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Hey for anyone who has done or is currently doing a Masters in Piano performance at a US school.... tell me about it!!!

I'm doing auditions next winter and am trying to get the lowdown on US schools (I'm Canadian and feel very clueless about which ones are good, not so good, impossible to get into, etc)

Thanks in advance!!

EFG:

I think your first task before asking this all-too-broad question "Tell me about it!" is to do a little research. Check the websites of various schools offering a Masters in Piano Performance, read the admission requirements, the requisite course offerings, the facilities, faculty and staff, etc., then come in with some informed questions that will help others understand what you want and/or need to know.

Regards,

All true -- but I don't see anything wrong with coming on here and asking!

It could be a good thread and good discussion.
I mean, often I ask things where I know I'd benefit from more research of my own (and where I'm going to be doing it!), just to get interesting conversations going, and also because I figure it's going to help me along. But sometimes mainly to start a conversation.

I don't see anything wrong with it.

And in fact, y'know what this reminds me of a little bit.....

When I started getting serious about piano (and piano lessons), I balked at playing any given piece at a lesson until I had worked it over pretty fully on my own. My teacher cringed at that, and without too much trouble persuaded me otherwise. (Also I was afraid he'd kick me out if I didn't go along.)
He said one of the points of lessons was to work these things out together, and for him to help put me on a better path before I get too far on a worse path. We worked it out well enough that before long he made a joke about it -- "His idea of a lesson is he comes in and plays it perfectly and I say 'great, that's very good....'"

I know there are differences. I just said it reminded me of it.

Check out the following (subjective) articles as a starting point. Then dig a little deeper as Bruce suggests above - and come back with specific questions.

http://musicschoolcentral.com/check-out-top-15-colleges-for-music-in-the-us/

http://musicschoolcentral.com/top-10-colleges-for-piano-performance/

That's so interesting!!
And in general I love rankings like that.
Stupid though they may be.

I've mentioned that one of the reasons I love piano competitions, especially being in them, is the ranking part of them, especially being ranked myself.
This led to some thought that it proved how I was motivated by competitiveness or ego. I pointed out that it couldn't be -- not that those things weren't at all involved but they weren't key, and anyway the ranking thing couldn't indicate those things because I loved it even when I ranked badly, which was usually.
I just like seeing rankings. Probably it has to do with a general love of numbers, which I do possess, perhaps to a pathological degree.

Juilliard is ranked "only" #3, behind Curtis and Peabody. I imagine that this mortifies them. I would think that while they might be only severely peeved at being behind Curtis, they're near-suicidal at being ranked behind Peabody too.

(It reminds me of how in the US News rankings of universities, Harvard is now "only" #2, behind Princeton. That must kill them.)

After that:
4. Indiana University -- which surprises me, but I get it. I did know they were superb.

5. Bard (!!) -- with Jeremy Denk, Peter Serkin, Jeffrey Kahane.

6. Eastman -- I imagine they're not thrilled with their ranking either.

7. Manhattan

(WHERE is MANNES???
Let's keep looking.....)

8. San Francisco Conservatory....still no Mannes

BTW, not that it means anything but I never heard of the S.F. Conservatory for piano.

9. Rice University

(Still no Mannes.....1 more to go, let's see....)

10. SUNY STONY BROOK!!!!

(Has Mannes closed down or something?)

Here's a LONG Piano World thread from several years ago that addresses this issue...…...

http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/504509/1.html

From the schools on Brendan's list on there, TCU, Oberlin, and Cincinnati are also schools that I wouldn't have been surprised to find on that recent list.

I think it's safe to say that most if not all the schools on both lists are among those that are very hard to get into and where all the accepted students are of a very high level.

I had no idea that Stony Brook was that high. I have many friends who went there, including one who went for grad school in music although it wasn't for piano.

Colburn, which apparently is at least somewhat of a top place, I never heard of before.

Here's Brendan's list:
(not all these links still work)

Juilliard - http://www.juilliard.edu
Curtis - http://www.curtis.edu
Manhattan - http://www.msmnyc.edu/
Mannes - http://www.mannes.newschool.edu/index.jsp
Cincinnati - http://www.ccm.uc.edu
Oberlin - http://www.oberlin.edu
CIM - http://www.cim.edu
Eastman - http://www.esm.rochester.edu/
Indiana - http://www.music.indiana.edu/
Rice - http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~musi/
TCU - http://www.music.tcu.edu/
UMKC - http://conservatory.umkc.edu/default.asp
KU - http://www.ku.edu/~sfa/mad/
USC - http://www.usc.edu/music/
UCLA - http://www.music.ucla.edu/
UT Austin - http://www.music.utexas.edu/
UNT - http://www.music.unt.edu/
Stony Brook - http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/CAS/Music.nsf
Colburn - http://www.colburnschool.edu/about.htm
Peabody - http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/home.php
Yale - http://www.yale.edu/yalemus/
Boston Conservatory - http://www.bostonconservatory.edu/
Arizona State University - http://music.asu.edu/
Ann Arbor - http://www.music.umich.edu/

I think our OP should head to a school where they feel most welcomed, and will get the most opportunities to teach and play.This may well take them to a less prominent US school, that may indeed have more scholarship money available.

Mark - The Colburn is definitely the new kid on the block, although it has been around in some form or another since 1950. Originally affiliated with USC, the Colburn is located in downtown Los Angeles next to the Museum of Contemporary Art and across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, the Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts, and Dance Academy.

Per Wiki: "The Conservatory of Music Division was established in 2003 and offers a Bachelor of Music degree, a Master of Music degree, a Performance Diploma, an Artist's Diploma, and a Professional Studies Certificate to students. The Conservatory offers full scholarship, housing, and stipends to all of its students." The acceptance rate is around 5%. The head of the piano department is Ory Shihor.

I was very impressed with UNT (University of North Texas) music department. I attended many doctoral program piano recitals, and they were truly outstanding. Well worth considering.

My alma mater (MM in piano performance 45 years ago). I would hope that the program is even stronger today !!

I did a masters in Indiana. It has some stellar faculty member, but I can't say it was a terribly good experience.

I imagine the program structure itself is not so much different from what you would find in Canada (Or anywhere in the world, for that matter). You have lessons with your primary teacher once a week, and then core classes in Music History, Theory, Piano Pedagogy, Piano Literature, accompaniment requirememntns, and electives (Some of these you may be able to pass out of with placement exams or if your undergraduate coursework can transfer over). Then, of course, a graded graduation recital. A masters in performance is not terribly different from a Bachelor's.

As for which are impossible to get into - Yale, Colburn, and Juilliard take the cake. (I don't think Curtis has a Masters Program).

Other than that, "Good" and "not so good", are very relative terms. What are you looking for? What is important to you at the masters levels? How much money can you spend? Do you want to practice 6 hours a day, or would you prefer to gain experience in teaching and accompanying?

In any case, here are the better-know programs in the country:

Juilliard
Peabody
Manhattan
Mannes
Eastman
USC
Indiana
Cleveland
CCM
Yale
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
New England Conservatory
Rice University

And here are some less well-known ones, but with outstanding programs and Faculty:
California State Uni, Fullerton
California State Uni, Northridge
University of Denver Lamont School of Music
San Francisco Conservatory
Boston Conservatory
University of Arizona at Tempe
Frost School of Music, Miami
Hartt School of Music
Azusa Pacific University
and I can throw on University of Texas Rio Grande Valley now that Brendan is there

I know several people who went to University of Texas at Austin and studied with Anton Nel. He's a brilliant pianist and teacher, and they all loved their time with him.