Learning Process and Reactions

My interview with Karina Rozo went splendidly well! I learned a lot about certain aspects of music therapy, issues music therapists go through in their training and becoming noticed in the state, as well as her own philosophies of music therapy. Although there were some issues I faced during the actual pre-interview process, it actually helped me learn even more about the music therapy regulations and patient-therapist confidentiality.

This being said, I’d like to elaborate on the few speed bumps I hit along the way of what turned out to be a great interview! Lesson number one, be sure to take a good amount of time to schedule your interview. Fortunately, I did think of this ahead of time and was able to speak with Karina a few weeks in advance about when the interview should be. Being that she had to travel a ways to get to Westminster, I was just happy that I was able to interview her at all! I wanted to be sure I could be the most accommodating to her schedule, since she was doing me the favor. Lesson number two, once you have your interview set, make sure you bring the consent form with you. Unfortunately in the nerves of about to construct my first interview, I must have forgotten to bring the form and I could not find it anywhere online once I had gotten there. I was sure to go over the guidelines of what the form had stated, but you cannot bank on that alone when performing this type of interview which will end up online. This ended up going not as well as I had anticipated. Without going into too much detail, I ended up having to re-interview Karina because of confidentiality reasons. There is a strict policy for music therapists that they cannot share certain information. I did not think anything had gone wrong, however Karina seemed very strongly set on doing another interview, so I had no problem going through this process again to be sure that she was happy with the final product! This whole situation ended up being a learning process for the both of us, and it allowed for even more thought on the subject!

The thing that probably interested me most was Karina’s philosophy of music therapy. She states, “Every person has the ability to become their better self.” I love this idea because it allows everyone to be the best they can be. She quotes Nordoff and Robbins’ idea of the “musical child” that is in each and every one of us. She believes that reaching the “musical child” allows you “to help people move forward to where they need to go.” I love this concept. I think it is a truly beautiful way to think of people in general, not only for music therapy but for all people in life. Everyone can improve or move forward, you are not stuck in the here and now. I think the fact that this is Karina’s philosophy for her job shows how passionate she is about what she wants to do and it allows her to be a better person and music therapist!

The New Generation of Singers

A performance career is not for everyone. It takes a certain character and discipline to be an excellent musician and performer. The challenges to being a performer are many. With the challenges there are also indescribable benefits that result through performance. Marissa Chalker has clearly experienced both the negatives and positives of this career. Some of the challenges that Marissa mentioned, both on and off camera, are things I know I will be encountering in the future when I will graduate and arrive at the same point in my life where she is now.

At this point, I am currently applying to multiple graduate schools to receive my Masters of Music in vocal performance. This process is terribly involved and nerve-wrecking. It requires focus and lots of determination. I have found that throughout my process of applying and recording pre-screening tapes, I have wanted to give up multiple times, thinking perhaps I was not ready or simply doubting my passion for this art. Talking to Marissa made me sure of my decision to apply, audition, and proceed to the next step. Honestly, it is rejection that is what I am afraid of the most. So much work, time, and effort have been put into preparing for this step that rejection would just be completely overwhelming. Marissa reminded me throughout our interview that rejection, in every aspect of life, is absolutely normal. As professional artists we of all people should be able to take it and move on. Her attitude toward rejection was that there is always something new to learn about yourself and about the work that you have presented to a panel of judges. It is also very important to keep in mind that in an audition situation, there are going to be people that love your work and others that will disagree with the choices you have made completely. I think what Marissa was trying to explain was that it is of utmost importance to have enough knowledge about what you are presenting in order to present an opinion. Whether it is the repertoire you have selected to go into your audition package or a certain musical choice within an aria, it is important to decide and commit to that choice. Her argument was that people are more impressed when you can show them commitment to one choice rather than having too many.

Besides dealing with rejection, Marissa talked about balancing her three jobs and still being in the process of audition and trying to get her career to begin. We both agreed on the financial struggle that this career path causes us especially when we are in transitional phases, like both Marissa and I are experiencing now. Her advice to me is to have jobs that pay decently but to be sure that, even while at work, you are able to maintain a certain level of happiness and that you aren’t straining yourself emotionally and physically. She mentioned her favorite job is singing with her church choir on the weekends and in rehearsal. She feels a sense of accomplishment getting paid to do what she loves to do best: perform.

Interviewing Marissa was very informative. It was interesting to hear what life is like once you graduate and the positives and negative sides to being in a less structured environment. I hope to be as successful as Marissa was at transitioning.

From Graduation to the Classroom

On November 4^th I interviewed a good friend of mine, and Westminster Choir College Alumni, Sarah Mae Lagasca. Sarah Mae recently graduated from Westminster, not even a year ago in 2013, and is now working as a K-8 music teacher in Freehold. NJ. Before Westminster Sarah Mae attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City. At Westminster Sarah Mae majored in Music Education with a vocal primary. Now almost halfway through her fist year of teaching she is being able to put her skills as an educator to the test as well as deal with this new found territory of being out of school and in the real world.

As a future educator getting to talk to Sarah Mae was a dream come true. I brought this thought up to her multiple times but the process we go through in school is kind of the “perfect process.” While going through this “perfect process” one of the things I fear is that it is not like what will be encountered in the real world. During the interview Sarah Mae expressed that, yes, Westminster does offer the perfect road to music education and that in the real world you don’t have your co-op to guide you. But, the best part about the real world is that it is the real world. You now have real students, and real experiences where you are in charge.

I ask Sarah Mae a lot of questions on what it was like in her first year of teaching. She expressed to me that she had two main struggles while going through her first year of teaching. The first is age. She told me that being a new teacher as well as being a young teacher is intimidating. While her colleagues are great, supportive, and understanding it is very scary to be the new kid on the block, so to speak. The second challenge she had might actually surprise you. If you were going to guess being a female or woman or color you’re wrong. Sarah Mae said that her biggest struggle is actually her height. “If I don’t wear heels to school I get mistaken for a student.” Yes, we had a very long a good laugh about this.

Getting to talk to Sarah Mae was such a treat! She is an extremely bubbly and personable person. Our conversations didn’t feel forced or awkward at all; on the contrary everything seemed to roll from one topic to the next. I came to the interview prepared with a list of questions that I didn’t really get to touch. Sarah Mae was extremely intuitive and answered half of my questions before I had the chance to ask them. I found myself laughing through most of the interview and time flew by so quickly. It was such a fun interview and I would do it all over in a heartbeat if I could.

Katie Cloys: Future Dean

Pursuing a career in music can seem like an impossible task. The bad job market, the inconsistency of many ‘musical’ jobs, the insane competitiveness that comes along with any career in the arts: it can all seem daunting and terrifying. But the fact that people continue to pursue it, and even make great careers, speaks to the importance of music in so many people’s lives.

Katie Cloys, a musician in New Jersey, has been a music lover all her life. Exposed to music at an early age, Katie decided to follow her passion. Like many students, she had some great and some not-so-great teachers in her life, but she found music teachers to be the most influential in her career. From this, she decided teaching was her calling; she wanted to inspire others just like she had been inspired. For her, “it was always music.”

Katie came to Westminster Choir College for a degree in music education. She felt that in order to be the best teacher she could be, she should have a good understanding of vocal pedagogy. So after finishing her bachelors degree, she decided to stay at Westminster to pursue a double Pedagogy and Performance degree. During her master’s work, she became the assistant for Dr. Joe Miller. It was during her time with Dr. Miller that Katie discovered her interest in arts administration. This was the path that she had been looking for all along.
But she had just spent six years obtaining degrees that did not necessarily add to her administrative credentials.

She also graduated in 2008, just in time for economic troubles. So though her interest was in arts administration, she began to look for any administrative work. She worked temp jobs including assisting, which ended up landing her a job at Princeton University as an assistant administrator in the office of the Provost. Music has always been her passion, so in order to keep that in her life, she currently also works as a section leader at Lamington Presbyterian Church; she also sings the occasional choral concert and solo work. But still, she hopes to combine her passions in the near future.

Katie seems to have an exciting career ahead of her. She seeks to continue administrative work at the higher education level, but is looking for the next step that will eventually lead her to a directorship or dean position at a conservatory or music school. She believes that some people are more inclined to doing administrative work, and that every experience you have just helps build to the next thing, so she is glad for her experiences now. But Katie is most looking forward to the unique challenges that deans of music schools face. She sees that difficult and overwhelming position as never having to face the same day or the same challenges twice. She also wants to work at a music school because she understands the passion for music in a way others may not. Having obtained an education, pedagogy, and performance degree, she truly understands the need of the students. And that what she’s all about: caring for the students.

Katie Cloys

Katie didn’t always know what she was going to do with her life. She found her passion in music, and so pursued a musical career in a variety of ways. Of the unknowns in life, Katie simply said that you should “allow yourself to just be open to the possibilities–know that it’s going to be okay… Every step you take is going to lead you to where you need to be.” And that’s true for anyone pursuing a musical career. There are so many more options than you can plainly see. For Katie, it ended up being arts administration. And to those of you who may be feeling that you don’t know what choosing a ‘different’ kind of musical career means, take a lesson from Katie. No matter what you pursue, “it doesn’t mean that you’re any less passionate about music. I am still as passionate as all of those who are out there teaching or performing or conducting. I’m just doing it in a different way.”

Interview of a High School Musician

For my historiography interview, I interviewed a high school student who gave great insight into the typical day of a high school student who was also involved in a solid music program. There was a lot of information which I had expected and knew about the life of young casual musicians.  However, there were some things that surprised me and some aspects to her experience that I was not expecting.

The first thing that surprised me is the fact that neither her, nor her friends, went outside of their school for musical experiences.  This would not necessarily be such a surprise except for the fact that the school is Princeton High School and less than a mile away is the McCarter Theatre and Princeton University with numerous musical performances and opportunities.  Other opportunities for music lie in the American Boy Choir and Princeton Girl Choir, which are also very close to the school.  Finally, the Westminster Choir College of Rider University is literally across the street from the high school.  With all of this exposure to music available at such a close proximity, it is very interesting that none of the musical students that my interviewee knows explores these options.

The next interesting piece of information that I did not know was the presence of a cappella music in the school.  Student run organizations can are much harder to organize and run than a typical choir.  Having a designated leader helps to avoid conflicts and is much more effective in organization and learning knowledge.  At Princeton High School, on the other hand, they have four a cappella groups and all of them are student run.  The idea of just one student run group in a school seems impressive enough, but having four is truly impressive.

After all of the surprising facts about the high school environment, it was very informative to just focus on one student.  Going through school, I knew that I wanted to follow music and it gave a different insight into that environment by talking to someone who knew that they would not follow music.  She was involved in the choruses because she genuinely enjoyed the combined singing and camaraderie.  When asked if she considered herself a musician, she replied that she did think she was a musician and would take music with her for the rest of her life.  Becoming a professional musician was just not in her interests and she had clear goals in mind.

The information about the musical life in the school and the supposed “bubble” is helpful towards an understanding of the experiences which comprise the average casual musician.  Music in Princeton is strong but it has the opportunity to be much stronger if the students in the school district take the time to explore other musical aspects the town has to offer.

Interview with Sarah Orfe

I met with Sarah Orfe the morning of her “mixed ages” Music Together class on November 11^th at the Princeton Montessori School. With rain sticks, drum sticks and other percussion instruments in hand, Sarah greeted me with a smile excited to begin the interview. We set up her classroom with the instruments, so that she could easily transition into her class after the half-hour, and Sarah suggested sitting by the window for “aesthetic affect.” Her welcoming energy set a comfortable and friendly environment for the interview.

Sarah Orfe

The interview started with a bit of chaos. Five minutes into the interview the camera stand fell, forcing us to restart the interview.  Then, a facilities manager came in to discuss the construction at the school.  Finally a family came to class twenty minutes early, disrupting the final part of our interview. Despite all of this, Sarah participated in the interview giving detailed information on her musical experiences in her family and as a professional.

Sarah grew up in a family that praised and practiced communal music making. Both of her parents were pianists and “amateur singers,” and instilled a passion for music in their children. Sarah studied flute for several years, and self-taught herself piano. This prompted her ideal of communal and active music making. Reflecting on today’s generation Sarah stated that the younger generations are “button pushers.” Meaning that children no longer are active participants in music, and experience music solely through listening or watching musical programs. But Sarah didn’t realize this until her son was enrolled in a Kindermusik program.

Kindermusik, similar to Music Together, is a “mommy & me” music course based in LA. In addition to musical interest, she noticed extreme improvements in her son’s behavior.  She remembers that her son’s transitions (going to school, bed, etc.) were always difficult, but working cooperatively in a music setting changed this. Because of this Sarah became certified in the Kindermusik program.

Sarah was with Kindermusik for a few years before she became upset with the program. While she liked the communal environment that it provoked, she wanted a program with more musical training. Music Together has the same social growth as Kindermusik, but Sarah was attracted to the music education, based mainly in Orfe practices, that Music Together offers.

Performance and Teaching: A Divide

From the interview I learned how it is that someone is able to balance performing and teaching. Being that Ms. Robin Leigh Massie is such an amazing teacher, it was shocking to me to learn that she never actually wanted to teach and that performing had been her only calling. It was not until she started studying vocal pedagogy that she wanted to start learning about the voice and communicating what she had learned to others.

Robin Leigh Massie (left) and Samantha Ganz (right)

Since I want to pursue both performing and teaching, it was interesting to me to learn what goes on behind the scenes in both teaching and performing. For instance, I learned what planning vocal lessons for students entails, as well as the fact that you must be there for your student as an emotional support as well. The teacher needs to not only help the student to grow because that is what is expected, but instead because the students themselves want  to do well; it is all a balancing act, but self-motivation is the leading factor in producing a great vocalist, or even musician in general. Also, she explained that even when giving feedback to our students we must be careful in choosing our words. We always want to help the student improve, but we also do not ever want to discourage that student from that same progress.

It was also interesting to me to understand how it was living as a married couple who are both performers. It is nice to think that you will be able to support each other, and fly to see each other’s performances; however being performers really hinders the time spent with the significant other. For instance, there are many trips even aside from performing duties that one must attend, leaving their significant other behind. This could put a major strain on any relationship, not just marriage. Therefore, just like with any issue we are facing, communication is key.

Also, I was interested to learn how someone who is actually part of the opera world viewed opera today. In my last blog I spoke about opera presumably as a “dying” art form. I also spoke about new composers such as Nico Muhly and his new “technological” opera making its first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera this season.

With New York City Opera closing, it is evident that the classical world today does not have the same support as it did in the past.  However, when speaking to Ms. Robin Leigh Massie, she did not believe that opera was dying at all. She spoke about different performances she’s seen, even of older operas such as Le Nozze di Figaro being performed with a new twist. These composers and directors are trying to find a new voice for the art in order to appeal to more people. Therefore, it may seem as if it is “dying”, however it is just changing.

Lastly, everyone will have their opinions on just about everything we do, and in order to keep a sane mind and status we must remember that we are here and doing what we do because we love it. No matter what our reasons for the study may be, all musicians can relate to each other in the sense that we all have a love for the art that connects us at the core.

Simplicity Come from the Most Complex Thoughts

Emily Vite

A week after my videotaped interview with Emily Vite, I asked to see her again. It took me a lot of time to process everything she said on camera because it was all so overwhelming at first. She had given me the answers that I was looking for and more. It was surprising to me that she not only gave me insight into her compositional technique, but had whispered into my ears her deepest insecurities and fears in her personal life just by talking about her compositions. I have known Emily for only a couple of months and here I felt like I had known a lot of her personal life. Not only did I learn about Emily’s compositional technique, I learned that it is formed by the experiences that we go through in life. Emily explained to me that composition is much more than just thinking through melodies and harmonies; It is a reflection of our soul.

Emily stressed to me that anyone can compose. She strongly believed that anyone could do it. There is no question that it is an art that requires a lot of knowledge and good theoretical foundations, but those can be discovered just by composing again and again and listening to various choral compositions. She highly recommended church hymns to start and then to move into baroque music, and then classical. By looking at these various stylistic compositions, you may begin to recognize certain patterns that you can apply to your own compositions. Just like any kind of card game, it just takes experience and repetition in order to master the craft.

Emily made me aware of the fact that it takes an extremely thorough and meticulous process in order to compose something of worth. It’s even harder to achieve a musical simplicity. Because you have the freedom to compose anything you want, you are pulled in many different directions and it is important to make your own set of rules when you compose. It doesn’t necessarily have to be any type of precise science; however, it is important to take one step at a time or else you will quickly get overwhelmed and never achieve the goal that you want to achieve. Emily’s rules consisted of a regimented layering technique of first the soprano line, then the bass, and then the tenor and alto line in choral composition. Something just as simple as that can give a composer the direction they need.

When I mentioned that I read a book very similar to her views on music and philosophy (Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart by Mark Epstein), Emily instantly recognized the title and said that that was one of the major books she had read that influenced her. One of the most important quotes that she shared with me from the book was this: “In building a path through the self to the far shore of awareness, we have to carefully pick our way through our own wilderness. If we can put our minds into a place of surrender, we will have an easier time feeling the contours of the land. We do not have to break our way through as much as we have to find our way around the major obstacles.”

Emily struggled for a long time trying to find her place in music because she knew she wanted to be a pianist but could not consistently practice because of her physical problems. She explained to me that during this process, the music that she wrote was very coarse and rigid with chromatic harmonies and well thought-out chord progressions, but this was not fulfilling for her. She found herself constantly struggling to do something that was more fulfilling and it was only until she allowed herself to let go of the idea of being a professional pianist that she began composing music that was both satisfying and complex.

Emily is a prime example of someone who not only has a philosophy that works for her, but she applies it in her music. Through her many years studying music on the piano, she learned many of the various compositional techniques that composers used. She applied this knowledge to paper and through repetition and experience, she achieved her own niche in her compositions.

The interview aftermath

Katie Austin

I have to say, interviewing Katie was more fun than I thought it would be.  When I had first joined my voice teacher Carolann Page’s voice studio, it was the 2^nd semester into my sophomore year and I was the fresh new face in the studio. Everyone was secretly known as a “Pagedoll” because she always called us “dolls” and well… her last name is Page. I knew everyone in the studio by name but was not close enough to call them friends or have stories to talk about with them. But, as semesters went on and more performances in studio were done, I started to get closer to everyone; I even became roommates with one of the girls in that studio.

Before interviewing Katie, I didn’t realize how close we actually became before she graduated from Westminster. When I thought of my topic, I immediately thought of her because she inspired me so much in studio class. She was known to have come into the studio with a lot of stage fright; it really changed her voice and her performance negatively. However, her hard work and perseverance were noticed and I really admired it. The more she performed, the more poised and confident she looked. Once she graduated from college, I was just really curious to see have things have changed for her, what things were easier or not, and what was unexpected for her in the real world.

This interview turned out to be more of a catch up of gossip and the low down between friends rather than a punctual and question/answer interview. I learned a lot about her and got a lot of helpful advice in return. It turns out that giving the interviewee their questions beforehand isn’t such a good idea if you want their natural and funny personality to come out AND if you want longer answers. If you couldn’t already tell, that, among other problems, happened to me. First, Katie and I had completely different schedules and available time slots. Since she lives at an ashram, and I go to college at Stressminster, we ended up having our interview at a solid 10:30pm. Second, because she was nowhere near Princeton at the time, we had to Facetime our interview.

But! Thanks to the power of technology we successfully recorded it! Next, I asked her the assigned questions. I think because she had prepared her answers beforehand, her answers were very short to the point that when I asked her questions off the page while filming, she would answer yes or no.  Once all the questions on the page were done, she relaxed more to her usual quirky self. I got to ask her a lot more questions about how she was and how things were at her ashram, and well… life. I think what I liked most about our interview, was that I also got to tell her what was going on in my life and she gave me some words of wisdom based on her experience.

Speaking with Hannah Waldman

Recently I had an opportunity to sit down and speak with Ms. Hannah Waldman. Hannah is currently both a full-time mother and business manager of Rojo’s Roastery, a coffee roaster with two cafes in New Jersey. Though Leo is a charming toddler, we spent little time talking about him or coffee. I met with Hannah primarily to discuss her training and experiences as a musician.

Hannah is a classically trained singer who has worked in Los Angeles in both the LA Opera Company, as a member of the opera chorus, and in the LA Master Chorale. Hannah’s experiences with choirs are longstanding, as her love of music grew during her time as a member of the Princeton Girlchoir and a community choir run by Dr. Abrahams at Westminster Choir College. That being said, pursuing music as a field of study or a career, especially as a vocalist, was not always a part of Hannah’s plans. In high school, Ms. Waldman considered her primary instrument to be the cello. However, she was forced to give the heirloom instrument to a family member before leaving for college, bringing just her voice with her when she began studies at Oberlin College as a neuroscience major. Though she was not a music major, she was still singing in the chorus and decided to try out for the opera. To her surprise, and her peers’ dismay, she managed to make the opera chorus for a production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a freshman, non-music-major. This confidence boost was what she needed to heed the advice of the graduate student she was taking voice lessons with, and auditioned for the voice program at the Oberlin Conservatory. Hannah spent the next four years working on a dual-degree program, graduating with both a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance.

Ms. Waldman’s stint at home between her time at Oberlin and the University of Southern California was brief, but I feel the need to address it here to set up a quote from Ms. Waldman that particularly struck me. Hannah was living at home, but commuting to New York City twice a week to study with Valeria Sorel, who Hannah says is, “a voice teacher that I just happened to stumble upon.” Reflecting on Hannah’s story, and looking back at mine so far, I realize that coincidence seems to impact one’s life in a much more significant way than we realize in the moment. The chain of fortunate coincidences does not end here for Ms. Waldman.

Hannah decided on a whim to audition to USC because her husband was a finalist for a major organist position nearby, and she was fairly confident that she would be moving to California. As luck would have it, not only was she accepted, but was offered a scholarship and a large stipend as a Teaching Assistant. It was during her time at USC that she had the opportunity to perform as the Dutchess in Powder her Face conducted by composer Thomas Ades.

If you would like to hear more about Hannah’s story, the full interview will be published on http://musicinnewjersey.com/ in the near future!