Congratulations to Keith Wilfinger!

Keith Wilfinger, an undergraduate music education major from Illinois who plays trumpet in the Wind Symphony, and is also a promising young conductor took the suggestion of School of Music Interim Director, Mark Camphouse, and applied for an Avanti Music Scholarship sponsored by the Conn-Selmer Corporation. This was a highly competitive national scholarship competition, and Keith was selected as one of the recipients of this honor.

Keith's winning essay is featured below.

President Bill Clinton stated that "Music is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and by studying music in school, students have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a new perspective. I find myself in complete agreement with the former president with his vision for music education.Music has the potential of being a lifelong companion; one that, with knowledge gained in a thriving music education program, can better a person’s life with numerous benefits.I am a firm believer in that music has the power to bring people together, supports a developing young person’s mind and creates an avenue for human expression and communication.

Music education is more than a concert or a festival. It is more than a soloist or an individual completion.Music education is a journey filled with experiences that impact one’s life in ways sometimes not realized.In music, I strive to look beyond the music, beyond that which is written on paper.Music is the exploration of emotion and expressing that emotion within a group or within oneself. My role as a music educator should always be to teach my students how to do just that—to guide them on their journey of music exploration.

I see music programs that focus on a concert or prepare for a competition while disregarding the music.In math, the teacher does not focus on a math competition when teaching a new skill.He or she teaches the new skill to increase their content knowledge of the subject, how they can use the skill and how it relates to the overall picture of math.Music education should be the same way. Music is taught in the classrooms for music’s sake.

As a music educator, I believe I have the power to teach a skill that will can be a lifelong companion.It brings passion to the soul and music to the heart.It intellectually stimulates a person both emotionally and physically. Being able to have that massive of an impact on my students is far more important than a concert or a festival.Music should be taught, with the understanding by the music educator, that this is just as worthy of a subject as any other.Its lessons go far beyond the walls of a concert hall or classroom. There is not one place music cannot be heard, a toe will not be tapping or a song that will not affect a person in some way. Music education can be that foundation for bringing people closer to these experiences and infinitely more. President Clinton was completely correct in how he viewed music and its educational role and impact in a person’s life. As a future music educator, I cannot express how important it is for me to make an impact in the lives of my students.Music is a lifelong journey and the task falls to me to make sure that there is a firm grounding for which to walk.

TEN THINGS WE LEARNED...

AT THE AMALFI COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL
--Barbara Jacksier and Everett Chasen --

We recently attended the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts festival along with several other Friends of Music, including our Chair, Alice Heyer.

(Patricia Miller checks a score while Alice Heyer chats with Katelyn Sexton and Mia Rojas)

The festival, now in its fourteenth year, brings together teachers and students from throughout the United States and elsewhere to rehearse and perform classical music together, with an emphasis on instrumental music and piano (for the first two weeks of the festival) and voice (for the last two weeks.)

(Adrianna Sgarlata rehearsing for her role as Susanna in Figaro Night 2)

Nine George Mason vocal students (the largest contingent from any school) took part in the vocal program, led by Professor Patricia Miller. The festival culminated in three rapturously received performances of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, with many Mason students taking leading roles in each performance.

(Cast of Figaro Night#1-Stepahnie Edewaard, Darrick Speller and Jessica Buckman)

Here are some (slightly tongue-in-cheek) lessons we learned while attending the festival--

(Alia Waheed as Desdemona)

1. The difference in singing quality between a talented graduate student and a professional singer is virtually indistinguishable to the average listener.

(Virginia Opera's Joe Walsh and students)

2. Performing a Mozart opera is a team sport. No prima donnas need apply.

(Lakme duet - Stephanie Edewaard and Sun Yong Hong)

3. If you land in the airport in Rome, your bags will take forever to show up. If you land in Naples, your bags may never show up at all.

(Katelyn Sexton as Zerlina)

4. Letting the owner order for you in an Italian restaurant can result in some of the greatest meals of your life. It can also bankrupt you---but it will be worth it!

(Stephanie Edewaard with one of Campania's famous lemons)

5. Even twentysomethings need encouragement from adults. They also need regular servings of gelato.

(Donizetti duet - Jessica Buckman and Wayne Jennings)

6. Classical music is not dead: it’s alive and well and living in Northern Virginia and Julliard and Texas Tech and Queens College and Cal Poly Pomona and in dozens of other schools and colleges around the nation.

(Stephanie Edewaard -left- and Darrick Speller-center)

7. Master classes are the modern equivalent of trial by ordeal—interesting to watch but difficult to survive.

(Pre-performance dinner in Naples)

8. Never play “La Valse” for someone who once studied with the composer (Maurice Ravel) himself.

(Piano legend Aldo Ciccolini with master class student)

9. The Italian language has no word for “bedtime,” especially when it comes to small children.

(Mia Rojas as one of the Mikado's Three Little Maids)

10. George Mason’s music students are equal to, if not better than, students of any other music school in America. They are true international sensations. And they deserve our encouragement and support!

(Everett, Barbara, Wayne, Patricia and Darrick)