Has anyone else seen the announcement that the Ithaca School of Music is now the Ithaca School of Music, Theater, and Dance?
I’m not feeling great about this… I am sure it’s due to budget cuts which is not a good sign for the future. They are hyping up the cross-disciplinary benefits of the merger, but I just don’t see many for my S22 who has applied there.
Hmmm…I’m sure it depends on the size/ organization of the program, but it seems to work well at UMich SMTD. I don’t know that there’s much overlap on a day-to-day basis. My D, an instrumentalist, rarely interacts with the theatre and dance people. They mostly inhabit separate building in the same area of campus. Maybe it would make the arts program at Ithaca more robust? I’m sure it has to do with money and attracting talent. I would just say that it’s possible for all three areas to be strong. Like Michigan, it is my understanding that Ithaca has a solid reputation for the performing arts.
It could be due to budget cuts (there’s probably an aspect to it in these times). It could be negative overall. If I were considering the school, I would look closely at the faculty and curriculum to be sure it was still a good program/fit. HOWEVER, it could also be a necessary review of the departments that results in some positives.
It is a common complaint of young musicians that music schools are living in the past. Older faculty sometimes cannot give the best advice as the classical music “industry” is not what it was 40, 30 or even 20 years ago. It is very rare for a classical musician to leave college, get in with an orchestra or on the opera track and build a career in the sense of constant work with good pay. Some do (my D knows some so it’s not impossible) but it is the top percentage only (and even then there can be “bumps”). Many end up like my D, “a middle class artist”. EDIT: this is NOT a bad thing…it’s been very positive.
In the past 10 years, there seems to be an attempt at colleges to deal with this new reality through “entrepreneurial course work”. That’s a good start…bc musicians really need to market themselves in the gig economy.
Another way would be to broaden skill sets…reflecting the wider range of work that musicians will need to do to survive and perform. Many of those skills don’t require another “degree or minor” but just some exposure/experience/practice.
My D’s “big” break in her city was getting in the ensemble at a respected theater with good pay and long runs because she could still tap. Her degree was VP (opera) but she continued to some acting and dancing. She worked with a well-known choregrapher in the area who took a liking to her and start recommending her for other work…and so on and so on…and then these decision makers noticed that she could really sing (and in more than one style). The offers just continued from there. And then she got some breaks in opera too. It just took time. But when your young and need to pay rent, breaking in…is hard to do. You just need a break (or a filler job sometimes) and for my D, it was that she could still tap…and later act…and then sing.
Having MORE skills and experience in music and performance at the tender age of 22, 23 or 25 (when nobody really “needs” you) is much better than a narrow set of skills. If Ithaca has more musicians experiencing more styles (classical, MT, jazz, small ensembles for theater productions) of music and performance…maybe that ain’t so bad. Maybe Ithaca is trying to reflect reality after college and solve their budget issues at the same time. I don’t know…but I can’t be sure that it is all bad news. You would need to check the curriculum.
Thanks @bridgenail. Great perspective on this. You’ve given me lots of things to think about.