"We want to provide students with a luxurious array of pathways to pursue as they go through the school," says David Serkin Ludwig, dean and director of music and acting chair of composition at Juilliard, where this student violinist performed as part of the school's New Series program. Rachel Papo/courtesy of Juilliard Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Conservatories made a comeback this year, with several returning to THR's annual list of the world's best music schools. The fundamentals of composition and performance remain a top priority for both institutions and students eager to break into the field. While overall college enrollment continues to decline, and some universities struggle with government funding cuts, music schools and media scoring departments have largely bucked the trend. At a time when DEI programs have come under fire, UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music - renowned for its extensive Ethnomusicology department - might have seemed especially vulnerable to political pressure. But Bob Fink, chair of the school's Music Industry Program, says the university has stood firm in its support. "When all this started to really happen, there was anxiety coming through the school," he says. "We have the Department of Ethnomusicology, which is in principle about diversity of the world's music and takes race fundamentally into account. But we've gotten very strong support from the university [about] what we teach in our classes. Academic freedom is a real thing, and the university feels very strongly that the content of classes is not really at stake here." Related Stories Movies Lil Dicky Heads to Big Screen: Dave Burd's Animated Movie in the Works at DreamWorks (Exclusive) Movies Billie Eilish Concert Doc, Co-Directed With James Cameron, Headed to Theaters Via Paramount To compile this year's rankings, THR polled members of Hollywood's Society of Composers and Lyricists, the Composers Diversity Collective, and the music branches of both the Motion Picture Academy and Television Academy. Special thanks to Ray Costa and Costa Communications and Ashley Irwin of the SCL for their help in distributing the poll. 1. Columbia College Chicago Columbia offers a two-year master of fine arts program in music composition for the screen, headed by Kubilay Uner. There are focuses on music for full-length film, TV, video games and other visual media, culminating in a five-week semester in L.A. with internships as well as thesis projects recorded by a 70-piece orchestra. Says Uner: "Every defining aspect of our program starts with one question: How is this done in professional practice?" TUITION $37,344 NOTABLE ALUMNI Batu Sener, composer (Better Man, Harold and the Purple Crayon); Paul Broucek (president of music at Warner Bros. Pictures) 2. The Berklee College of Music Berklee screen scoring program chair Sean McMahon oversees classes in film and media scoring and game and interactive media scoring, with both programs offering bachelor's degrees. The Boston school has scored some major media tie-ins in the past few years: Berklee's ongoing collaboration with Red Bull - the Red Bull Scoring Challenge - culminated with the Aug. 22 release of the Sounds of Red Bull album, with seven of the album's 10 tracks composed by students from McMahon's scoring program. TUITION $52,440 NOTABLE ALUMNI Quincy Jones, Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) 3. The Juilliard School As one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in the country and one centrally located in New York City, Juilliard has always been an expensive prospect for potential students, but the school has abundant avenues for financial aid and in April launched a fundraising campaign to eliminate tuition for all students. "It's not a pipe dream," says David Serkin Ludwig, dean and director of music and acting chair of composition. "An education as excellent as Juilliard should be available to everyone. What a lot of people don't know is that about 40 percent of the students already go tuition-free. And the vast majority of students are getting significant financial aid and scholarship, tuition help." TUITION $55,500 NOTABLE ALUMNI Eunike Tanzil (composer and recording artist); Tony Yun (pianist) 4. USC Thornton School of Music USC Thornton continues to capitalize on its location in the heart of L.A. and its access to the film and TV industry's top talent and facilities. Jeanine Cowen is in her fourth year as chair of the screen scoring program at Thornton, which trains 20 students a year and continues to thrive in a period when overall college enrollment is down and some universities have had to deal with a Trump administration compact that sets out a set of political priorities and, in exchange for adherence, promises signatory institutions preferential acc