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Choral cond./Early music - any programs/schools that I could make the two work together?Date: April 16, 2012 by Joshua Boggs  Views: 2471
Hi all, my first time posting here.
I will be applying to grad schools in the not-so-distant future, and I can't exactly decide between getting a MM in some kind of early music concentration (voice) or in choral conducting. I really want to be able to do some of both, but I am not sure if there is a degree program/school where I could be able to concentrate on both. I am aware that they may not have much in common, so this could be a bit of a longshot. I am a BM perf. major currently, which also brings into account the lack of cond. exp. (although, I am doing all I can).
Please let me know if you have any ideas about certain schools or programs. Much appreciation.
Replies (9): Threaded | Chronological
Austen Wilson on April 16, 2012 8:32am
This is just my two cents, but having received an MM in Choral Conducting in 2010, it would have been very hard to have completed the degree in two years while pursuing another area (such as performance). I was lucky to take voice lessons, although I didn't practice as much I should have. I couldn't imagine directing the Women's Chorus and preparing for voice recitals. Think of choral conducting like a performance degree, only that conducting is the "instrument". I have no idea how I could have focused on another area, although I'm sure others have done that.
Austen
on April 17, 2012 12:03pm
Hi Joshua,
I'm just finishing a DMA in Historical Performance/Harpsichord at Boston University. They have a great conducting program, and the early music department is pretty open to involving non-majors. I imagine you could study voice and choose early music chamber coachings as electives to your conducting program. Or, you could apply to both and do a double degree which would surely take longer.
Good luck!
Suzie
on April 17, 2012 5:12pm
Hi Suzanne,
I am actually very interested in the early music program for voice at BU (I plan on visiting next year). I met your department chair this summer, and I was impressed so I did a bit if research about the program. But I am a little concerned I might not be competitive enough for the conducting degree by the time I graduate. Do you know how many they typically accept per year?
on April 17, 2012 2:05pm
Joshua: Are you taking the conducting classes that are available at your school? That's pretty basic, because I suspect that any Masters program in choral conducting will sort of expect it. They won't want to take the time to teach you the basics. You don't have to be an experienced expert, just ready to move to the next level. I would compare it with the conducting skills expected of a graduate in music education.
But your basic decision should be to find a school that offers both opportunities (or really all three: voice study, choral conducting, and early music experience), major in one and either minor or get involved heavily in the others. A double major would also be possible, but perhaps not necessary. Of course paradoxically a school with a degree program in early music is likely to favor their majors over minors, but that depends on the program and its teachers.
Indiana is one school you should check out, but certainly not the only one. They offer "all of the above," but I'm not sure what combinations would work well there. Top flight faculty, though, although much has changed since I was there in the '70s. (And of course I'm an odd ball: my Masters was in Choral Conducting with a minor in Viola, and my Ph.D work was in Musicology with minors in Conducting and Viola.)
Austen is correct: Choral Conducting IS a performance major. But you can certainly build your own degree program within reason and perhaps take a little longer to graduate, if that's an option. And nobody says your ensemble participation can't be in early music, if THAT'S an option!
All the best,
John
on April 17, 2012 5:23pm
Hi John,
I will have completed all conducting classes and choral technique classes we have at my school by next semester. I'm also participating in s workshop this summer ( and getting some podium time). But I am sure I will not be up to snuff with some voice Ed majors elsewhere. Thank you for your response. I am pretty familiar with Indiana for voice, but not so much about their cond. program. I'm aware that I might not get much perf. opportunity if I went the cc route, and that's what really makes this a difficult decision for me.
on April 17, 2012 8:28pm
Joshua: Sounds as if you're approaching this with some good thinking and planning. Good for you! And the real world advice you're getting here is marvelous.
Regarding competition with students from other schools: it's completely out of your hands, so simply don't worry about it! You're sort of splitting hairs, worrying about whether you'll have 10 days more or 10 days less experience, and it doesn't really matter. Who YOU are and what YOU can do does! But I'll tell you flat out that admissions decisions are often swayed by someone who is clearly READY and WILLING to learn, and to work to learn.
And while I'm sure others will disagree, I'm not sure that "podium time" is as big a deal as it's sometimes made out to be. Sure, it's good, but as long as you're in front of human beings in your conducting classes and not conducting a recording you're learning. And in my experience you don't really learn to conduct until you're out of school and have responsibility for shaping your own ensemble. (Or still in school and find a way to have your own ensemble.) That's when the basics serve you well while you REALLY learn how to make music by leading talented and musical people, and the gestures start to become second nature and you can concentrate on the MUSIC!
As to performance opportunities, it isn't quite clear whether you mean as a singer or as a conductor, nor does it really matter. Most programs will REQUIRE you to be in an ensemble, so the difference will be in how much control you have over WHICH ensemble or ensembles. And that will differ at each school, but you can absolutely ask how they handle it. When I was at Indiana the Choral Department assigned around 800 people to choral ensembles every semester. Students could audition for the more selective ensembles, and everyone left over (which included keyboard players and composition majors with an ensemble requirement) were assigned to different ensembles ranging from conducting class ensembles (and every conducting class had one) to opera chorus. At other schools the choral faculty (or sometimes the single choral person) will decide who goes where. And if you're a really good singer and musician you'll probably be "discovered" by other grad conducting students who will want you in their ad hoc recital choruses! And as a conductor you can organize your own performances and recruit singers for them, and not just count on what's available through the department.
One thing you haven't told us is what your ultimate goal is, professional conducting, church work, or education. But one piece of advice I'd give you is this: goals are essential, and plans to reach them are important, but opportunities, by definition, can NOT be planned for, and when they happen you're either ready and willing to jump into them or you're not. And THAT depends entirely on what kind of person you are. I never met my own goals in my profession, because some extraordinary opportunities led me in different directions. The same could happen to you. Or not. You never know!
All the best,
John
on April 17, 2012 8:04pm
Look into Boston University, Indiana Unversity, University of North Texas, and Florida State University. All the programs I just listed have outstanding choral conducting departments and some of the top early music departments as well. Whether you do a degree in one field or the other or minor, either way you would be at a top program with lots of opportunities. I could tell you which are the best programs and which arent, but I wont be obtaining the degree(s) for you, therefore I shouldnt have any control in your decision. All I am doing is merely pointing you towards these programs for you to research them and decide where you want to go.
Things to think about:
1. Why do you want this degree?
2. Which schools interest you?
3. Who would you be studying with?
4. Reputation of the school and faculty (helps with getting a job).
5. Job placement rate of the school.
6. Will this masters degree lead you towards a doctorate or not?
7. What if your interest changes? (what are other options at the school you'll be attending?)
8. Where do you want to be 5-10 years after you obtain the degree and why.
These are some of the top 20 questions I often suggest to people to think about while seeking an answer to their decision of where, why, how, and for what.
Hope this helps you.
Alan Davis
www.gradmusic.org - creator
on April 18, 2012 4:32am
This would be more unofficial, but certainly substantial... check out the mmus in choral conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Though not officially an early music program, Jeremy Summerly's specialization in early music (indeed London's scene in general) is certainly worth considering. Perhaps Cambridge's new mmus would be worth looking into as well.
Katie
on April 19, 2012 6:53am
The University of Notre Dame's Master of Sacred Music program integrates both choral and early music fields in a tight-knit and supportive environment which also provides full tuition and an assistantship. Beginning in Fall 2012, Dr. Carmen Tellez, formerly professor at Indiana University School of Music, was hired as professor/director of choral studies. As far as early music is concerned, Dr. Margot Fassler (former tenured professor at Yale), Dr. Peter Jeffery (former tenured professor at Princeton) and Dr. Alexander Blachly (Columbia) each specialize in various dimensions of medieval and renaissance choral music, and as a collective they have more to offer their students than you will find anywhere else on this continent. The program is strongly musicological in orientation, and considering the relatively small class size you will have a lot of personal attention from all the aforementioned professors, who invest in their students a great deal. It is also worth pointing out that with a performance degree in voice, the job offers won't exactly be pouring in. However, at Notre Dame the students are almost daily receiving job offers for work in churches across the country, because with the MSM degree they are qualified not only musically, but liturgically as well. Even if you are not a religious person, if you intend to work in the church, liturgical formation is an invaluable asset to have.
Finally, graduates of the MSM program are largely successful both academically and professionally once they leave Notre Dame. Most of them continue on to well-respected doctoral programs in the U.S., and even in Europe. If this is not evidence of the quality of musical and academic formation that the MSM program provides, I don't know what is!
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