Choosing the Right Music College

I often am asked by my junior and senior voice students about which music schools they should apply to.  I tell them, first and foremost, that the school is FAR less important than the teacher they will be studying with.  The last thing you want to happen is to apply to a highly prestigious conservatory and spend four years with a voice teacher who does not help them improve.

Therefore, I tell all my voice students to visit the colleges they want to apply to and call/email the voice professors if they would be available for a lesson.  Record the whole lesson, feel free to ask lots of questions, but most importantly, ask yourself - "Is this someone I can envision working with one-on-one for four years?"  If not, try another teacher.  Once you find the teacher you click with, THAT is the music college you should attend.

Above all, please do not worry about whether you are attending a highly prestigious program.  Not everyone who goes to Julliard succeeds in music.  And MANY students from small four-year liberal arts schools end up having highly successful teaching and performing careers. 

Here are some examples of music schools that have turned out GREAT singers - and yet are not widely known to the general public:

University of Houston
University of Michigan
Florida State University
Oberlin College
Manhattan School of Music
Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City
Eastman School of Music
Oklahoma City University