You NEED to look into Music Education for the sheer fact that if you ever need a job- you can get one. I want to eventually be a Orchestral and Choral Conducting, but im not going to Major in Conducting because it is TOO limited. For your bachelor degree you need something broad so that you can there go to anywhere you want. After you complete that, THEN you can go and get your masters in Composition or what ever you want, but please listen to us- your first degree in Composition wont get you anywhere. At all. But if you're dedicated, and really want it- you can do it, it just might take another 2 years. So now that i talked a little about that, ill answer your questions. 1. Will this degree help me if I want to pursue the path of a media composer? Or should I take other degrees? To be a film composer, id take all my "normal" music classes (which arnt normal at all) plus maybe a film class if you can. But as a music major, your schedule is going to be crazy, so it might not be possible. But if you can, take any kind of film class. Also - you need to get your work out. Just a degree isint going to do anything, say you've got a friend at the school you go to who is majoring in Film Studies and he/she needs a piece for the opening of a short - do it. The more experience you have the better. 2. What are the entry requirements needed before studying this degree? That depends from university to university. Check the Music webpage, it should have "audition information" somewhere which can help you with that. 3. I know BMus stands for Bachelors of Music degree, but is it for classical music only? Or are any other forms of music like jazz and pop taught in this course? This is also school dependent. I know that my school has a Jazz Studies program, which includes some pop elements, but primarily a BMus is for classical trained musicians. Oh and please know this- a BAM (Bachelor of Arts, Music) and a BSM (Bachelor of Science, Music) are differently weighted than a BMus. Many people hold a BMus in higher regard than a BAM or BSM, so make sure that your school is accredited with that particular degree. 4. What will I learn in this course? Completely dependent on the college and your other classes, but as a Music Education: Choral Conducting student I will be taking: Music Theory, Piano Proficiency, Opera Studies and Workshop, 3 other Chamber/large Choral Classes, plus any other classes like Math, Language etc... So you'll be learning EVERYTHING you can. Oh, another great part about the music education degree is that as an education major you are required to learn how to play every major instrument - you'd like that im sure. 5. I want to study in the UK/America. Are there any universities/colleges that you would recommend? If you are serious about this, then you'll go to the college that fits you best. Please remember, sometimes going to a smaller college is better because you're not just a number. Also - dont look into the conservatories etc.. unless you A- have money B- are extremely well versed with your instrument. How good you play your instrument will determine which schools you get into. I hope this helps, please feel free to contact me or visit my schools website which is the link in my sig "Schwob School of Music" Edit: sorry, you asked for somebody who already has the degree, but both my parents majored in music and im 4 months off from actually being a music major, so for what it's worth, hope it helps.

havnt really investigated him..ill pick up on your suggestion though. But seriously, the point of my little rant was to say: CURRENT composition and music is not in bad shape and is still music. Not 4 min and 33 seconds of "experience" or somebody throwing a chair across a room.. :w00t:

oh it may be horrifically simplistic and cliche, every other word to describe "cheesy," however people like it and it is widely excepted to the mass public of what classical music is today. hmm...for this site i should just edited my list to: Stroope, Whitacre, Copeland and Bernstein.

my goal in life is to direct every major work i possibly can. Top o the list: Mozart's Requiem

i've just scanned these last few pages and from what i've read it all goes back to the "is XXX style of music really music" blah blah bull crap. Im really surprised that nobody has even mentioned Leonard Bernstein, who many consider to be the best of the "modern" (im using that word lightly, please dont discuss what "moderism" is...) composers. It just seems to me that Cage and his fellows are all hype and are only good for debate situations, when other composers are still following many of the rules and creating great music. Seriously people, look at composers TODAY: Eric Whitacre Leonard Bernstein Stephen Sondheim Jim Brickman (the man has good piano music) Mel Brooks Andrew Lloyd Webber John Williams Hans Zimmer Aaron Copeland Z. Randall Stroope (all of these in no particular order) There are a few that you can place together in that group that have very similar sounds, for example Stroope and Whitacre have similar themes in their choral music, while Copeland, Webber, Bernstein and Sondheim can be placed in their own categories. We're all so worried about the serialism/atonalism/whateverthehellitscallisms... music is in good hands guys. /Rant.