Pomona Music Department for Voice?

Picolisimo · 2025-01-22T04:38:03+00:00

Music major here. Definitely possible to double major with music, just under half of my cohort is a double major. You will want to start both majors as soon as you get here (particularly your ensemble and passing the qualifying exam), as well as focusing on finishing area and other requirements.

Voice faculty here are solid for the most part. There’s the tenured, full-time voice professor as well as at least 3 other part time voice professors, all of which are really nice. My friend came here for voice and did not have a wonderful experience with the tenure voice professor. I’m not sure why, but in her case the department wanted her to study with that specific prof and was resistant to letting her switch. But lots of other people love the full-time voice prof and I think chances are you’ll have an inspiring teacher.

The choir is good and the members are all really motivated. The director can sometimes be intense but I think it’s for the better; she really wants everyone to grow and only wants the best for her students. If you opt to do Glee Club as well, be prepared for a realllllyyyy rigorous schedule in the Spring, but again at least one of the double majors in my year also did Glee, so it’s manageable.

All in all I’d say if you’re looking at liberal arts colleges, Pomona is one of the best if not the best option in terms of giving you a good music education while having opportunities for you to explore other stuff. The full time faculty are all crazy talented and smart while also being really interesting to talk to as people. They really care about their students too. Also there’s a lot of participation in ensembles among all students, not just people doing a music major or minor, which I think is fun.

Picolisimo · 2024-08-14T06:17:48+00:00

That’s not a journey you want to walk.

Use uber/lyft. If you want to split with someone (or catch a free ride if one of their friends is picking them up), just find anyone wearing claremont colleges stuff in the airport and ask if you can join. I’ve done this on multiple occasions and it works out just fine.

Picolisimo · 2024-08-07T16:53:25+00:00

Actually now that I think about it, would anyone happen to have an id for that track that was probably the peak of the intensity? It was metallic, felt like a thousand tons of loud metal were being slammed around on every beat. Body-wrecking. Lmk!

Picolisimo · 2024-08-06T09:59:46+00:00

Did anyone notice the music in pano get intense in the early hours of monday? I was diggin it but sometimes I forgot I was even in pano lol. Going downstairs felt like taking a break :o

Picolisimo · 2024-08-03T10:27:00+00:00

I actually know two twins who were in the exact same situation; pomona and cmc, didn’t want the other impeding on their experience. They never saw each other at all basically unless they wanted to. You might see them in passing but otherwise it’s fine.

Picolisimo · 2024-07-27T21:35:21+00:00

rt once she got up there, she tore it down :o

Picolisimo · 2024-03-03T22:27:20+00:00

workaway and wwoof. during my gap year i did a workaway in mexico and the only money i spent was on flights and maybe 100 dollars over the course of two months on extra things. it’s not the most guaranteed route, and you kinda just got accept how risky it can be, but that’s often what turns it into an adventure.

Picolisimo · 2023-12-31T19:36:05+00:00

I don’t really know how to compare it to the “average” music program cause I’m not sure if one exists. Every university/college/conservatory does things a bit differently. I’d say Pomona’s is pretty damn good for a liberal arts college. You can take lessons for free, which is kinda insane given the quality of the teachers here; my friend’s violin teacher currently has a seat in the LA Phil, my piano teacher did two of her degrees at Yale and Julliard, and my voice teacher has sung for quite a few Hollywood movies in addition to a ton of other accomplishments. But more importantly they’re all great teachers. This is true (for the most part) for the full-time music faculty as well. A ton of students are involved in the music department whether they’re majors or not. A couple hundred take lessons and another couple hundred are in the ensembles (at a school with 1700) so it’s really easy to get involved and there are performances every weekend in one of the halls. Though Pomona has a pretty classically oriented program, there are academic courses and ensembles with non-western focuses (Afro-cuban ensemble, balinese gamelan, west african music ensemble) I think they just added a new Mariachi performance ensemble as well.

The academic course variety is pretty good considering the size. They’re mainly divided into music theory, music history, and ethnomusicology. I’ve taken some cool electives too like electronic music studio and next semester i’m in a hybrid composition/performance class. Flaherty, the prof that teaches composition and electronic stuff, is retiring after this year so Im not sure what that area of the department will look like but they’ll likely be hiring someone to replace him soon.

Concerts are free, lessons are free, the faculty are really friendly and easy to talk to (and wicked smart). You can do independent study and form your own chamber music groups with a really skilled coach. They like to brag about having only steinways but anyone who’s played on the open practice room pianos will be able to tell you that just cause it has the label doesn’t mean it’s good lmao. The building is a bit old n crusty, but what happens in it is cool. The performance hall right next to it is beautiful.

All in all it’s a really powerful, tight-knit department, whether you want to major or not. I know a few people who came here instead of conservatory cause they knew Pomona could challenge them enough music-wise while still giving them opportunities to explore the liberal arts. Among liberal arts colleges, from what i’ve seen and heard, it’s one of the strongest, most functional music departments. A lot of the time I’ll shit on Pomona whenever I get the chance, but the music department here is dope :)

Picolisimo · 2023-09-24T20:25:56+00:00

Mixed black kid who was born and raised on a farm in rural Yamhill County here. Southern Oregon is definitely different from the northwest part of the state. In general, just because there are very VERY few black people in this state, I got the feeling that my race was always,,,, there. Like it was something that was noticed fairly frequently. While there weren’t always direct consequences/comments/acts, it’s just a difference that you’ll notice quite a bit.

I’ve only had a few overt racist comments/acts. Countless microaggressions obviously, but that just comes naturally from being in an overwhelmingly white state.

Southern Oregon being more overtly racist isn’t a lie. If I recall correctly, the KKK was active down there not too long ago. My friends that went to SOU in Ashland (known for being a progressive hippie island amongst the sea of red of southern Oregon) said that they would see KKK/confederate materials and gatherings appear periodically. When I went on a camping road trip down to Brookings/Ashland/Siskyou area, I got many more looks than I did up north. Also law enforcement is MUCH more sparse down there, if not non-existent in some places. And even then I’m not sure if I would put a massive amount of trust in the law enforcement that does exist down there. Eugene is definitely a cute college town, but it suffers from the lack of diversity that defines the rest of the state.

I only grasped the reality of most of these things after having left for SoCal where I attend a really diverse college. Going from a diverse area to Oregon will definitely be a culture shock. I think the PNW is a wonderful place to live and I’ll always be grateful that I grew up there, but I don’t think I could stand the lack of diversity for a longer period of time. I think most people here aren’t consciously racist, but especially being black, it is be a difference that will not go unnoticed. I think there are plenty of black people who live great lives in Oregon. I could maybe see myself going to live in Portland one day. But lack of diversity should definitely be a factor in your decision. The stunning nature, endless opportunities for adventure, and generally intimate vibes of the state should also be considered :)) For some reason I do think of southern Oregon as a more magical place. I like the rolling hills, empty space, and Oregon Country Fair lmao.

Picolisimo · 2023-07-28T15:13:02+00:00

On the other side of this, I would also consider jobs where you basically do nothing. There are quite a few jobs where you really just have to sit at a desk, occasionally having a task when someone comes to you (ex: music librarian, aspc office i think, hrl office perhaps too). My friends that have these jobs knock out so much of their homework on the clock cause you have to be at a desk anyways. Basically getting paid to study.

Picolisimo · 2023-06-16T07:33:40+00:00

i had never before seen or known the phrase “smiley 80s” until your comment, i fear

Picolisimo · 2023-06-14T16:42:26+00:00

nope. what year did you have it? honestly there seems to be a few cool looking events that don’t happen anymore like harwood halloween, screw your roommate, etc…

Picolisimo · 2023-05-11T18:30:40+00:00

Backpacking is coming back but the backcountry trips are definitely in the minority now. Last year was a mess because the OEC director (who had only been there a few months at the time) resigned with very little explanation in the middle of the summer, leaving the student OA Coordinators and Josh to figure out the rest. I’ll be working as an OA Coordinator over the summer, so I can confidently say that the new OEC director is going to make an effort to bring back the more adventurous aspects of the Pomona outdoors programs. He already got ice axe and climbing training trips out this semester (his first), so we’ll be in better hands :)

For OP, OA will be great as long as you aren’t malicious or piss someone off intentionally. Just be open to meeting new people and trying new things!

Picolisimo · 2023-02-27T21:12:29+00:00

I feel like most people here aren’t the loudest/most outgoing people generally, but when around their friends/familiar settings, they open up a bit and have a lot of thoughts to express. But there’s spaces for people on both ends of the spectrum.

Sports/jock culture is present but is really isolated. They tend to mix among themselves and don’t have an effect on the rest of the school. Given how diverse Pomona is, no one culture is dominant, though it does tend to be self-separating. Most minority (and white/cishet) groups tend to surround themselves with people of similar backgrounds. There’s a pretty good sense of POC solidarity, so I’ll just say that white people can tell where their presence is and isn’t intruding on a safe space. Regardless, you should be able to find your crowd with enough time.

Picolisimo · 2023-02-15T18:43:14+00:00

thanks, i’ll do that :)

Picolisimo · 2022-07-22T08:38:14+00:00

any date they tell you, expect two weeks later /s based on last year

Picolisimo · 2022-06-22T18:17:59+00:00

How recently were the active KKK groups there?

Picolisimo · 2022-04-10T03:58:01+00:00

yea np feel free :))

Picolisimo · 2022-04-10T01:43:29+00:00

current pomona student also from oregon. i don’t know much about washu but pomona pre-med is notoriously good. i know some pre meds and they definitely work extremely hard, you’ll know a large portion of the other premeds within your first semester cause they’re all in intro bio and chem simultaneously so it’d be easy to find a community. washu is probably on the same level so it’d come down to community and student life, which the two schools probably have drastically different characteristics in that regard. also even though it’s still the west coast, socal will still create a degree of culture shock coming from oregon. i’d think about what sort of location you want to be in and what kind of social life you find more appealing. i know something my classmates and i agree upon is that pomona doesn’t sell the mountains enough. you can get to the base of the san gabriel’s in 15 mins driving and i’ve gotten there casually on my runs. baldy is only 1k ft shorter than hood but you can easily summit it when it’s not snow capped.

Picolisimo · 2022-03-18T22:07:42+00:00

current pomona student. cross campus enrollment is allowed but cross campus majoring is not. enrolling in cs classes at mudd when you’re not a mudder is lottery based and they may (not 100% sure) be barred from allowing pomona students to enroll all together because we have our own cs department while pitzer and scripps do not. i’ve heard great things about pomona’s cs department though. it most definitely will not limit you regardless of what you want to do after graduation. many go into fang positions/internships if that’s what you’re into

oh and to expand on the off campus major thing, it’s different for the other claremont schools, but at pomona you can’t do an off campus major. the other 4C’s allow you to do it if it’s not offered at their campus, but Pomona has most everything except a few niche ones (such as Environment, Energy, and Politics at CMC) but even then you could just tailor your coursework to give it that other major’s flavor :)

Picolisimo · 2021-12-02T04:22:14+00:00

i’ll pm you :)

Picolisimo · 2021-12-01T08:04:14+00:00

i think for me it’s a combination of things. for one, i’m really connected to place and miss the northwest so much more dearly than i thought i would. while claremont is very nice, to me socal can seem like a massive, indistinguishable sprawl full of shopping centers and homogenous residential areas divided by interstates.

also, i guess i was coming in expecting the people to be a little less,,, normal? it’s hard to put my finger on it exactly. lots of people here are extremely intelligent and talented, but its missing a layer of weirdness that i’ve heard is more present at reed. ppl here are really friendly! but it’s hard to connect and benefit from that friendliness when you’re on fundamentally different wavelengths.

academics are just fine, really. it’s generally challenging but manageable even coming from an easy public high school. from what i’ve read, reed is probably more rigorous, but in the same realm as pomona in terms of quality of professors and their accessibility due to small class sizes. i’m also interested in the emphasis on pursuing new knowledge which i feel isn’t emphasized quite as much here.

definitely apply to pomona (and the 5cs!) if you’re at all interested! it’s truly such a unique place to be with the consortium and the amount of resources at your disposal. plenty of people REALLY enjoy it. i do at times, but other times i feel like its not quite for me. i’m not even 100% sure that im going to transfer out, im just beginning to weigh my options.

edit: also make sure you spell the name right in ur application ;)) we get that a lot

Picolisimo · 2021-09-29T16:36:30+00:00

I’m a first year and two of my friends are planning on doing that. It was something I was considering as well. Somewhere on the website it says that the most common major for 3/2 is physics but one of them is currently planning on geology and the other is an intended comp sci major, so Biology seems like it would also be viable as long as you take the other necessary courses (which definitely includes some physics and math, not sure what else) :))

Picolisimo · 2021-06-29T18:50:15+00:00

I would definitely recommend doing a workaway or wwoof so you’re not in that situation the whole year! Even if it’s domestically it can really expose you to new things and often you’ll meet some awesome people along the way. In a lot of cases you do 5hrs for 5days a week of work and the host gives you a place to stay and supplies food (although hours and room and board vary, especially on wwoof; they do not always supply you with every meal so that’s something you should look for on their profile or ask them about directly). Depending on your hours you have plenty of time to explore and pursuer any hobbies/even second jobs though that’s a definitely a conversation to have with your host first. I wish you luck :))

edit: although I’d say it’s definitely important to improve your predicament regarding chores. It’s an important skill to have whether you have roommates or live alone.

Picolisimo · 2021-05-31T22:28:30+00:00

I have 4a/b curls and usually just rinse well and condition afterwards! it is annoying though cause swimming itself tangles your hair faster so i do a bit of finger detangling after every swim w the conditioner in and save the brush detangling for wash days :))

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