I was a composition major at the Boston Conservatory for a year, and transferred out for personal reasons. The biggest benefit at BoCo for composition majors is the performance opportunities. Not even at Eastman or Juilliard or Mannes will you get as many opportunities to get your works played by students. There were literally over 20 recitals for composition majors the year I attended BoCo, and all the recitals had a pretty good attendance. Also, you'll get your pieces recorded. Pretty much everything you write, there is an opportunity to get played. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT!! Some people go through their freshman year only getting two pieces played and written. What a waste.
The teachers here are also mostly top-notch. The two best classes I took were Instrumentation with Dalit Warshaw, and the Composition Seminar.
Did enjoy being here
It's great. The composition department is awesome. Boston itself is REALLY awesome. I didn't have a ton of friends at BoCo but I made friends with so many people throughout Boston. Note that the reason I'm transferring out is purely personal. It has nothing to do with the quality of the institution.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
It's expensive, not going to lie. And they only give out merit scholarships; they're not really need-based. You better move off-campus after your freshman year and get an apartment; that might be the only way you'll be able to afford this place because room+board through the conservatory is expensive.
Admittedly a lot of people who attend BoCo are rich. I don't know if any music degree is worth a tuition of almost $40,000/year (which is one reason I'm transferring out), but if you can afford it, I'd go for it.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
If you're a composition major, get your butt in gear and start composing NOW. Write LOTS of pieces. Write lots of small chamber pieces; don't worry about orchestral pieces unless you can get legit recordings of them (MIDI doesn't cut it). The faculty would probably prefer a string quartet or a woodwind quintet in your portfolio to an orchestral piece. And write for different instruments; don't just write all piano music. Experiment with different harmonic styles.
Listen to lots of styles of music. Lots of freshman composition majors don't know enough about modern music, so I'll tell you right now to check out pieces by composers like: Penderecki, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Ligeti, Cage, Lutoslawski, Reich, Schoenberg, Berg, Takemitsu, Saariaho, Adams, Shostakovich, and Golijov. Seriously, listen to pieces by EVERY SINGLE ONE of those composers. Don't just focus on the stuff you like; yes, I know Shostakovich is way more accessible than Lutoslawski, but you need to know both of them inside and out, even if you hate it. (If you're having trouble getting into modern music, just watch any Stanley Kubrick film like The Shining or 2000: A Space Odyssey, or watch the movie Shutter Island. Pay attention to the music and how it fits into the film. You'll be sold, trust me.) If you can talk about all of those composers, you're set. By the way, Osvaldo Golijov used to be loosely associated with BoCo. Golijov is a GENIUS so check him out. Also Jan Swafford (one of the faculty members) writes a lot of articles for Slate Magazine. Read everything Jan has written. They're pretty awesome articles.
You can write TONAL music but it still needs to be unique and modern; if you're writing exactly like Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, you're not going to get past sophomore promotionals. Beethoven and Rachmaninoff already wrote things in their style and they were better than you ever will be in that style. Try to find your own voice. As a caveat, you're not going to find your own voice, e...
Which types of students will excel at your college?
Hard workers.
This applies to everyone: if you get in, don't blow it off. This isn't a state university, or community college. This is serious stuff. You're paying about $40,000 a year and you'll have access to some amazing resources. If you don't take advantage of it, you're a fool.
If you're lazy and apathetic, people will know. This is a small community. Seriously, just don't waste your time if you're lazy. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I'm trying to save you tens of thousands of dollars and an entire year of your life! IT'S PERFECTLY FINE if you can't handle it. Just don't come here.
I was a composition major at the Boston Conservatory for a year, and transferred out for personal reasons. The biggest benefit at BoCo for composition majors is the performance opportunities. Not even at Eastman or Juilliard or Mannes will you get as many opportunities to get your works played by students. There were literally over 20 recitals for composition majors the year I attended BoCo, and all the recitals had a pretty good attendance. Also, you'll get your pieces recorded. Pretty much everything you write, there is an opportunity to get played. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT!! Some people go through their freshman year only getting two pieces played and written. What a waste. The teachers here are also mostly top-notch. The two best classes I took were Instrumentation with Dalit Warshaw, and the Composition Seminar.
It's great. The composition department is awesome. Boston itself is REALLY awesome. I didn't have a ton of friends at BoCo but I made friends with so many people throughout Boston. Note that the reason I'm transferring out is purely personal. It has nothing to do with the quality of the institution.
It's expensive, not going to lie. And they only give out merit scholarships; they're not really need-based. You better move off-campus after your freshman year and get an apartment; that might be the only way you'll be able to afford this place because room+board through the conservatory is expensive. Admittedly a lot of people who attend BoCo are rich. I don't know if any music degree is worth a tuition of almost $40,000/year (which is one reason I'm transferring out), but if you can afford it, I'd go for it.
If you're a composition major, get your butt in gear and start composing NOW. Write LOTS of pieces. Write lots of small chamber pieces; don't worry about orchestral pieces unless you can get legit recordings of them (MIDI doesn't cut it). The faculty would probably prefer a string quartet or a woodwind quintet in your portfolio to an orchestral piece. And write for different instruments; don't just write all piano music. Experiment with different harmonic styles. Listen to lots of styles of music. Lots of freshman composition majors don't know enough about modern music, so I'll tell you right now to check out pieces by composers like: Penderecki, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Ligeti, Cage, Lutoslawski, Reich, Schoenberg, Berg, Takemitsu, Saariaho, Adams, Shostakovich, and Golijov. Seriously, listen to pieces by EVERY SINGLE ONE of those composers. Don't just focus on the stuff you like; yes, I know Shostakovich is way more accessible than Lutoslawski, but you need to know both of them inside and out, even if you hate it. (If you're having trouble getting into modern music, just watch any Stanley Kubrick film like The Shining or 2000: A Space Odyssey, or watch the movie Shutter Island. Pay attention to the music and how it fits into the film. You'll be sold, trust me.) If you can talk about all of those composers, you're set. By the way, Osvaldo Golijov used to be loosely associated with BoCo. Golijov is a GENIUS so check him out. Also Jan Swafford (one of the faculty members) writes a lot of articles for Slate Magazine. Read everything Jan has written. They're pretty awesome articles. You can write TONAL music but it still needs to be unique and modern; if you're writing exactly like Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, you're not going to get past sophomore promotionals. Beethoven and Rachmaninoff already wrote things in their style and they were better than you ever will be in that style. Try to find your own voice. As a caveat, you're not going to find your own voice, e...
Hard workers. This applies to everyone: if you get in, don't blow it off. This isn't a state university, or community college. This is serious stuff. You're paying about $40,000 a year and you'll have access to some amazing resources. If you don't take advantage of it, you're a fool. If you're lazy and apathetic, people will know. This is a small community. Seriously, just don't waste your time if you're lazy. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I'm trying to save you tens of thousands of dollars and an entire year of your life! IT'S PERFECTLY FINE if you can't handle it. Just don't come here.