The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the oldest music conservatory on the West Coast, is "committed to small classes, close personal attention from the faculty, and exciting and varied performance opportunities." Established in 1923, the school enrolls approximately 400 students a semester and employs 32 full-time and 80 part-time faculty members. The small and selective enrollment affords the students an intimate learning environment; the student to teacher ratio is 7:1. The school offers bachelor's degrees and diplomas in music with concentrations in guitar, keyboard instruments, orchestral instruments and voice. It also offers a number of master's degrees, an artist certificate in chamber music and a postgraduate diploma in vocal performance. The school's facility features state-of-the art classrooms, several recording studios, practice rooms featuring Steinway and Yamaha pianos, a large library and performance halls. Students take part in 400 annual performances, attended by approximately 25,000 people.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
50 Oak St.
San Francisco, CA 94102-6011
415-864-7326
sfcm.edu
The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884, is "the oldest continually operating cultural institution in Los Angeles,” according to its website. The school enrolls approximately 1,100 students from over 40 countries. It offers 16 undergraduate majors, 5 minors, 18 master's degrees, 2 certificates, 6 doctor of musical arts programs and 1 doctor of philosophy program. Students have the opportunity to participate in one of the school's many ensembles, including symphony, wind ensemble, chamber orchestra and jazz orchestra. The school presents over 500 concerts annually in five different venues and boasts the only weekly radio broadcast, Thornton Center Stage, to air in major media markets. Rehearsal spaces are available in four different locations across the campus and the Doheny Library offers students more than 90,000 items. The school has partnerships with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Office of Admission
USC Thornton School of Music
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0851
213-740-6935
[email protected]
usc.edu/schools/music
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music was formed in 2007 with help of a $30 million gift from the Herb Alpert Foundation. The school enrolls approximately 500 students. The faculty totals 118 members. The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is comprised of three departments: ethnomusicology, music and musicology. It offers bachelor's degrees in music with concentrations in composition, performance and music education, bachelor's degrees in ethnomusicology with concentration in jazz studies and world music, and a bachelor's degree in music history. The school also offers a number of master's and doctoral degrees. Students can participate year round in public concerts, musical theater and opera productions, and master classes.
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
2539 Schoenberg Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, California 90095-7234
310-825-9869
[email protected]
schoolofmusic.ucla.edu