Klarinet Archive - Posting 000153.txt from 2005/06

From: "Antoine T. Clark" <trioarioso@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] DMA vs. PhD
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:42:31 -0400

I find this thread to be very interesting! I am starting my DMA in the Fall
at Ohio State on Full Fellowship. This scholarship was given to me based on
my academic abilities. However, James Pyne had to feel that I was a valuable
and worthy musician to even recommend me for this fellowship. I agree that
it seems that players that develop rather early in our craft may win
orchestral positions. I have even met players who started their DMA or
Masters and then won a position in an orchestra. An example of this is Greg
Williams of the Kansas City Symphony. He pursued his DMA until he was able
to win a job. I think he was happy to win a job before finishing school
mainly because he wanted to be an orchestral player. Who wouldn't want to
get out of school and make money in something they love. I know for me that
I don't feel less of a person because I haven't won a major job in an
orchestra yet. I have met and know countless individuals who have not won a
job and are fantastic players. We just don't have the job market like other
professions. So in my case I want to get my DMA to make me more versatile in
the field. I would love to win a job after finishing my DMA and I want to be
a college professor after getting my DMA. I have a friend who has a DMA and
is a principal clarinetist of a regional orchestra but has not been able to
land a teaching job yet. I think it is a bad generalization to say that
people who get there DMA may be less of a player then people who win jobs
right out of undergrad or graduate school. How many players do you know who
can play their butts off but could not tell you about the development of the
clarinet or who wrote the earliest concertos for the instrument? I think
being an versatile musician is beneficial. I hope to have that college job
while playing in the local orchestra. One last point. Some of us need more
time to develop. I can tell you that I am sometimes amazed at how far I have
come since undergrad. I am African-American decent and did not have the
privilege of private lessons until I got to college. There I had to play
catch up and believe me I have. I am very proud of my growth and I welcome
the chance to go back to school to continue to strengthen my skills. So DMA
or not I will progress to be the fine musician that I am capable of.

Antoine Clark
Adjunct Professor of Woodwinds
Randolph Macon Woman's College
Principal Clarinetist Ashlawn Opera Festival

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce M" <bmcgar@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 11:09 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] DMA vs. PhD

>
> Fernando,
>
> I never suggested that a person WITH a DMA couldn't be an excellent
> player. The point is that it isn't the DMA that MAKES an excellent player
> (or, especially, teacher), yet more and more we hear of the DMA as a
> credential that opens the doors to auditions and teaching.
>
> There's a parallel in my own former profession, technical communications:
> Business people don't know how to evaluate good technical communications,
> so they rely on what they do know: programming courses, networking
> certifications, technical coursework. Consequently, what needs to be
> evaluated isn't evaluted because the people making the decisions don't
> know how to evaluate it. They fall back on what they know.
>
> The same thing goes with music: Many of the very people who have to make
> the decisions about who performs or who teaches don't know music and don't
> know the instruments. (Hell, lots of people writing for the clarinet these
> days don't even seem to know what the usable range of the instrument is.)
> Therefore, they rely on credentials, which may or may not give a true
> perspective of playing and teaching ability, rather than learn what they
> need to know to make the best choice.
>
> By the way, I got one of the top jobs in technical communications in the
> computer manufacturing business, not because I was very good at what I
> did, but because I had a master's degree in the field, so I was a
> beneficiary of the very practice that I hate; the degree opened doors for
> me that were not open for others. But I'm not so blind as to know that
> there are people out there who really know their stuff, but who don't have
> fancy credentials, and I made it a practice of never choosing interviewees
> based on their degrees BEFORE looking at their work samples.
>
> I wonder how many top-notch players who are starting out have been nixed
> by selection committees in favor of degreed people who couldn't play their
> way out of a paper bag.
>
> Seems as if it's getting to the point that we'll all have to have a degree
> just to blow our noses.
>
>>From: "Fernando Silveira" <fernandounirio@-----.com>
>>Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
>>To: <klarinet@-----.org>
>>Subject: Re: [kl] DMA vs. PhD
>>Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2005 23:18:30 -0300
>>
>>Hi Dan.
>>I agree with you but you can not generalize.
>>There is excelet clarinet players with DMA in USA and all over the world.
>>
>>Best
>>
>>Fernando Silveira
>>Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
>>To: <klarinet@-----.org>
>>Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 10:53 PM
>>Subject: RE: [kl] DMA vs. PhD
>>
>>
>>>You are touching on a very sensitive problem. One of the
>>>difficulties of a DMA is that there are varying standards. Thus a
>>>DMA from a school with weak standards could result in giving an
>>>inferior player a level of authority that s/he does not really
>>>have. While a DMA from a school with higher standards can
>>>produce a student who can compete anywhere.
>>>
>>>I have read dissertations from some students who received a
>>>doctorate of music, and my opinions of some (opinions that were
>>>not solicited, I assure you) was that I would not want that
>>>person to teach my dog about playing music, so inadequate was
>>>his/her written communication skills, his/her knowledge of the
>>>subject, and his/her ability to do serious research. Many of the
>>>dissertations that I have read border on a college senior's B
>>>term paper.
>>>
>>>There are very few professional players in the major symphonies
>>>of America with advanced degrees, though some have attained a
>>>bachelor's degree, but fewer a master's degree. Is there a single
>>>principle player in America with a DMA? Some have no degrees at
>>>all, which is unfortunate because their music history knowledge
>>>is often inadequate. But they can play!!! Wow, can they play.
>>>
>>>This has given rise to two armed camps, namely the professional
>>>performers on one hand and the academics on the other, with each
>>>seriously mistrusting the other.
>>>
>>>It is a situation that is going to be with us for a long time.
>>>
>>>Dan Leeson
>>>DNLeeson@-----.net
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Bruce M [mailto:bmcgar@-----.com]
>>>Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 6:34 PM
>>>To: klarinet@-----.org
>>>Subject: RE: [kl] DMA vs. PhD
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Re. DMA:
>>>
>>>Used to be that you had to play excellently. Now you have to have
>>>a piece of
>>>paper that says that you do.
>>>
>>>"You can't choose her over me! *I* have a DMA, and she doesn't!"
>>>
>>>That's advancement for you.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>--
>>>Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc.
>>>http://www.woodwind.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>
>
>
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