WEATHERING THE PERFECT STORM: PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION FOR A CAREER IN MUSIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

A brief study of the history of classical music and the subsequent performance of it reveal magnificent innovative achievements in the inspired evolution of composers and the performing artists that have presented it. Throughout the centuries these performers have stimulated generations of audiences while taking them on musical journeys that cover the complete spectrum of human emotion. Today the classical music world faces weighty challenges that that could very well crush the future of this valuable art form and lead the industry into a desolate demise. A thick cloud of smoke has descended upon these once proud and distinguished music institutions in the United States. Orchestras, opera companies, and other traditional performing institutions are facing financial tribulations, and many of these organizations have already shut their doors. Interest in classical music has plummeted and audiences have continued to disintegrate along with it. In the meantime, music colleges and conservatories have ignored the plight of the professional organizations in turmoil by continuing to train performers in the United States the same way that they have always done since the National Association of Music Schools developed their accreditation standards in 1924. This has led to a generation of music performance majors being trained for jobs that are no longer viable. What’s worse, once these students are finished studying, their music colleges and conservatories disregard them, and institutions move forward with training the next generation of students who will undoubtedly face a similar fate. Along with the turmoil surrounding traditional performing institutions and a music performance curriculum built for a different time, another problem exists that will ultimately push these two concerns to the forefront in the coming years. Higher education in the United States is beginning to experience a colossally devastating financial crisis as a result of decades of unlimited federal student loan aid, decreased state funding, overspending by institutions, and technological alternatives to traditional education that have triggered steady increases in tuition rates for students. These increases have culminated in a substantial amount of graduates taking on debt, on which significant percentages of those graduates are now defaulting. Subsequently, enrollment in higher education has been dropping every year since 2011, and a growing number of prospective students are losing faith in the system and are looking towards alternative avenues to receive their educations. A “perfect storm” has developed in our midst. Several problematic elements of the storm have been simmering for quite a while, but have never been properly confronted or treated. Now a fresh set of storm indicators are emerging that will further emphasize the severity of the problems that have been there for years. Addressing challenges in institutions that have done things the same way for many decades can admittedly be arduous. But regardless of how long these problems have been ignored, they generally don’t go away by themselves, and they often become so insurmountable that only undesirable solutions are feasible. The perfect storm threatening the classical music world is not going away, but, fortunately, reforms are possible that can assist music colleges and conservatories in weathering it and help to reverse the negative forecast. The purpose of this monograph will be to detail the different elements that make up this “perfect storm,” and explain why reforming the music performance curriculum so that it becomes relevant to the current realities of being a 21st-century performing artist is essential. In order to be able to proceed with these reforms, a fundamental reorganization of foundational aspects in music higher education needs to occur. This project is not something that I wanted to take on, but I felt that it was my duty to do everything possible to reinvigorate and transform the training of performing musicians so that the next generation will be able to succeed in saving our art from its downward trajectory and move it onto a path of sustainability and relevance. I am writing this for my colleagues who are navigating the professional music world, for current music students, for future prospective students preparing to enter the music industry, for current and future music professors, for deans in music schools, and for the accreditors who build the music performance curriculum.