Where the sidewalk ends: helping music majors connect with the musical community after graduation

American Music Teacher, April-May, 2003 by Linda Holzer

The NEC Career Skills course is required for juniors and enrolls approximately ninety students each year in three sections. There is no single textbook commonly used for this type of course. Instead, students purchase a 165-page folder of materials created by Beeching, including handouts from Career Services.

It's not all about money. At a workshop on networking, NEC tries to have several staffers on hand to facilitate introductions. Young adults need to learn how to approach a stranger and talk. Nearby, at the Berklee College of Music, the Career Center has seven computer terminals for student use. Two video players and a video library highlight a range of topics, including "A Day in the Life of Branford Marsalis," "Interviewing with Confidence" and "Post-Graduation Visa Options."

The Case for Curriculum Reform

There are some who argue that being a music major is incompatible with vocational training. That view implies music professors are like priests bearing the light of artistic truth from the great composers and that practical subjects like careers and employment have no place in the studio or classroom. But surely we all can agree that part of the purpose of a college education is to enlarge the mind and create a better citizen. College music study can be a powerfully inspiring endeavor. We can't calculate a tangible cost-benefit ratio on such things. However, with expenses for undergraduate degrees totaling anywhere from $20,000-$120,000 at the end of four years of enrollment (1) and the median household income in America at approximately $42,100 annually, (2) it is imperative that discussion about making a living have some place in the degree program.

For the past seven years, music career office representatives from more than twenty-five schools, including NEC, Juilliard, Eastman, Manhattan, Oberlin, Northwestern, Peabody and the University of Arizona, have been gathering in New York every January to brainstorm about career guidance. Workshop participants swap ideas and constantly are looking for ways to enhance their operations within the limitations of budget and job description. For most participants, their involvement with career guidance is only one part of their job description.

A Small-Scale Approach

The music department where I am a faculty member is small, without the financial means to staff a career center for music students. But there is a substantial musical community in Arkansas, a resource I tap into frequently.

With the aid of e-mail and a carefully compiled database of state and local Music Teachers Associations, I periodically have conducted surveys and shared the results with my colleagues and students in piano pedagogy and studio class. A formal large-scale survey of Arkansas piano teachers provided data about the current range of lesson fees, business practices, most popular music theory software and studio enrollment trends. A shorter survey of local freelance pianists provided data about the current rates for playing weddings and parties; a survey of church pianists and organists revealed the range of part-time salaries and fees for substitute gigs.