Composition Schools

Perhaps we should have a thread of schools that are recommended for composition? We don't seem to have a lot of threads about that here, and it might be a beneficial topic to discuss.

There are lots of threads of people asking about particular schools and the pros/cons of different conservatoires etc. It might be a good idea to have a thread specifically for questions of that sort though...

My bad. I haven't been around in a while, and that was just my impression. That's good though. Maybe we could have a list and/or links to those threads....

Anything that helps with choosing a school is good, because going through that whole process is rather painful.

I didn't mean to correct you for posting, you actually have quite a good idea...

I kind of agree - granted it'd be more work and possibly a new moderator, but an Education sub-forum would be useful. Also possibly a Business of Music sub-forum (copyright, publishing, etc.), but that's another discussion alltogether...

...

an education forum could include perhaps this, the lessons and advice and techniques, that way the main page wouldn't be any more crowded.

For people looking for an undergraduate education with a really amazing teacher, check out U of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. The composition professor is Dr. Charles Young and he is nothing shy of great. He is a passionate teacher, loves composition and has a unique ability to pass that love and passion along to his students. I am so glad to have met him and to have worked with him.

As far as graduate schools are concerned, I haven't a clue. I've been searching for a worthwhile program for the past few years.

Cheers!

I guess now would be a good time for me to plug OCU, though that wasn't exactly my intention when creating this.

I am currently finishing my first year at Oklahoma City University. I am a Composition and Percussion Performance undergrad double major. Regarding Dr. Knight, he's a really good teacher. He doesn't really deal with your material as much as he does your method of composing and the refinement of that. He's more about speeding up your process and making it as efficient as possible, as opposed to "This is good but change this" or anything like that. The cool part is that he still composes a lot as well. Regarding the composition program, you can write for whatever you want. We regularly have readings>rehearsals>recordings of student composer works. We have several large ensembles which composers are encouraged to work for, like the standard orchestra, wind philharmonic, percussion ensemble, chamber choirs and full choirs. We put on between 4-6 concerts each year of just composer's works. Basically, if you want to do something here you can, provided you have the motivation and work ethic. We have composers come chill with us a bit, I don't know how we do in relation to other schools in that area, but we had David Maslanka come chill with us when our percussion program hosted OKPAS this year.

I'm not comparing OCU to other schools because I haven't attended other schools and my opinion will be invariably biased. However, I can just tell what we do have here. We have a really strong program where you can do whatever you want to. That much I can guarantee. I've already decided to stay an extra year to study with Dr. Knight and Dr. Steffens (percussion) because they are both incredibly amazing.

If anyone is interested, feel free to private message me or email me at jwhitmarsh.stu @ okcu.edu

an education forum could include perhaps this, the lessons and advice and techniques, that way the main page wouldn't be any more crowded.

I meant education: institutions and teachers, not so much learning. Maybe not enough demand to necessitate a new sub-forum. There just seems to be an awful lot of "which school to pick" "info on School XYZ plz" "show your college portfolio"...

I feel a forum to discuss various music programs, departments, professors, audition/application advice would be useful...

Maybe just a sticky dedicated to those types of questions? Or would that get too crowded, with different discussions happening at once?

Maybe just a sticky dedicated to those types of questions? Or would that get too crowded, with different discussions happening at once?

Yeah, I think there'd be too much in one thread to keep it organized...