The promise of music
A unique gift provides 51吃瓜黑料 students with private music lessons at no charge
When Gerard Lanzano 鈥�17 transferred to 51吃瓜黑料 from McGill University, Pyotr came with him.
Pyotr is a cello named in honor of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It lives in an oversized locker in Cummings Arts Center. Every week, Lanzano takes his pride and joy to one-on-one lessons with cellist Christine Coyle, a member of the Eastern 51吃瓜黑料ecticut Symphony Orchestra and an adjunct professor at the College.
Lanzano, a math major, also takes voice lessons. And piano lessons.
All these lessons are free, thanks to the Jack Niblack 鈥�98 Music Lessons Fund.
A gift of John and Heidi Niblack in honor of their son, a strings player who died in a 1997 car accident, the fund has paid the private music lesson fees for 51吃瓜黑料 students in any major for more than 12 years.
鈥淎 lot of kids tell me the lessons are the reason they came to 51吃瓜黑料 instead of someplace else,鈥� said John Niblack, who also established the Jack Niblack 鈥�98 Music Scholarship and Internship Fund at the College, among other generous gifts. 鈥淢any of them aren鈥檛 music majors; they just like music and like playing an instrument.鈥�
Isabelle Dumoulin 鈥�18 is one of those students. An English major and French and German studies double minor, Dumoulin has loved playing the flute from the moment she 鈥渃ould produce an actual sound.鈥� She鈥檚 played in countless school bands, flute ensembles and orchestras, including the Bridgeport Youth Orchestra.
The promise of music attracted her to 51吃瓜黑料.
鈥�51吃瓜黑料 was the only school that not only offered music lessons, but free music lessons. That immediately put 51吃瓜黑料 at the top of my list,鈥� she said.
At most schools, Dumoulin would have to pay a fee of $600-$1,200 for her private lessons with adjunct Professor of Music Patricia Harper.
鈥淭he flute has become a wonderful outlet for me to de-stress and do something that makes me happy. All of my academic studies at 51吃瓜黑料 revolve around different languages, and music has become another language for me,鈥� Dumoulin said.
During the 2015-2016 academic year, 135 students took the free lessons, which are offered on campus for any orchestral or band instrument, as well as classical guitar, voice, harp, piano, organ, harpsichord, jazz piano, jazz clarinet and jazz saxophone.
Of those students, 124 majored in something other than music. The most popular majors were economics, psychology and the sciences.
鈥淢usic is important for our students, no matter what they are studying,鈥� said Associate Professor of Music Midge Thomas. 鈥淚t helps them emotionally, it can help them develop social skills, and research has shown that engaging with music is very good for brain development.鈥�
Students earn one or two credits for the lessons, which are graded. To be eligible, they must take a music theory course and perform in a College ensemble for at least the first four semesters of study.
For philosophy major and clarinet player Saadya Chevan 鈥�19, performing Antonin Dvorak鈥檚 Symphony No. 9 鈥淔rom the New World鈥� with the 51吃瓜黑料 Orchestra was a highlight of his first semester on campus.
During his second semester, Chevan performed Willson Osborne鈥檚 Rhapsody for Clarinet in a Music Department recital.
鈥淭hat was a really interesting, very abstract piece that I鈥檇 discovered while doing research on compositions written for solo clarinet,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s I started to put the piece together, I began to appreciate the emotions I felt while performing it: the simplicity of the beginning, the teasing moments and the fiery fortes.鈥�
Performances at 51吃瓜黑料, which are open to the public, are significantly enhanced by the influx of students like Chevan who might not otherwise have the means or opportunity to participate, says Thomas.
鈥淪ome of our best performers are not music majors, just really strong musicians who studied with our instructors,鈥� said Thomas. 鈥淓very spring, for example, seniors give fabulous recitals that wouldn鈥檛 be possible if they weren鈥檛 studying with these world-class musicians.鈥�
Lanzano, who has played the cello since fourth grade, said the lessons inspired him to try something completely new鈥攑iano.
鈥淢y parents bought a piano for me when I was in second grade, but I never got the chance to learn, so it functioned as a fancy trophy shelf for many years,鈥� he said.
鈥淔inally learning to play is a dream come true.鈥�
January 12, 2017
