What graduate school should I go to study music?

[Seongjean Moon]

Hello!

I'm Seongjean Moon from Korea who studies classical music composition at college of music, Yeungnam University, Korea, and I'm graduating on coming Feb. I'm into almost all kind of music such as classical, RnB, Electronic, Latin, Rock, Pop and etc..  and I do compose lots of genre of music.

You can check out my tunes at my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/jean8417

there are my music from classical to electronic

My most interest is composing theatre music. I do want to make musicals (You can also check out my short musicals at my youtube channel)

 

Now I'd like to apply to graduate school in the states but I don't have lots of information.

I know TISCH at NYU has musical theatre writing, but it is super expensive which I cannot handle it

 

Do you have any idea of this? or any advice?

 

Thank you for reading my discussion!

Seongjean Moon from Republic of Korea

 

[Tyler Hughes]

I just addressed this in this topic so I might end up giving you a more watered down response. for me detailed response go here:

http://composersforum.ning.com/forum/topics/discussion-of-music-school

 

but I will give you a more specific response.

When applying to schools in the states, its not a matter of which school is better, its a matter of which school fits YOUR needs and is a fit for you. We have literally TONS of schools here with great programs, and schools with not so great programs. And though a school might be known for being the best, a lot of the times its the schools unknown to others that are the real  gems. Case in point, the school I go to. Not the best school in the world and its a very hard school to find, but the composition program here is quiet amazing and has exceeded all my expectations more then when I toured the so called "top schools",

with that in mind, here are some tips to finding YOUR perfect graduate school:

1. Do NOT go for school purely on reputation and pedigree. Though they have a great reputation, a lot of people have found that this reputation does not fully reflect the goings on at the school. And sometimes, you get a professor that insist on teaching the old way (which is forcing the student to write music their way).
2. Dont be afraid to look in places outside of the major cities. Though Im sure its ideal to be in New York or Los Angels, there are plenty of really great schools in the small towns of America.
3. Look up the requirements for not only the school of music but for the university in general, but the larger school. Im not sure how it is done in Korea. From speaking to people on this forum for other countries, I have found that American schools tend to run on the humongous side in comparison. Our campuses usually run pretty big and our universities usually house many colleges and schools with in it. Example would be the Buttler School of Music in Austin Texas, which is just one of many schools and colleges with in the University of Texas. Thus the University  has its own requirements for admission a part from the school of music.
4. Once you find out what the requirements are and the deadlines for admission are, contact the admissions office for both the school of college of music, and the University. They can answer any and all question you might have about international students admissions that are unique to their school.
5. Look up the professor(s) that teaches composition at what ever school you wish to apply to. Dont just look up them up on the schools website, but look for their personal page, and if you can, listen to their compositions. This is crucial to see if you will be a match for that professor.
6. Last but not least, contact that professor. Start a dialog between you and the professor of composition at the schools and universities you wish to apply to.

I hope that this was helpful.

to help you find a school you can go to this website and search for one:

http://www.bridgetomusic.com/

Good luck

[Janet Spangenberg]

I, too, am interested in (at least daydreaming about) the possibility of graduate school. You've given some great advice Tyler. Unfortunately, the "bridge to music" website doesn't work for finding "composition" schools!