On Tue, 8 Oct 2002, Dolphin aura wrote:
> hi all. Can anyone name some graduate schools not
> worth going to at all? Thanks
No specifics, but I would suggest that you avoid graduate schools that
have no reputation at all for vocal music. I would include both William
and Mary and Duke University in that list. The former, based on the
experiences of a few musician friends who warned me, when I was accepted
there, against attending because the music program was virtually
non-existent. I've spoken to W&M students since, and apparently the
situation has not improved in the 20 years since I was checking
schools out.
Duke I can speak about from my own experience. Despite having a very
attractive music FACILITY, its music department - aside from jazz (and
since Mary Lou Williams' death, I don't know if even the jazz program has
maintained its quality) and ethnomusicology - was very spotty, and
particularly undistinguished for vocal teaching.
I've also heard, in a different regard, from several students at Catholic
University that the experience there is entirely dependent on getting the
right voice teacher. I've heard from several singers who either
transferred from or graduated unhappily from CUA that their experience
there was not nearly as good as the SEEMING quality of the program would
suggest. CUA is a great school for theatre, but again, I'd be leery about
doing my grad work there in voice. I've heard similarly mixed reports
about University of Maryland, BTW. Maryland is a good school for
instrumentalists, but again, the vocal programme is very much a Cult of
Personality, and if you don't get the right teacher (for you), your
experience there won't be satisfactory.
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
________________________________
I want to know God's thoughts...
the rest are details.
- Albert Einstein
|
|  |
