Students Criticize Theory Emphasis

Twenty small practice rooms line the hallways of the basement of Harvard's music building. In one, a student monotonously plays piano scales, while the sound of a soprano aria drifts through the walls. In an adjoining classroom, a professor discusses music theory with his students. A saxophone wails at the end of the hall.

Each weekend, students can see everything from orchestras to a capella groups. Some of the nation's best-known musical talents hail from Harvard: Yo Yo Ma '76, Leonard Bernstein '39, Robinson Professor of Music Robert D. Levin '68 and more recently, jazz musician Joshua Redman '91 and cellist Matt Haimovitz '96.

Faced with such a wealth of musical talent and performance, it is easy for someone not involved in music to forget that Harvard is not a conservatory. Why, then, did Leonard Bernstein once say that Harvard is a place where music is seen and not heard?

Performance vs. Theory

Traditionally, the Music Department has focused on the intellectual, rather than the technical, aspects of musicianship.

While Harvard boasts perhaps the top department in the country for the field of musicology -- the study of the history, theory and composition of music -- there has never been much emphasis on performance.

This may not seem unusual or controversial for a liberal arts college. Harvard's scholastic tradition, based on English and European universities, values intellectual study and theory, and all but prohibits the practice of crafts.

But over the past few years, as academic debate has collapsed and transformed traditional disciplines, questions have been raised about Harvard's exclusion of performance from its Music Department.

The number of virtuosos attending Harvard makes the traditional omission of music performance even more difficult to explain. Students argue that the department should offer more for undergrads who want to become professional musicians.

While some students say they understand the University's current policy, others, especially those planning on becoming professional musicians, are irate over what they characterize as neglect of performance within the department.

"I don't think music is supported here," one performer says. "There isn't a good relationship between the Music Department and a lot of the undergraduates."

Although an estimated 2,500 students are involved in one way or another with performing arts at Harvard, there are only 31 full music concentrators and 18 double concentrators in music and another field.

Many have turned their backs on the Music Department, dissatisfied with the department's offerings and frustrated with the limited performance instruction.

"If there was a music performance concentration, I probably would have concentrated in it," says Shasa R. Dobrow '97, a bassoon player in Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) who decided to concentrate in biological anthropology instead.

One Small Step...

In more recent years, the Music Department has begun to incorporate some performance into its curriculum. Levin's appointment as Harvard's first-ever professor of performance, the creation of performance classes Music 180 and 91r and performance opportunities in Literature and Arts B Core courses such as "First Nights" and "Chamber Music" are tentative steps towards this end.

But faculty and administrators insist that performing must remain secondary to academic study within Harvard's Music Department.

"The route into musical understanding is most often through performance," says Professor of Music Kay Kaufman Shelemay, the department chair. "But we have to balance that with the mission of the university."

Harvard has increased its support for artistic endeavors with more creative writing courses, dramatic arts courses and studio courses in VES, according to Lawrence Buell, dean of undergraduate education.

"At the same time, it will never be in the character of Harvard for its Music Department to evolve into a mini-conservatory," the dean says.

Harvard or a Conservatory?

For talented musicians, coming to Harvard often means turning down a conservatory.

There is an inevitable tradeoff in the decision; a conservatory can give many performers the experience and contacts they need, but requires students to sacrifice other interests.

Students at Julliard, Curtis and other conservatories often lead monastic lives, practicing for seven or eight hours each day.

"There's the tradeoff of diversity [at a conservatory]," says pianist Sophia S. Chen '97, who attended the Julliard Preparatory School for three years during high school. "I came here because I wanted to be more than one-dimensional."

Senior admissions officer David Illingworth '71 says that most students applying to Harvard are well aware that they won't receive a conservatory-style experience from the Music Department, and those seeking more rigorous instruction screen themselves out.

But students may not always know what they are getting into.

"A lot of performers come here and are often very disappointed," one musician says.

"[Harvard] recruits such fabulously virtuosic musicians and they have nowhere to practice their crafts," adds vocalist Amy B. Brown '97, a music and religion concentrator.

Struggling Artists

Still, other schools comparable to Harvard have incorporated aspects of the conservatory experience into their musical scenes. While Yale's undergraduate music department is primarily theory oriented, students can also benefit from the Graduate School of Music.

"I was definitely attracted to Yale's deeper commitment to music," says Jean L. Tom '96, who says she decided to attend Harvard anyway.

Undergraduates can take up to four semesters worth of lessons for credit at Yale's School of Music. A special fund, available by competitive auditions, also defrays the cost of lessons at the school for students who are not taking them for credit.

Yale students who do take lessons for credit do not pay anything beyond regular tuition fees. Harvard students, however, do not have this option, forcing them to seek expensive instruction from outside of the school.

While Harvard does offer subsidies for lessons through the Office of the Arts' Musical Lesson Subsidy Program (MLSP), the funds are limited and lesson prices are steep.

The program awards subsidies based on financial need and musical talent. Under the MLSP, students are given up to $200 for the cost of ten lessons per semester. Although the program funded lessons for 71 out of the 96 applicants, individual subsidies are not always sufficient.

One lesson from any professor at New England Conservatory, where many Harvard students take lessons, can cost upwards of $100, according to Jonathan L. Yates '97, pianist and conductor of the Bach Society Orchestra.

"A lot of this [fund] doesn't cover lessons," agrees James D. Yannatos, the conductor of HRO. "The financial crunch does come in here."

But the fund does work for some, like Sarita N. Cannon '98. "I probably wouldn't be able to take lessons without it," the singer says.

Lessons are not the only drain on a musician's wallet. Upkeep of musical instruments, renting recital space in Paine Hall or other areas and travelling expenses are also costly.

Because Harvard students must seek instruction outside of school, they are often forced to venture some distance for lessons.

Brown says she travels 45 minutes each way every time she takes a vocal lesson. Some students even travel to New York City a few times a month to train for professional careers.

Although Yale's nearby conservatory does makes it easier for undergraduates at Yale to perform, students say the separation between the school and the department does have some drawbacks.

"Yale's program is limiting in some respects for undergrads," Yates says. "[At Harvard] the people who get the performance opportunities are really the undergrads."

Shelemay says she sees the Music Department at Harvard as having a much more centrist approach than Yale in seeking to bring some performance and musical study together for undergraduates.

"We like to think that we incorporate the best of both worlds," she says.

"One would not want to make a distinction between what one does mechanically and what one does intellectually," says Professor of Music Thomas F. Kelly.

Performing for Grades

Although Harvard continues its tradition of emphasizing intellectual study rather than the performance of music, professors say that the department fosters support for performers in other ways.

Shelemay cites a program in which a limited number of students can do independent study with an outside instructor for elective credit with the permission of the department.

The only students eligible for independent study, however, are members of HRO, one of the four Holden choirs or students enrolled in a department course, thus excluding a good chunk of Harvard's music community.

Other departmental offerings include Levin's Music 180, one of two music classes in which students themselves perform regularly.

Even though 180 is sought after for its performance opportunities, theory and history inevitably make their way into the course work. Many students are surprised to find the course somewhat demanding academically with its attention to musicology.

Chen says that it is difficult for non-music concentrators who are not as well grounded in theory to do well in Music 180.

But Levin responds that a performer of music cannot merely enjoy performing or listening to music without truly understanding it. "Someone who wishes to spend a life doing this should have a deeper feeling [about music] when these issues come up," he says.

No Place to Play

The Music Department also supports performance by providing 20 practice rooms for student use.

Most music departments at other colleges, including Yale, do not provide these kinds of facilities, according to Shelemay.

Still, professors and students alike acknowledge that the number of practice rooms and ensemble spaces is grossly inadequate for the multitude of student performers.

"We are bursting at the seams," Yannatos says. "[Performers] are really so much involved in musical activities that space is always a problem."

Timing is also a problem for many students who want to use the practice rooms.

During the week, the rooms close at 9:15 p.m. and are only open for three hours on Saturdays. Given the hectic schedule of Harvard students, finding time to practice can be close to impossible.

House practice rooms solve some of the space and timing crunch, but the poor acoustics and out-of-tune pianos of some houses dismay many musicians.

"As performers we have a lot to contend with already," Chen says. "A lot of times it's very frustrating."

Filling the Gap

Performers at Harvard must draw on the resources of Harvard's houses and extracurricular community to find outlets for their music.

The music tutors in the houses are helpful in directing students towards good instructors and recital space.

Dunster House music tutor and Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Owen Young tutors students in musical performance, theory and history, in addition to organizing House productions like the Dunster House Opera.

"If you have a very committed music tutor you can derive a lot of support from them," says Tom, who says she plays independently in chamber groups.

Harvard's array of orchestras, as well as the variety of independent groups on campus, offer any musician a chance to perform.

Yates says that the conducting opportunities at Harvard are especially incredible.

"It's pretty rare for somebody at the age of twenty to conduct an orchestra," he says.

What Lies Ahead

While many argue about the department's commitment to performance, almost everyone agrees that there has been an astounding growth in Harvard's musical community over the last few decades.

But professors are doubtful as to whether performance will come to play a strong role in the department itself.

At present, the size of facilities and faculty prohibits further expansion of performance.

"It would be great to have more performance activities, but the logistical problems would be horrendous," Yannatos says, noting that the department would have to triple its staff to make it possible.

Funding is also a problem, according to Levin, because the University raises money to support existing programs, rather than to develop new ones.

"Harvard might try to think in long terms about how to enhance performance opportunities," Levin says, but it would do so only "by thinking very carefully and clearly."

"There is no need for Harvard to assemble a hastily built mediocre program," he adds.

On the other hand, professors encourage students not to forget that many of their teachers are concerned with the needs of performers.

"I think its very important for performers to realize they find in me an empathetic figure, someone who listens carefully to their concerns," Levin says. "Students who wish to talk about performance should come to talk to someone who is a performer."Photo Courtesy of Harvard-Radcliffe OrchestraHarvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) and other orchestras attempt to make up for the lack of performance classes within the Music Department.

But over the past few years, as academic debate has collapsed and transformed traditional disciplines, questions have been raised about Harvard's exclusion of performance from its Music Department.

The number of virtuosos attending Harvard makes the traditional omission of music performance even more difficult to explain. Students argue that the department should offer more for undergrads who want to become professional musicians.

While some students say they understand the University's current policy, others, especially those planning on becoming professional musicians, are irate over what they characterize as neglect of performance within the department.

"I don't think music is supported here," one performer says. "There isn't a good relationship between the Music Department and a lot of the undergraduates."

Although an estimated 2,500 students are involved in one way or another with performing arts at Harvard, there are only 31 full music concentrators and 18 double concentrators in music and another field.

Many have turned their backs on the Music Department, dissatisfied with the department's offerings and frustrated with the limited performance instruction.

"If there was a music performance concentration, I probably would have concentrated in it," says Shasa R. Dobrow '97, a bassoon player in Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) who decided to concentrate in biological anthropology instead.

One Small Step...

In more recent years, the Music Department has begun to incorporate some performance into its curriculum. Levin's appointment as Harvard's first-ever professor of performance, the creation of performance classes Music 180 and 91r and performance opportunities in Literature and Arts B Core courses such as "First Nights" and "Chamber Music" are tentative steps towards this end.

But faculty and administrators insist that performing must remain secondary to academic study within Harvard's Music Department.

"The route into musical understanding is most often through performance," says Professor of Music Kay Kaufman Shelemay, the department chair. "But we have to balance that with the mission of the university."

Harvard has increased its support for artistic endeavors with more creative writing courses, dramatic arts courses and studio courses in VES, according to Lawrence Buell, dean of undergraduate education.

"At the same time, it will never be in the character of Harvard for its Music Department to evolve into a mini-conservatory," the dean says.

Harvard or a Conservatory?

For talented musicians, coming to Harvard often means turning down a conservatory.

There is an inevitable tradeoff in the decision; a conservatory can give many performers the experience and contacts they need, but requires students to sacrifice other interests.

Students at Julliard, Curtis and other conservatories often lead monastic lives, practicing for seven or eight hours each day.

"There's the tradeoff of diversity [at a conservatory]," says pianist Sophia S. Chen '97, who attended the Julliard Preparatory School for three years during high school. "I came here because I wanted to be more than one-dimensional."

Senior admissions officer David Illingworth '71 says that most students applying to Harvard are well aware that they won't receive a conservatory-style experience from the Music Department, and those seeking more rigorous instruction screen themselves out.

But students may not always know what they are getting into.

"A lot of performers come here and are often very disappointed," one musician says.

"[Harvard] recruits such fabulously virtuosic musicians and they have nowhere to practice their crafts," adds vocalist Amy B. Brown '97, a music and religion concentrator.

Struggling Artists

Still, other schools comparable to Harvard have incorporated aspects of the conservatory experience into their musical scenes. While Yale's undergraduate music department is primarily theory oriented, students can also benefit from the Graduate School of Music.

"I was definitely attracted to Yale's deeper commitment to music," says Jean L. Tom '96, who says she decided to attend Harvard anyway.

Undergraduates can take up to four semesters worth of lessons for credit at Yale's School of Music. A special fund, available by competitive auditions, also defrays the cost of lessons at the school for students who are not taking them for credit.

Yale students who do take lessons for credit do not pay anything beyond regular tuition fees. Harvard students, however, do not have this option, forcing them to seek expensive instruction from outside of the school.

While Harvard does offer subsidies for lessons through the Office of the Arts' Musical Lesson Subsidy Program (MLSP), the funds are limited and lesson prices are steep.

The program awards subsidies based on financial need and musical talent. Under the MLSP, students are given up to $200 for the cost of ten lessons per semester. Although the program funded lessons for 71 out of the 96 applicants, individual subsidies are not always sufficient.

One lesson from any professor at New England Conservatory, where many Harvard students take lessons, can cost upwards of $100, according to Jonathan L. Yates '97, pianist and conductor of the Bach Society Orchestra.

"A lot of this [fund] doesn't cover lessons," agrees James D. Yannatos, the conductor of HRO. "The financial crunch does come in here."

But the fund does work for some, like Sarita N. Cannon '98. "I probably wouldn't be able to take lessons without it," the singer says.

Lessons are not the only drain on a musician's wallet. Upkeep of musical instruments, renting recital space in Paine Hall or other areas and travelling expenses are also costly.

Because Harvard students must seek instruction outside of school, they are often forced to venture some distance for lessons.

Brown says she travels 45 minutes each way every time she takes a vocal lesson. Some students even travel to New York City a few times a month to train for professional careers.

Although Yale's nearby conservatory does makes it easier for undergraduates at Yale to perform, students say the separation between the school and the department does have some drawbacks.

"Yale's program is limiting in some respects for undergrads," Yates says. "[At Harvard] the people who get the performance opportunities are really the undergrads."

Shelemay says she sees the Music Department at Harvard as having a much more centrist approach than Yale in seeking to bring some performance and musical study together for undergraduates.

"We like to think that we incorporate the best of both worlds," she says.

"One would not want to make a distinction between what one does mechanically and what one does intellectually," says Professor of Music Thomas F. Kelly.

Performing for Grades

Although Harvard continues its tradition of emphasizing intellectual study rather than the performance of music, professors say that the department fosters support for performers in other ways.

Shelemay cites a program in which a limited number of students can do independent study with an outside instructor for elective credit with the permission of the department.

The only students eligible for independent study, however, are members of HRO, one of the four Holden choirs or students enrolled in a department course, thus excluding a good chunk of Harvard's music community.

Other departmental offerings include Levin's Music 180, one of two music classes in which students themselves perform regularly.

Even though 180 is sought after for its performance opportunities, theory and history inevitably make their way into the course work. Many students are surprised to find the course somewhat demanding academically with its attention to musicology.

Chen says that it is difficult for non-music concentrators who are not as well grounded in theory to do well in Music 180.

But Levin responds that a performer of music cannot merely enjoy performing or listening to music without truly understanding it. "Someone who wishes to spend a life doing this should have a deeper feeling [about music] when these issues come up," he says.

No Place to Play

The Music Department also supports performance by providing 20 practice rooms for student use.

Most music departments at other colleges, including Yale, do not provide these kinds of facilities, according to Shelemay.

Still, professors and students alike acknowledge that the number of practice rooms and ensemble spaces is grossly inadequate for the multitude of student performers.

"We are bursting at the seams," Yannatos says. "[Performers] are really so much involved in musical activities that space is always a problem."

Timing is also a problem for many students who want to use the practice rooms.

During the week, the rooms close at 9:15 p.m. and are only open for three hours on Saturdays. Given the hectic schedule of Harvard students, finding time to practice can be close to impossible.

House practice rooms solve some of the space and timing crunch, but the poor acoustics and out-of-tune pianos of some houses dismay many musicians.

"As performers we have a lot to contend with already," Chen says. "A lot of times it's very frustrating."

Filling the Gap

Performers at Harvard must draw on the resources of Harvard's houses and extracurricular community to find outlets for their music.

The music tutors in the houses are helpful in directing students towards good instructors and recital space.

Dunster House music tutor and Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Owen Young tutors students in musical performance, theory and history, in addition to organizing House productions like the Dunster House Opera.

"If you have a very committed music tutor you can derive a lot of support from them," says Tom, who says she plays independently in chamber groups.

Harvard's array of orchestras, as well as the variety of independent groups on campus, offer any musician a chance to perform.

Yates says that the conducting opportunities at Harvard are especially incredible.

"It's pretty rare for somebody at the age of twenty to conduct an orchestra," he says.

What Lies Ahead

While many argue about the department's commitment to performance, almost everyone agrees that there has been an astounding growth in Harvard's musical community over the last few decades.

But professors are doubtful as to whether performance will come to play a strong role in the department itself.

At present, the size of facilities and faculty prohibits further expansion of performance.

"It would be great to have more performance activities, but the logistical problems would be horrendous," Yannatos says, noting that the department would have to triple its staff to make it possible.

Funding is also a problem, according to Levin, because the University raises money to support existing programs, rather than to develop new ones.

"Harvard might try to think in long terms about how to enhance performance opportunities," Levin says, but it would do so only "by thinking very carefully and clearly."

"There is no need for Harvard to assemble a hastily built mediocre program," he adds.

On the other hand, professors encourage students not to forget that many of their teachers are concerned with the needs of performers.

"I think its very important for performers to realize they find in me an empathetic figure, someone who listens carefully to their concerns," Levin says. "Students who wish to talk about performance should come to talk to someone who is a performer."Photo Courtesy of Harvard-Radcliffe OrchestraHarvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) and other orchestras attempt to make up for the lack of performance classes within the Music Department.