Conservatoire Or University?, Whats the difference? Options

[wurlitzer]

I'm not too sure about the difference here, but for studying piano and composition what would be the difference between going to a conservatoire or a university?
Which would be better and what does each involve?

[Mad Tom]

I'm not too sure about the difference here, but for studying piano and composition what would be the difference between going to a conservatoire or a university?
Which would be better and what does each involve?

In the end it is down to how hard you work, and your relationships with teachers and fellow students. But a Conservatoire's entire raison d'etre is to produce professional, fully-trained musicians. A University teaches and researches a wide range of subjects. So at a conservatoire you'd be completely immersed in music and completely in the company of musicians in a way that is not possible at most Universities. Which is better for you depends on how you learn best, how you cope with different pressures, and what are your goals.

[RoseRodent]

Certainly much less than there used to be. Probably in terms of 'prestige' people are going to prefer that you went to a conservatoire as they are considered in the minds of most people to be harder to get into. From that POV they also attract some of the highest rated staff, but whether or not they are the 'best' staff in an objective way is not easy to pin down. A conservatoire has a lot more musicians in total, so for orchestral instruments it's much easier to put together a good variety of ensembles in a way you can't manage at a university where the music department is generally quite small, and other students who play music very well have separate studies to deal with and cannot devote their time to these things in the same way.

There is certainly more course variety in universities. Look at each of the main CUKAS schools' courses side by side and you will find little different between Birmingham, RSAMD, RAM, etc. but look at Edinburgh Napier's music course in comparison to Edinburgh University's and they are poles apart, one being very performance-based, the other being largely theoretical. If you decide not to have a career in music after all then the more university-based one might be seen by the non-musical world as more 'real work'

In a university with a small music department you may find it much easier to get access to practice rooms (obviously a premium facility in conservatoires) and you might find it easier to get a chance to put on solo work and have your compositions performed as there is a whole big university full of both pro and ameteur players out there. At a conservatoire there may be 1,000 musicians but they all want the same opportunity you do!

It's good that we now have so much more choice. I'd say look at the structure of all the courses, which perhaps have more variety for composition than for instrumental work, and see what suits you personally the best. You will probably also find you have to pick one or the other as your principal study almost everywhere, and that can be tricky when you would really like to split them with equal weighting.