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    Studying music performance as a major is different from a music major in that the classes are geared to prepare you for a career as a professional musician. Your studies will be mainly music lesson, ear training, rehearsals and recitals, and instead of traditional tests, you’ll perform in juries, a performance in front of your professors that determine your grades. The hours of practice pay off: you’ll hone your signature sound.

    Opportunities exist beyond playing live in front of an audience, as some musicians are hired to accompany other musicians and singers in a recording studio. Soloists, ensemble players, and accompanists typically have degrees in music performance. While musicians may not require formal training (just take a look at the Billboard charts for popular music), those who are interested in playing classical compositions have at least a bachelor’s degree. If that’s your interest, you’ll earn bachelor of music degree at a music conservatory (i.e., Juilliard) instead of the bachelor of arts degree that’s offered at liberal arts colleges.

    • Northwestern University

      Northwestern University Save

      633 Clark St, Evanston, IL 60208
      95
      Selectivity
      87
      Education Quality
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      90
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      87
      Environment

      Just north of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan—in fact built in part on land reclaimed from the water—Northwestern is to the Big 10 what Vanderbilt is to the SEC: the private university for the best students in the ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Professions
    • Johns Hopkins University

      Johns Hopkins University Save

      3400 N Charles St, Mason Hall, Baltimore, MD 21218
      91
      Selectivity
      86
      Education Quality
      97
      Influence
      88
      Outcomes
      82
      Environment

      Originally founded as a research university for graduate students, Johns Hopkins backed into undergraduate education in a way different from most elite institutions. More serious of mind than its Ivy League rivals, Hopkins hosts plays at the Division I level ... learn more

      Focus on Undergraduate Professions, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science
    • University of Southern California

      University of Southern California Save

      University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089
      88
      Selectivity
      84
      Education Quality
      95
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      89
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      83
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      The oldest private research university in California, USC enrolls about 19,000 undergrads and 24,000 grad students in 22 different schools, colleges, and units, ranging from the traditional — accounting, public policy, business — to the brand-new — arts, technology, and ... learn more

      Focus on Undergraduate Professions, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science
    • Carnegie Mellon University

      Carnegie Mellon University Save

      5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
      85
      Selectivity
      85
      Education Quality
      94
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      95
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      85
      Environment

      "School, friends, food, sleep: Choose three. That's Carnegie Mellon," according to the "incredibly intelligent engineer types" and "flamboyant drama majors" at this "rigorous" school. Excellent programs include engineering, computer science, business, architecture, and a well-respected School of Drama with several ... learn more

      Focus on Undergraduate Professions, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science
    • Wake Forest University

      Wake Forest University Save

      1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston Salem, NC 27106
      83
      Selectivity
      88
      Education Quality
      87
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      85
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      80
      Environment

      "Classes at Wake Forest University are "challenging and usually interesting," and a solid, broad-based core curriculum obligates all students to pursue a well-rounded academic program. "Work Forest," as students often call it, has a "very tough grading system" and savage ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Professions
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

      University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Save

      153 A Country Club Road, Campus Box 2200, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
      82
      Selectivity
      84
      Education Quality
      90
      Influence
      83
      Outcomes
      85
      Environment

      With a beautiful campus in a lovely college town, UNC Chapel Hill may be forgiven—by all but Duke and Virginia fans—for the rhetorical question, "If God isn't a Tarheel fan, why did He make the sky Carolina blue?" The alma ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Professions
    • New York University

      New York University Save

      70 Washington Sq South, New York, NY 10012
      82
      Selectivity
      85
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      94
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      86
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      99
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      With Washington Square Park at the foot of Fifth Avenue for its Quad, NYU is of the city, rather than simply in it. As the various schools of business, education, performing arts and other disciplines were apparently not enough, NYU ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Professions
    • University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

      University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Save

      503 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
      82
      Selectivity
      84
      Education Quality
      97
      Influence
      86
      Outcomes
      89
      Environment

      Long regarded as one of the so-called "Public Ivies," Michigan offers everything from the Residential College, a human-scaled liberal arts experience within the context of a major research university, to the "Big House," a football stadium that holds more than ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University, Focus on Undergraduate Professions
    • Bucknell University

      Bucknell University Save

      One Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA 17837
      81
      Selectivity
      87
      Education Quality
      88
      Influence
      96
      Outcomes
      63
      Environment

      "Although it's isolated from "any form of civilization," Bucknell University is the ultimate college experience, according to its students. Here in the "hidden valley," you can have the multiplicity of majors and research opportunities offered by a huge, impersonal state ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Focus on Undergraduate Professions, Liberal Arts College, Offers Baccalaureate Degrees
    • University of California-Irvine

      University of California-Irvine Save

      501 Aldrich Hall, Irvine, CA 92697
      80
      Selectivity
      81
      Education Quality
      92
      Influence
      92
      Outcomes
      83
      Environment

      The Irvine campus of the University of California is located about an hour from Los Angeles, and provides a research-oriented education in the arts and sciences. Irvine's programs in science are legendary. The school is a mere five minutes from ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University
    • University of Rochester

      University of Rochester Save

      Wilson Blvd. - Wallis Hall, Rochester, NY 14627
      80
      Selectivity
      85
      Education Quality
      91
      Influence
      88
      Outcomes
      77
      Environment

      "The "tough" but "extremely rewarding" University of Rochester has traditionally been known best for math and science but the "home of the Bausch & Lomb scholars and Xerox" has enough diversity in its academic offerings to "dispel the myth that ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Research University
    • Oberlin College

      Oberlin College Save

      70 N Professor St, Oberlin, OH 44074
      79
      Selectivity
      90
      Education Quality
      89
      Influence
      81
      Outcomes
      78
      Environment

      Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, a point made by a campus sculpture of train tracks disappearing into the earth, Oberlin College, which opened in 1833 to educate both men and women, continues to be a progressive institution, proud ... learn more

      Heavy Focus on Undergraduate Arts and Science, Liberal Arts College, Offers Baccalaureate Degrees

    Facts About Colleges with Music Performance Majors

    • There are 458 Music Performance Colleges.

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