In Review
MUSICAL INTRODUCTION: Members of the Z茅phyros Winds (above with J. B. VanDemark, an Eastman professor of double bass, at right) performed for a group of Rochester-area students and for Eastman students to introduce this spring鈥檚 Music for All program. (Photo: Richard Baker)Nicole Cragin 鈥�11E recognizes that her future as a professional cellist will rely in part on her ability to create opportunities for herself.
So the Orlando, Fla., native and cello performance major is learning how, with help from the Eastman School鈥檚 Music for All program. Last spring, Cragin performed as part of a piano quintet for students at one of the city鈥檚 high schools and for an audience in a downtown church. She and her fellow musicians designed and organized the concerts themselves.
鈥淚t鈥檚 being assertive, getting your name out there, that鈥檚 difficult for most of us. We don鈥檛 know where to begin,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o Eastman helps us with the first step.
鈥淭he faculty have been there, and if they鈥檙e telling you, 鈥楾his is a vital part of my career,鈥� that gives it more credibility.鈥�
A component of spring chamber music courses at the Eastman School, Music for All is required of all chamber music performance students. Its purpose is twofold: To cultivate future audiences by taking music into the community, and to give students practical experience in concert organizing and in public speaking that they will need in their careers as professional musicians.
鈥淚 think any student who plays in this climate realizes it鈥檚 not just how well you play anymore that determines success,鈥� says Elinor Freer, a former director of the program, noting that professional performers are now routinely expected to give preconcert talks, mingle with concert subscribers, and perform other public-speaking tasks in addition to performing their music.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 really want musicians to be distant,鈥� says David Ying 鈥�92E (DMA), an associate professor of string chamber music and of violoncello. 鈥淲e want them to be more 鈥榰ser friendly鈥欌�攖o connect with the audience.鈥�
A key aspect of the Eastman School鈥檚 approach is to treat music outreach not just as a service to the community but also as a fundamental component of educating聽students.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the only conservatory that requires outreach experience. You can鈥檛 get an undergraduate performance degree in strings, winds, piano, or brass without it,鈥� says Freer, an assistant professor of chamber music at Eastman and a collegiate instructor in piano at the Eastman Community Music School, the Eastman School鈥檚 division devoted to music education for the Rochester community.
Training in a conservatory of music, where students spend many hours in the practice room and interact almost exclusively with other highly skilled, committed musicians, can be an insular experience, says Ying, who serves as a faculty coach for students in the program.
鈥淭he idea of Music for All is simple: To connect Eastman students and their music with the outside world,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e want the students鈥� eyes to be focused not just inward.鈥�
Bringing chamber music performers into the community has rich benefits for Rochesterians, too. 鈥淲e bring the highest level performances to the classrooms鈥� and other venues, says Petar Kodzas 鈥�99E (DMA), the director of Music for All and an instructor of guitar at the Eastman Community Music School.
Each year, more than 40 chamber groups perform some 90 concerts through Music for All. Over the years students have fanned out into hospitals, churches, senior centers, libraries, and shelters for the homeless and for women and children escaping domestic abuse. They鈥檝e even taken their music to Rochester鈥檚 Hickey-Freeman factory.
Students are responsible for arranging the gritty details of a successful musical program: Making sure that music stands will be on hand, for example, and that there will be armless chairs for the performers to use while they play.
Working with faculty coaches, students design a concert program, tailoring it for their listeners, and develop their own accompanying commentary to draw listeners into what the musicians are doing.
At the very start of the course, students have a model to inspire and instruct them. This spring Z茅phyros Winds, a professional chamber ensemble from New York City, performed for a group of children while Music for All students observed. In the following weeks, students submitted an outline of their own planned performances and went through a dress rehearsal with their faculty coaches and peers before heading into the community.
鈥淔or many of the students, it鈥檚 the first time they鈥檝e done anything like this, even though they鈥檝e been playing for years,鈥� says Ying. 鈥淢any of them are extremely nervous. They鈥檙e not practiced in using their physical voices. But afterwards, they feel empowered to have excited a group of people.鈥�
He speaks from experience. When Ying and his siblings graduated from Eastman, their acclaimed string group, the Ying Quartet, took a professional residency in Jesup, Iowa, a farm town of 2,000 people. The group brought music into the town鈥檚 homes, schools, churches, and banks鈥攁nd through their playing, built strong bonds with the people of Jesup.
鈥淭o this day, I鈥檝e never felt more relevant than I did there,鈥� Ying says.
鈥淭o me it鈥檚 always been important to convey why I love music so much,鈥� says Erik Jacobs 鈥�11E, a double major in trombone performance and music education from Fort Meyers, Fla. He took part in Music for All with his chamber group, the Legacy Brass Ensemble. But musicians and non-musicians listen to music differently, he adds, and thinking about the listener is essential. 鈥淵ou try to get to know as much as you can about the audience you鈥檒l be playing for,鈥� he says.
The seed for the program was planted in 1985, when Jon Engberg, then associate director of academic affairs at the Eastman School, proposed an 鈥渁udience building鈥� project through which undergraduates would perform beyond the concert hall, fostering an interest in people who would not ordinarily attend performances. Ten years later, Music for All was established as a voluntary pilot program.
鈥淚t was a radical idea,鈥� says Freer. 鈥淚 think one of the reasons it has succeeded is that Eastman was really ahead of the game in thinking of this as a requirement for a well-rounded musical education. And the administration has always supported it.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e so used to experiencing the emotions through music, we don鈥檛 stop to put words to it,鈥� Cragin says.
Until now, she adds.