For me there are are three big things that music students should be engaged in discovering: Vision, Initiative and Sincerity. I say discovering only because I don’t believe these elements can be taught by wrote as they are not skills. They can however be learned, and colleges can play a big role by creating an institutional vision that helps to create an ideal environment to facilitate the learning of these elements…..
In my part 3 post I wrote about the competition aspect of college life and that a college with a mission to become a community outreach organization may actually improve the employment prospects for graduates. How can an institution start to change their direction though? First it will take some Vision!
I am a believer that vision is based on four principals: common sense, a desire to help people, dealing with the here and now, and literally seeing clearly! Whilst you can’t teach vision, common sense can be taught and/or instilled and programs can be set up to get students into a community to start them engaging in the here and now. More people with common sense and a sense of purpose = more visionaries! It could start with a question:
What’s a practical and affordable way to bring music into the world to help make the people of the world thrive?
We always hope that more and more people will be engaged by music, which is very passive. Instead we should be constantly demonstrating to people that by being engaged by music the quality of their lives will be better and more fulfilled, which is an active approach.
I think of Steve Jobs, the Apple Computer guru as the ultimate visionary. His mission is the desire to make people’s lives better through the creation of ultimate user friendly devices, that with functionality, friendliness and practicality, act as true collaborators and not just as servants. For example we take for granted this window that comes up after hitting the delete button:
Are you sure you want to delete this file?
I think that just by coming up with this option, files from the most insignificant, to some that if deleted might have threatened life itself were saved because it stopped us deleting something by mistake! It’s an example of something that works in sync with human nature, is about the here and now and employs common sense and therefore in my belief is visionary.
The answer to a question that incorporates people’s lives will always have multiple angles and arguments, but students could be charged to look for answers if their colleges helped to facilitate their quest. Exams, curriculums, juries, etc… are necessary to a point, but it’s quite obvious that those “requirements” are only a small part of the equation, judging by the lack of opportunities in correlation to the amount of graduates! Therefore, I say change the curriculum model into something more organic and fluid, based on the world around us and not on the tried and mostly failed model of the classic music conservatory, a cocoon that churns out more and more musicians for ever shrinking opportunities. It makes me wonder if maintaining its accreditation is the prime goal of any music college.
From the National Association of Schools of Music accreditation page:
….judgment by an accreditation decision-making body, normally called a Commission. Accreditation reviews focus on educational quality, institutional integrity, and educational improvements.
I would challenge NASM to introduce a new category: community awareness programming and advocacy through direct student, school and community interaction and collaboration.
Where to begin? To put something right out there, I would start by having students with guidance from community leaders create outreach initiatives. Further to this, based on their outreach experiences, engage in a forum to help decide future curriculum components as it relates to those experiences. The school could almost act like a laboratory for research into overcoming the inevitable challenges, whilst also effecting positive change in a community immediately. Forget NASM accreditation, or being labeled the Hottest Music School, how about the possibility of making a positive social impact and winning humanitarian awards!
Students from the start of their education should be engaged in the world as a whole and not just in their world. As soon as they enter the building they should be sent right back out again! In medical school it doesn’t take long for a student to experience real patients in a hospital setting, so it’s not a new concept. I would predict that with a new organic, visionary and community based curriculum, professional performing arts organizations will also eventually reap the benefits by becoming relevant, and audiences and donors will rise with increased demand.
Jason over on Arts Addict wrote about the sudden influx in music school funding questioning also the motivation of why someone would become a music student. Obviously buildings and facilities always need updating, improving and maintenance, however so does education itself. How much of the money will be spent on that? Right now a music school churning out students for limited opportunities is a passive institution. Creating opportunities and at the same time positive change in a community will transform a school into an active institution, one with vision! Now that would be HOT!!!!
Happy Birthday to me, I’m 40 today! Look who came to my party…no not really, I accompanied Wynonna over the weekend in Fort Worth, she was terrific and the orchestra as always were great, it’s always a treat to work with them.