Thursday, April 5, 2012

Don't Stop the Music.

Music is a universal language that speaks volumes. It can express love, pain and indifference. It can make you feel better and it can reflect your current mood. It is widespread and beloved by most of society.

People who are regularly exposed to music are generally happier, and students who are involved in music in some capacity do better in school. Classical music played to an unborn child can help with its brain development.

To be a musician is one of the most rewarding things in the world. It is a natural gift that those of us who are lucky to be blessed with can use to touch the lives of others and connect while doing what we are the best at by sharing the wonderful gift of music, whether it is playing it or even teaching it.

Unfortunately, this is often not enough to appease the naysayers, the ones who feel that music is just a frivolous little hobby.

They do not understand that this is not a fun free-time hobby for us. This is our LIFE.

With that said, I found out some very appalling news today. The college I am currently attending is cutting the music department. No reason has been given as of yet, but it is still heartbreaking none the less. However, this is the sad reality we often face: when things become tight, or when changes have to be made, the musicians are the ones who usually wind up taking the crushing blow.

I will not be attending this college after this spring semester, and when I walk away from the campus in one month, I will know that my efforts were not wasted when I begin attending a four-year university this fall. So why go on and protest the decision? Our department, professor included, is like one big family. When one of us hurts, we all hurt. When one of us is overjoyed, we are all overjoyed. Now that the future of our department has been thrown on the cutting room floor, we will all stick it out together. I have wonderful friends who will be left in limbo with a need to find somewhere else to finish the first two years of their music degrees before transferring to a major university therefore being denied the chance to follow their dreams. Future students will have to look elsewhere for a music department. Our professor will be left with the daunting task of finding a new, secure job somewhere else.

He was the best thing that happened to our music department. He was proactive, and had a lot of great ideas to bring to the table. Our music department was in the stages of rebuilding, and he was what we needed: a phenomenal, motivated, creative teacher. The only problem is, he needed the chance to do just that: rebuild our department. Help draw people in and make our music department appealing to prospective students. Mean business, but enjoy it at the same time. He and the current students who are not yet ready to graduate and/or transfer have had the proverbial rug cruelly yanked out from underneath them.

This has made us question who truly supports the musical endeavor. However, there is proof of success with a music degree:

First and foremost, any and all choir, band, and orchestra directors, general music teachers, and private voice and instrument instructors past and present are leading (or have lead) productive lives by teaching music in the schools and in their respective music studios. After all, without them, I and other music students would not be where we are now.

Conductor and composer Eric Whitacre studied music at Julliard. He is one of the most prolific composers of today.

Ben Folds momentarily studied at University of Miami's school of music. He never graduated due to failing his percussion jury (a broken hand prohibited him from being able to play), but he was eventually lucky (and by lucky, I mean very very lucky) enough to find success as a musician, from his band Ben Folds Five in the mid-1990's to his current solo career. He is passionately supportive of music in the schools.

Jack Conte, an independent musician and producer, obtained a degree in music with an emphasis in composition and technology from Stanford. He has pioneered an audio/visual medium of producing music called the "videosong" (No hidden sounds and no lip-syncing, what you see is what you get) which combines multi-track music recording with a video recording of the process. He maintains a solo music career strictly through YouTube, as well as performing in the band Pomplamoose with his girlfriend, Nataly. They are able to make a living as musicians that is as comfortable as, or maybe slightly more comfortable than standard 9 to 5 jobs could provide them.

While a few of these success stories have been based on sheer luck, my point is that they were able to study music to be the best they could possibly be. They had teachers who supported them and helped them to hone their natural talents. They had people who cared and wanted them to rise to the top musically.

We have community support. Whether the public comes to our performances or participates in the community ensembles, they express their support in many different ways. However, I don't believe that the powers-that-be on campus believed in our program enough to continue on with it.

While there are those who choose not to support the arts for whatever their reasons may be, there are still many who do.

The decision has already been made, and we are left to deal with the wake of this loss. I hope that in the future, they will realize the impact that this decision will make and decide to reverse it, sooner rather than later. Don't let the music die.

I support music. Do you?


*********DISCLAIMER: In a recent edition of my hometown's newspaper, there was an article about a high school student who was punished for posting on Twitter about his bitter disagreements with one of the school's extracurricular activities. In the wake of this controversy, I want to say that I do not, I repeat DO NOT mean this to be a blast on the college or any of its administrators, students, faculty, etc. This is strictly to bring awareness to an issue that I, and many others are already extremely passionate about that just happened to hit home. Thank you.