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Double Bass Top Universities/conservatories/colleges for bassists?

M

Melanie Cebula

Aug 5, 2010
8
0
California
#1
I'm going to be a junior this year in highschool, so its time to start thinking about my future in music. I'm not sure how qualified I am for some of the schools I want to get into, but I am in the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra if that is a measure of anything. I looked around at what other bassists were promoting as exceptional colleges and compiled a list. However, I want to have more experienced player's input, so please comment and feel free to suggest schools or discourage any of the ones I list.
-Curtis, Colburn, Carnegic Mellon, Peabody, Rice, Oberlin, USC, UCLA, Indiana University, Julliard, NEC, Manhatten School of Music, Berklee, University of Michigan, Boston University, Northwestern University, Eastman, etc.
I am interested in orchestral music as well as solo music, and I also play some jazz on the side. Are any of these out of my league? How important are academics (I take lots of honor classes, but it's getting harder to find time to practice, so should I drop them if they aren't even going to matter?) Any and all input is welcome. Thanks!
 
#2
academics will not be an issue for you to get into any of these schools, but what will be necessary is a GREAT audition, especially if you are trying to get some scholarship money. find out about the teachers at the schools you are interested in and contact them if you can. try to narrow it down to a handful of schools and find out all the details of their audition requirements. start working with your teacher on your audition rep as soon as you know what you will need to play. also, try take lessons with some of the teachers at the schools you are interested in. that should be easy for you to manage at any of the california schools you mentioned, i would think. of the schools you listed curtis, colburn, rice, julliard, and indiana are all tough schools to get into. with that said, you could get into any one of them if you really want to. you have lots of time to put together a competitive audition, it's just a matter of how much you are willing to commit yourself to it. good luck!
 
#3
Square Bear said:
academics will not be an issue for you to get into any of these schools, but what will be necessary is a GREAT audition, especially if you are trying to get some scholarship money. find out about the teachers at the schools you are interested in and contact them if you can. try to narrow it down to a handful of schools and find out all the details of their audition requirements. start working with your teacher on your audition rep as soon as you know what you will need to play. also, try take lessons with some of the teachers at the schools you are interested in. that should be easy for you to manage at any of the california schools you mentioned, i would think. of the schools you listed curtis, colburn, rice, julliard, and indiana are all tough schools to get into. with that said, you could get into any one of them if you really want to. you have lots of time to put together a competitive audition, it's just a matter of how much you are willing to commit yourself to it. good luck!
Click to expand...

okay thanks! I want to get into Curtis the most (probably like everyone else DX) so I'll start preparing immediately with my teacher. Do you think I should drop my honors classes and focus more on my music, or should I try to keep my GPA up anyway? I'm unsure how to approach academics, especially since I kind of like fast-paced classes (just not the homework which interferes with what I want to do :P)
 
#4
keep the honors classes. you enjoy them and they're worth it. not just for the GPA, but for the education you are getting. i went to state university for my undergrad, and at the time i hated having to take all the general education requirements because all i wanted to do was play music. now though, i'm glad to have the education those classes offered. if you want to get into curtis, go for it. let your social life suffer before your education though! :eek:
 
#5
At some of these schools academics definitely ARE an issue. Rice, in particular, has high academic standards for admission. No matter how great your audition is, you will not be accepted to the university/college if your academics are not extremely strong. This is true also at Oberlin, USC, Boston, and any other non-conservatory school on your list...
 
#7
I just went through this process last year, and I think academic requirements vary a lot...Peabody I know just looks for a 3.0 or above, but university's can be a little harder. It's true that you can't have a 2.0 and expect to get into Rice or Boston, but if you're applying to those schools the audition's definitely the part of the application to be worried about lol

Btw, I noticed Berklee on your list and I don't really think they're known for classical, if that's what you're looking for. Of course there's nothing wrong with playing other music, but it just sort of stuck out as an odd pick in there, amongst the usual suspect orchestra schools
 
#8
ouija said:
Btw, I noticed Berklee on your list and I don't really think they're known for classical, if that's what you're looking for. Of course there's nothing wrong with playing other music, but it just sort of stuck out as an odd pick in there, amongst the usual suspect orchestra schools
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Yeah I was thinking about dropping it... I like to play Jazz as well but I'm not very serious about that, or at least not anywhere near as much my classical training. Or there any schools that aren't on my list that I should check out? I plan on narrowing it down a lot, but I don't want to miss out on any options!
 
#9
when i said that academics would not be an issue, i meant that they wouldn't be for you given what you said about your academic qualifications (honors courses etc.). if music is what you want to pursue academically and/or professionally, i wish you the best of luck!
 
#11
Melanie Cebula said:
Yeah I was thinking about dropping it... I like to play Jazz as well but I'm not very serious about that, or at least not anywhere near as much my classical training. Or there any schools that aren't on my list that I should check out? I plan on narrowing it down a lot, but I don't want to miss out on any options!
Click to expand...

Ah. I definitely didn't mean to sound like there was anything wrong with that, it just sort've stuck out. A lot of schools will have jazz teachers and programs as well, so it would still be possible to do both if you wanted to.

But about other schools...it's hard to think of ones you haven't listed, but Baylor University (Sandor Ostlund), Catholic University (Ira Gold), and University of Maryland (Robert Oppelt) are a few that come to mind.

I noticed Peabody on your list; I'm about to start studying there so if you have any questions about their program, feel free
 
#12
ouija said:
But about other schools...it's hard to think of ones you haven't listed, but Baylor University (Ali Yazdanfar (sp?)), Catholic University (Ira Gold), and University of Maryland (Robert Oppelt) are a few that come to mind.
Click to expand...

Sandor Ostlund teaches at Baylor, Ali is at McGill. Also, there are some other teachers at U of MD that work with Bob Oppelt - Tony Manzo and Rick Barber.
 
#13
ouija said:
Ah. I definitely didn't mean to sound like there was anything wrong with that, it just sort've stuck out. A lot of schools will have jazz teachers and programs as well, so it would still be possible to do both if you wanted to.

But about other schools...it's hard to think of ones you haven't listed, but Baylor University (Ali Yazdanfar (sp?)), Catholic University (Ira Gold), and University of Maryland (Robert Oppelt) are a few that come to mind.

I noticed Peabody on your list; I'm about to start studying there so if you have any questions about their program, feel free
Click to expand...

Well I had been considering dropping it because it didn't look like it'd be a good fit. okay!
 
#16
Melanie Cebula said:
I'm going to be a junior this year in highschool, so its time to start thinking about my future in music. I'm not sure how qualified I am for some of the schools I want to get into, but I am in the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra if that is a measure of anything. I looked around at what other bassists were promoting as exceptional colleges and compiled a list. However, I want to have more experienced player's input, so please comment and feel free to suggest schools or discourage any of the ones I list.
-Curtis, Colburn, Carnegic Mellon, Peabody, Rice, Oberlin, USC, UCLA, Indiana University, Julliard, NEC, Manhatten School of Music, Berklee, University of Michigan, Boston University, Northwestern University, Eastman, etc.
I am interested in orchestral music as well as solo music, and I also play some jazz on the side. Are any of these out of my league? How important are academics (I take lots of honor classes, but it's getting harder to find time to practice, so should I drop them if they aren't even going to matter?) Any and all input is welcome. Thanks!
Click to expand...

My teacher (Bob Nieske) teaches at NEC, as does Cecil McBee and Joe Morris (who now plays bass as much as he does guitar, it seems). I'm sure they have some orchestral players on the faculty too, but I don't know anything about that.

bigtiny
 
#17
Melanie Cebula said:
McGill is in Quebec; Are there significant challenges in going to a college outside of the U.S, (especially if I don't know any French?)
Click to expand...

I know most Quebecois know quite a bit of English (they have to learn more English in their school system than we have to learn French in Ontario). I wouldn't anticipate a huge language barrier, although knowing a bit might be helpful.
 
#18
Melanie Cebula said:
McGill is in Quebec; Are there significant challenges in going to a college outside of the U.S, (especially if I don't know any French?)
Click to expand...

In Montreal, McGill and Concordia are the "English" Universities, while Universite de Montreal and UQAM are the "French" Universities.

The teaching and administration at McGill is primarily done in English.

Montreal is a multi-lingual city, and you'll be able to get around fine in English, but the more French you know the more fun you can have. You won't be able to find much summer employment though, without decent French.
 

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