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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000074.txt from 2008/02

From: Jake Vidourek <jmvidourek21@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Response to recruiting email, some thoughts
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:45:02 -0500

Mr. Jesse Read,

I can't begin to describe how I felt reading your
essay - though I suppose the emotions of joy and anger
will have to suffice. I agree with much of what you
said, but still find myself frustrated - not
necessarily with you, but music pedagogy in general. I
agree that the "music world" (whatever that is) is
being flooded, so to speak, with musicians of varying
abilities.
My personal hunch would be to say that the field of
music education in particular is seeing the full
effect of this hurricane. As many music performance
majors as we can speculate are graduating could
probably see twice or three times their numbers in
music education majors - as you've already alluded.
I couldn't agree more that music education shouldn't
be a "fall-back" career choice. In fact, I would say
that music educators (in some ways) have to be much
more dedicated to their vocation and music than
performers. After all, (at the risk of being cliche)
music educators are raising future members of society
(be they professional musicians or not doesn't really
matter in the grand scheme). For exactly some of the
reasons mentioned, I got out of the music education
track, and am now a "performance" major. Is this
really what I want to do - perform? Not exactly, but
there aren't always degrees offered for our career
choice preferences, and you have to start somewhere.
This is really what I'd like to spend a few words on -
though I could continue with the education rant for
several more chapters. My frustration with musical
pedagogy is the seeming lack of some people to see
those careers which are intensely related and
supportive of music performance, which do not
necessarily involve performing for an audience
(besides of course, education). For example, "when I
grow up", I'd like to make oboes. This idea has always
been fascinating to me - ever since I started learning
the oboe, and realizing that someone actually created
my instrument, I wanted to try to do the same thing.
Of course, I feel I was steered into one of the "two"
options for musicians - education or performance - by
some of my early teachers, but mostly by my own early
inability to see beyond the obvious. To me, "real"
musicians were either teachers or performers.
Now, of course, I have the blessing of a little bit of
experience: I see the other options that are "out
there" for us. In just the double reed world, here are
a few of the careers which I see and consider
infinitely fascinating, which others often tend to
just glance over: instrument making, bocal making,
reed making, cane farming, gouger production,
instrument repair and maintenance, instrument design
and research, knife production, shaper development,
staple development and production. These things all
have their equivalents in each family of instruments
and again, these are just a few of the things which
sit at the forefront of my mind at the moment.
Branching out of the double reed world, theres:
acoustical engineering, sound engineering (recording),
orchestral management, orchestral promotion and
outreach, musicological research, and much more.
Why don't others consider these jobs as worthy as
being principal in the NYPhil, the Berlin Phil, the
ASO, the BSO, the CSO, etc.? My guess is because these
jobs lack a certain aspect of celebrity.
Why aren't there as many models of oboes and bassoons
as there are cars? The oboes and bassoons have
certainly been around a lot longer - haven't we had
more time to redesign them? Why aren't there as many
bocals out there as there are license plate covers,
mod kits, paint jobs, and chrome out-fittings? My
opinion, of course, is that there has been much
so-called "snubbing" of these aspects of music which
has been passed from teacher to student over the
years.

Why consider these other aspects of music "band-aid
solutions"? Don't we need people in "music business"
and "career development"? It seems to me that these
types of jobs are what is going to (hopefully) save
the music that so many of us think is verging on
extinction. Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but
if we know that someone is not going to be successful
in a certain field, why is it being seen as such a bad
idea to steer them to another field in which he or she
will not only be more successful, but of more use in
the long run?

As far as job training goes, I personally feel that
musicians make some of the best students in other
fields. We have developed habits of self-motivation
and discipline at much younger ages than the "typical
non-musician". Here's my rationale for why: let's
assume that the average musician is studying privately
on his or her instrument for one or one-half hour
every week. No matter how long some people take
lessons, this will NEVER be enough time to explore the
instrument's repertoire to their full desire. How is
this accomplished then? Practice. Practice is the act
of teaching yourself. When practicing, there is no
teacher looking over your shoulder, ruler in hand, to
correct your mistakes. There is (usually) no second
opinion, and no outside input. How then, are we able
to progress through our studies? We're motivating
ourselves in ways that our teacher might, were they
present for the session. Perhaps we're learning things
on our own, and are able to improve our weaknesses
without being specifically instructed.
Think of this process with any other subject - the
[medical, law, marine biology, perceptive psychology,
foreign language, art, engineering, computer science,
or even underwater basket-weaving] student who
motivates her- or himself to study diligently each
night (practice), go to class (lesson), then return to
study again and perhaps relearn any material which
(s)he got wrong on the test. As I'm sure most people
are aware, Condoleezza Rice, the current Secretary of
State of the U.S. was once a piano major in Colorado.
I doubt anyone would say that although the start of
her education was focused on music, she didn't apply
herself to her new interests and become equally (in
this case, even more) qualified in the new field of
study.

I apologize for the discontinuity of this post. Also,
Mr. Read, please don't take this reply to your post as
any form of personal attack - I'd like to stress again
that I whole-heartedly agreed with the majority of
what you said. This is just my attempt to answer some
of the questions you posed, as well as ask some
burning ones of my own.
These are the opinions from another side of the fence
- current student, another generation of musician,
etc. I sincerely hope we meet some day, and can
discuss these topics and issues at much more length,
breadth, and depth.

Thanks for your time and sharing your views,
Jacob M. Vidourek

jesse read <jesse.read@-----.ca> wrote:

Original email:

On 12-Feb-08, at 2:20 AM, juliefeves wrote:

Dear Friends,

Please forgive the mass email. I am writing
because my entire class
is graduating from CalArts this year and we still
have some openings
in the bassoon class for Fall 08 - for
undergraduate (BFA) and
graduate (MFA) students. If If you have any
graduating students or
you know of anyone who might be interested in
studying at CalArts,
please let me know. CalArts is great place for
students who have
broad interests; performer/composers, world music
players,
improvisers and more. We do have a chamber
orchestra and an early
instrument ensemble (with a baroque bassoon) too!

Excellent scholarships are available - and it is
not too late to apply.

For more information contact me
(jfeves@-----.edu or 818 363 1427)
or check out the CalArts website
http://music.calarts.edu/

Thank you!

Warmly,

Julie Feves
Associate Dean
School of Music
California Institute of the Arts
661 222 2781
818 363 1427

MY RESPONSE:

Dear Julie, friends, and members of Julie's email
list.

While I understand fully the nature of the email
from Julie Feves, I
was especially struck by its subject heading "
Bassoonists needed at
CalArts". Please forgive this opportunistic- and
what might be
considered invasive-response on my part, but it is
done with the best
of intentions and from a couple of decades of
questioning, concern
and ultimately, a sense of despair.
I am also using the springboard of this email,
because I know that
the program at CalArts is a particularly good
example of positive,
thoughtful and imaginative solutions to the
conundrum I describe below.

At the outset, I would like to say that I have
discussed my
observations with many teachers over the course of
many years. They
almost all realize the extent of the problem, many
see it as a
crisis, most will admit to some degree of a
problem in ethics.

I have been involved in university teaching for
nearly 40 years, in
different situations, and have just stepped down
from 11 years as the
Director of a music department ( School of Music,
University of
British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada ) As a
bassoonist I have a
reasonably good background, have sought to expand
repertoire, extend
technical areas, explore music not well-known (
sometimes deservedly
so, but that is part of the search ) and I have
been reasonably
successful as success is conventionally measured.
I was one of, if
not the youngest principal bassoonist of my
generation at age 19, and
have had solid experience in early music, baroque
bassoon, opera and
considerable chamber music. This is a prelude, not
a point of self-
sales, forgive that impression if it seems so. I
have held tenure at
three universities, and hold senior rank. I have
been involved in a
major music festival for 30 years, which I now
manage. I still love
music, and feel deeply involved as a teacher.

I grew up in a family of musicians, mother taught
piano, aunt plays
ragtime piano ( still at age 95 ) and both older
brothers, 10 and 15
years senior hold DMA degrees, Southern California
( Herzberg, Van
Hosen, bassoon ) and Eastman ( Hasty-Clarinet ).
Both older brothers
had extensive university/professional experience,
my bassoonist
brother was the bassoon teacher at San Jose State
in California for 30
+ years. I had the great benefit of their vast
experience,
thoughtful approach and advice. We often talked
about various
aspects of the music world as each of us came to
know it.

As time has passed, we have observed, it seems
that the university/
conservatory music system has grown considerably.
Grown well beyond
the days when state university systems were
exploding and programs
were being developed, faculty hired, and players
trained for an
almost equally growing number of jobs in all kinds
of areas,
orchestras, ballet, opera, musical theater, film
and music recording,
and of course, university teaching positions (!).
Those schools which
in the past were simply small, state institutions,
now all have
active, respected music training programs. Each
has a band or more
than one, and an orchestra, or more than one. Each
has a bassoon
instructor, more often than not, a full-time
teacher, tenured or
tenure-track, and with the expectation that he/she
cultivate
( "recruit" ) a class. Nearly 25 years ago, even
before the
proliferation of schools had reached the level it
has at the present
time, I made a speculative ( admittedly )
exercise. I very
conservatively estimated the number of
institutions with bassoon
classes in North America, using 2 per state, and
adding another 15
which would include the high-level programs like
Curtis, Juilliard,
Eastman, etc. I would also add to the mix another
10 programs in
Canada, and remind us all that a number of young
foreign players come
to North America each year.

http://www.excel-ability.com/Music/Programs/MusicSchools/MusicSchools-
USA.html

Let us imagine that all of these 100+ institutions
( the College
Music Society lists 1800 schools ) have bassoon
classes, and there
are possibly 6 "performance" majors in each class.
Maybe it is
reasonable to suggest that an average of 3
performers graduate from
each institution each year. Of course, there are
many more in some,
far less in others. That would be a conservative
estimate of 300
each year. Many have spent hours and hours
learning traditional
etudes, dealing with the problems of reeds and
instruments, learning
technical exercises, and most strikingly,
orchestra excerpts,
( usually at the expense of a broad, arts,
history, humanities
education, as that would mean too many classes
outside the music
curriculum.) Many of the schools which have
orchestras and band
programs also have traditional routines of
teaching, and there are
usually rather common goals among them:
undergraduates strive to be
accepted to good graduate programs, particularly
gifted and
recognized talents are groomed to take auditions,
and as a
professional fall-back, students are kept in the
programs to
"service" the ensemble needs of the program
internally, and streamed
into newly-devised "music business" , " career
development", or a
bewildering array of other survival courses. It
seems our
institutions have finally realized that
considering the obvious- that
there are very few openings for graduates in
symphony orchestras and
an incredible number of well-prepared graduates,
there must be
another option. I am of the opinion that this is a
band-aid solution
and the very teachers whose bread and butter is
defined by the size
of the studio class must take some kind of action
for change in their
institutions. More below.

Therefore, continuing with the soft numbers. I
would speculate that
those 300 graduates have a "half-life" of around 4
years, having
graduated, now having taken jobs to manage living
expenses, playing
low-paying gigs, and attempting to organize
groups, etc. That would
put 1200 !!! " performance major" graduates on the
streets at any one
time, before they take other training options, or
are locked into
routines. Please keep in mind, these numbers are
speculative, but I
think, very conservative. But also imagine that if
this is the
bassoon world, what are the flute, clarinet,
violin, trumpet numbers...?

The European Union is adopting standards of change
for all of the
Conservatories, converting into North
American-style curricula and
credit equality. This will allow students to more
easily transfer
credits in either direction. I get the impression
that the Europeans
have the same problem as we, there are simply too
many music schools
for the small numbers of professional
opportunities available in the
conventional music world. Of course there will
always be openings in
existing orchestras, and there will always be
healthy musical
cultures in specific cities, regions, etc. But no
one can deny that
orchestral music is in steep decline, except at
the top, there are
fewer opportunities in other areas of live music,
the listening
public tastes are changing and there are fewer and
fewer
opportunities for more and more graduates.

We are aware that the situation in Asia is
exploding. The
conservatories are full, and more are developing,
there is a flood of
well trained players applying to our programs.
Where are the
opportunities but for the superstars?

And then there is the cost of instruments and
study. I have seen
families re-mortgaging homes to afford a
particularly good
instrument, or tuition with the expectation that
there would
eventually be an opportunity in the professional
world. If that
family had been told by someone with perspective
what the odds were,
would they have been so willing to make such an
unhealthy sacrifice?
We have used the rationale that music study at the
university/
conservatory level is at least good preparation
for other
professional study, even medicine and law, and I
agree in principle,
but on the other hand, I would prefer my lawyers,
judges and health-
care professionals to have had a wide and deep
education before
specialization. I believe that they would make
better advocates for
the arts, for music education, and generally,
better participants in
civil society. ( better informed voters?) I
observe that most
former music students are not "classical" music
consumers. And in
fact, they have carried prejudice about "pop"
music and other
"lesser" forms around during their serious music
studies and have
little or no appreciation for other musics. I am
sorry to say that
I often meet well-trained musicians who know
little about history,
literature, geography and even current events. In
fact, many do not
know how to listen to music, and music history,
theory and useful
skills like sight-singing, ear-training and
keyboard are being
minimized to allow for more free practice,
rehearsal and performance
time. Their narrowness of study and concentration
necessary to
prepare for a professional life in the performing
arts neglects some
basic, fundamental aspects. Little or no time for
reading,
interacting with other disciplines and the stress
of music
performance life after training is restrictive, if
not brutal.

Of course, the music world is not one of numbers,
facts, and rational
judgments, but from time to time it might be good
to reflect on our
profession, and if there are some sacrifices we
can collectively
make, and influences we can assert in our own
local culture, perhaps
we will be able to raise awareness of the
alternatives:

What are the alternatives?

I believe that the world is experiencing a
tremendous revolution in
music expression, curiosity, artistic and creative
expansion, and
opportunity. "World" music is transforming the
listening experience
of an entire generation. The internet and digital
means of
transferring music is changing the face of the
recording world, and
the establishments are reacting. Symphony
orchestras are programming
more interesting, diverse, cross-cultural,
experimental and chance-
taking repertoire. They are turning to visual
media to better
illuminate the concert experience in competition
with the visual
expectations of the new audience, accustomed to
moving images. Opera
is having a revival-supertitles allow the audience
to actually
understand what is being sung and react to the
nuances of the musical
drama. Classical musicians are branching out,
embracing folk music,
jazz, improvisation, and cross-disciplinary,
multi-media
performances. Even music theory research and
teaching in the
advanced university setting is recovering in a
positive manner from
the shock of the entry of cognitive science into
its midst. Imagine,
studying how music actually works on the human
brain! Early music is
booming, baroque performance is active, although
also offering few
solid opportunities for reasonable employment. I
am sure that there
are many other areas that creativity will uncover,
combine and enrich.

I would suggest that students need to be reminded
strongly that music
education is not a profession into which one turns
for security after
all performance options are exhausted. ( " I can
always teach if
things don't work out...") By that time, all is
lost. A good teacher
is one with zeal- you have all seen them, and they
need the training,
the background, tools and energy to survive the
challenges of little
financial and administrative support and dwindling
attention paid to
the value of the arts in the public schools.
Therein lies another
long polemic, and I will not begin, but only to
state the obvious:
If we expect a curious, arts-hungry public, who
knows the cultural
value of an evening of Beethoven quartets, we have
to reinvent public
school music, and our students have to advocate
for change for their
children. They will be the audiences for the
orchestral positions
that do not exist at the moment.

Julie says it well, and I am sure most of you
agree, and often say
the same words, "broad interests", and CalArts has
long been on the
forefront of arts education. I would urge you to
look at their
website, and consider whether it isn't time to
assert change in our
individual environments.

Please forgive this diatribe, it is aimed at
nobody, but rather, an
opportunity I have taken to circulate my own
views, and respectfully
ask, if you have some alternatives, reactions, or
if it provokes a
response of any kind, please don't hesitate to
communicate. I am
very curious, optimistic and receptive.

Respectfully,

Jesse Read

Professor, Former Director
School of Music
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC CANADA V6T1Z2
jesse.read@-----.ca
jesseread.com

Managing Director
Carmel Bach Festival
Box 575
Carmel, California 93921
USA
604 822-5436
831 624-1521
www.bachfestival.org

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Jacob M. Vidourek
Student
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, TN
Music Performance and Pedagogy Major (oboe)
-CMENC, President
-Mu Phi Epsilon, Alumni Secretary
German Major
-Alpha Mu Gamma
-Der Deutsche Klub

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