Over the past several years I’ve noticed a fair amount of discussion about the relevancy of a college education, especially one in the arts. And this post by Ivan Trevino echoes many of the concerns recent graduates are having about their college music degree experience.
I was asked recently to serve on a committee of faculty from the College of Fine Arts at UT to look more closely at the offerings, or lack thereof, of our current curriculum and to suggest changes and/or additions to better help students cope with life after school.
I’ve been writing and thinking about these things for quite some time and I’m excited about the opportunity to help our college adapt to the changing needs of our graduates. So, the purpose of tonight’s post, is to try and get a better pulse on what we, the protectors and directors of higher education, need to be aware of as we develop our offerings to become more relevant to today’s college music student.
To that end: whether you are a current college student, or college professor, what are your thoughts on how higher education needs to adapt to better prepare our graduates for success. Please leave your thoughts below and be sure to check out Ivan’s post (link above). Thanks for your ideas in advance!
Sorry for the delay in posting this. I have been busy with a sick child and some computer problems. Anyway, onward to the reading list. Hope everyone has a great week and please send me your recommendations.
So Percussion has just completed several performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic over the past week. They did the US premiere of man made by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer David Lang. To listen to the complete performance (including Mahler 5), visit NPR Archive Recording. They also preformed David Lang’s the so-called laws of nature Michael Gordon’s Timber on The Green Umbrella Concert. (more…)
The Mobius Percussion Quartet is an up and coming group based out of Brooklyn/NYC. They have played multiple concerts and been guests with So Percussion. This piece is a new snare drum quartet by Jason Treuting. For more information about the piece, the composer and the group, read the text from the YouTube post below.
As I was deciding what I was going to post today, I came across this video in the suggested videos on YouTube. (more…)
For the snare drummer, stickings are analogous to bowings for string players. There are two main systems for stickings: 1) Free Alternating System and 2) Right Hand Lead System. Each systems has their advantages and disadvantages. Check out the video for an explanation of each system. (more…)
