new york music schools

[maxots]

i am intrested in new york unis, particularly manhattan school of music or julliard are the ones i have looked at ( web only as i am overseas) i was looking for advice on which is better, or if any others are worth considering, (im pretty set on new york) also if anyone knows much about scholarships available, the 40,000 a year seems a bit out of my price range. can anyone give me some names of people who have graduated from these universitys

[Saxydude]

Wow, you're certainly aiming high. Both schools are fantastic music schools. I believe Miles Davis went to Julliard and so did Wynton Marsalis (for a little while anyway). I believe that Wynton is on the faculty there now as well. I don't know very much about the Manhattan School of Music, but it has a fantastic reputation. Another 2 places you might want to consider are Berklee School of Music (Boston). And University of the Arts (Philadelphia). A very good friend of mine who is a violin prodigy currently attends University of the Arts (she attended Julliard for a year as well) and she says that a famous saying around campus is "Go to Julliard if you have money, but go to The University of the Arts if you have talent." All of these schools have great jazz programs, and if you can get in to one of their programs you're certainly a great musician. Good luck.

[Adam]

I assume you are interested in jazz if you are considering New York... Another couple of choices are The New School and William Patterson (not in New York), but close enough. I attended the New School program '90-'92, and the experience was unbelievable. If you really want to be a musician and see if you have what it takes, New York is the place to be. School was a good excuse to be in New York and absorb all it has to offer. If your head is in the right place, the city has more to offer that the schools themselves, but the school will give you the opportunity to meet, get to know and play with some real heavyweights while you are getting a feel for the city. I got to study privately with quite a few of my favorite players while in New York, and most of my classes were taught by musicians I had been listening to for years. The New School isn't cheap, but they do have a reasonable amount of scholarships. I got $4000 a year while I was there, which was a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost of school and living in the city, but at least it was something...

If you are serious about going to New York, do it. There are few other places on the planet where there are so many musicians that you start to associate personalities with playing styles. You will learn more than you can imagine...

You have to keep in mind that when you are paying all this bread to go to school, the idea is that it is an investment in your future, preparing you to be able to make a living (which is an insane oxymoron when it comes to being a musician these days...). Doing this in a place like New York you really get your money's worth because you are exposing yourself to the best the world has to offer, way beyond the walls of the school...