2016-17 GUIDE TO MUSIC SCHOOLS
Press Releases | Reviews | Special Reports | Guide to Music Schools

2014-15 Guide to Music Schools
MA's 2016-17 Guide to Music Schools
There are 1,210 educational institutions in our database of music schools. The editors have chosen to highlight 45 schools; we asked each of our picks for additional details, such as: audition requirements, post-graduate assistance programs, number of full time and adjunct faculty and number of scholarships awarded.
We also wanted to explore career-guidance offerings at schools, both before and after graduation. In our feature story, Where Training in the Arts Meets Training for Life, author Ian VanderMeulen speaks with officials at five schools that we felt were particularly well-attuned to job market opportunities and challenges: Curtis Institute, London's Guildhall School, Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, Juilliard and San Francisco Conservatory.
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2016-17 GUIDE TO MUSIC SCHOOLS

FEATURED SCHOOLS

Arizona State University School of Music
Tempe, Arizona
All Conservatory undergraduates pursue a five-year program leading to two degrees: the Bachelor of Music degree and the Bachelor of Arts degree in a field other than music.

Bienen School of Music
Evanston, Illinois
With its proximity to the cultural hub of Chicago, conservatory-level musical training, and engaging academic environment, the Bienen School of Music provides students an educational atmosphere unlike any other.

College-Conservatory of Music
Cincinnati, Ohio
Declared one of the nation’s leading conservatories by The New York Times, CCM has more than 10,000 graduates gracing the stages of Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and virtually every arts organization in the world.

Eastman School of Music
Rochester, New York
Eastman is dedicated to the highest levels of artistry and scholarship and to the broad education of young musicians within the context of a university. Our students enjoy a challenging but nurturing environment that focuses on artistic excellence while encouraging the pursuit of individual paths and interests.

Jacobs School of Music
Bloomington, Indiana
The mission of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is to provide distinguished instruction and outstanding opportunities for performance, composition, research, and teacher training for music majors and non-music majors.

The Juilliard School
New York, New York
Since 1905 Juilliard educated the world's foremost musicians, then dancers & actors; it's Lincoln Center campus a launching ground for artistic achievement, with an equally world-renowned faculty.

Lynn University Conservatory of Music
Boca Raton, Florida
Lynn offers world-class faculty and free-tuition scholarships to all enrolled conservatory students.
Room and board scholarships also available.

Manhattan School of Music
New York, New York
MSM offers 450+ performances a year and shares its upper Manhattan neighborhood with Columbia University. MSM's faculty is made up of members of New York City's leading performing institutions.

Mannes School of Music
New York, New York
Mannes College The New School for Music is dedicated to advancing the creative role of music in all aspects of a rapidly changing society. Mannes seeks to develop citizen artists who engage with the world around them in and through music, in traditional, new, and emergent forms of practice.

Moores School of Music
Houston, Texas
Our faculty come from the finest professional music organizations in the world. Our students come from the world over to study in fields that include music performance, music education, and musicology. We produce over 300 concerts and events annually on campus in our three beautiful performance spaces—including the world-renowned Moores Opera House.

Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin Conservatory, the country's oldest continuously operating school of music, is now celebrating its 150th Anniversary. This National Medal of Arts winner is renowned for its focus on undergraduate pre-professional education, and for shared programming on a seamless campus with Oberlin College

Peabody Conservatory
Baltimore, Maryland
Peabody Conservatory faculty foster an ethos of encouragement in their commitment to train top musicians. We think each student has his or her own unique musical gift to develop.

The Shepherd School of Music
Houston, Texas
A dedicated faculty of artist-teachers, extraordinary performance opportunities, beautiful facilities and an unparalleled education at one of America's premiere universities.

University of North Texas, College of Music
Denton, Texas
The UNT College of Music offers fully accredited degrees from the bachelor's to doctoral levels and is home to the world's first jazz studies program. Faculty includes internationally-acclaimed artists and scholars in performance, composition, conducting, music theory, music history, ethnomusicology and music education.

USC Thornton School of Music
Los Angeles, California
For more than 125 years, the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music has prepared students to excel as performers, composers, industry leaders, and educators, on stages and in studios around the world. Founded in 1884 and today the oldest continually operating cultural institution in Los Angeles, USC Thornton is internationally recognized as one of the finest conservatories and music schools in the U.S.

Yale School of Music
New Haven, Connecticut
The Yale School of Music is a graduate professional school for students of exceptional ability. In addition to receiving professional training in music, students are encouraged to participate in the rich intellectual life of the entire University and to develop and pursue interests in areas outside of their majors.

Academy of Vocal Arts
The Crane School of Music
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The full course of study at the Academy of Vocal Arts is four years. It should be emphasized that all training is directed towards preparation for a career in singing rather than toward the fulfillment of set academic requirements or a career as a teacher.
Potsdam, New York
Crane is an undergraduate-focused music school with attentive full-time faculty. We are part of SUNY Potsdam, an arts-centric school where about 1,000 students (of 4,000 total) major in the arts. At Crane, students can choose from a wide variety of programs and majors.
The Hartt School
Longy School of Music of Bard College
West Hartford, Connecticut
The Hartt School is a truly collaborative environment where faculty embrace the theory that success takes endless forms. Teachers get to know each student and guide them toward the future meant just for them. Hartt students engage with the professional world in meaningful ways to enhance their education and professional network.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
We see musicians as agents of change. We enable students to decide for themselves what a meaningful life in music looks like, giving them the tools to make it a reality.
Mason Gross School of the Arts
New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Mason Gross School of the Arts allows you to gain high level conservatory training while enjoying the traditional college experience that a public university provides. Our students also benefit from our close proximity to the vibrant Arts culture in New York City and Philadelphia.
Miami Beach, Florida
The New World Symphony is dedicated to the artistic, personal, and professional development of outstanding instrumentalists. The NWS fellowship program provides graduates of music programs the opportunity to enhance their musical education with the finest professional training.
Purchase College Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Purchase, New York
• Multidisciplinary approach to Conservatory training
• Individualized attention and mentoring from world class musicians
• Scholarships and Financial Aid available
• 40 minutes from New York City
• Double majors and minors available including Arts Management
San Francisco, California
Our goal is to transform Conservatory education by inventing a unique curricular model that conjoins the study of music at the highest level to the development of critical thinking skills.
School of Jazz, The New School
Shenandoah Conservatory
New York, New York
The program is distinguished by our artist-as-mentor approach to classroom teaching; our progressive, innovative curriculum and focus on small-group performance; our superb faculty, a community of legendary musicians; our exceptionally talented students, who come from all over the world; and our location in New York City, the jazz capital of the world.
Winchester, Virginia
Shenandoah Conservatory nurtures young musicians, actors, dancers, and artistic leaders in an atmosphere that values creative expression, attracts elite guest artists and faculty, and offers students personalized instruction. Conservatory faculty and students says it’s a place where creativity and craft is cultivated and gains maturity.
UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
UMASS Lowell
Los Angeles, California
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is the first – and only – school of music in the University of California system. We offer students academic opportunities that balance cutting-edge scholarship with performance mastery and composition.
Lowell, Massachusetts
The Department of Music is an innovative, contemporary institution dedicated to providing tomorrow’s musicians with a superior education and viable career training within the changing musical landscape of the 21st century.
University of Maryland School of Music
Westminster Choir College
College Park, Maryland
Only nine miles from Washington DC and 30 miles from downtown Baltimore, Maryland, our location adds significant value to the UMD experience. Our students enrich this culturally diverse region as teachers and performers through School of Music community engagement programs.
Princeton, New Jersey
Westminster is renowned for its outstanding choral and vocal studies program that includes eight ensembles performing a broad range of repertoire, two staged opera productions, and many other performance opportunities from orchestral performances in major concert halls to intimate recitals on and off-campus.

Bard College Conservatory of Music
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland, Ohio
The Colburn School
Los Angeles, California
Curtis Institute of Music
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin
Berlin, Germany
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Frost School of Music
Coral Gables, Florida
The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
London, England
The Hartt School
West Hartford, Connecticut
New England Conservatory
Boston, Massachusetts
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Park University
Parkville, Missouri
Royal College of Music
London, England
University of Illinois School of Music
Urbana, Illinois
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Winston-Salem, North Carolina