To attend a high-calibur school such as The Eastman School of Music is a dream come true for many young musicians. What could be better for a musician than an institution where hundreds of the most talented musical minds come to share their knowledge?
Eastman, of course, has opened its resources to the college community and as a result, many UR students take advantage of its resources.
Sophomore Susannah Snider has been taking alto saxophone lessons at Eastman since the first semester of her freshman year.
“It’s awe inspiring to be around such musical genius,” Snider said. “I take lessons one-on-one with a graduate student, so it’s a very open atmosphere.”
Snider went on to describe how, despite being around such awesome talent, she has never felt in any way intimidated by the teachings of her instructors or by the general prestigious environment that Eastman seems to have.
“I’ve learned so much and I’ve become a better musician than I ever thought I could be,” Snider said. “[As a non-matriculated student] I feel like I don’t deserve training from this kind of school.”
Sophomore Naomi Takagi has been taking voice and piano lessons at Eastman for over three semesters.
“The experience has been intensely satisfying,” Takagi said. “After my first year, I really felt as though I had grown as a musician.”
Similar to Snider, Takagi also takes one-on-one lessons with an Eastman graduate student. For her, lessons like these were a change of pace.
“Never before in my life have I had private lessons,” Takagi said. “The interesting part is that they never really tell you how to do things. They try to guide you through your music without limiting you stylistically or imposing their own stylistic interpretations. I find that it helps you grow in your ability to interpret music.”
Though the Eastman and River Campus communities greatly overlap, UR students still find that they have have a difficult time meeting Eastman students.
“It’s kind of hard to meet people at Eastman when your time is limited by the fact that you aren’t a student there, you are merely taking classes,” Takagi said.
Indeed, UR students, many of whom have to rush back to campus after their lessons in order to attend other classes, don’t always have time to hang around with students on the Eastman campus. This problem is aggravated by the fact that RTS buses that leave from Rush Rhees sometimes follow unpredictable and/or inconvenient schedules.
“The worst part is the buses,” Snider said. “Because of the inconsistent bus schedule, a half hour lesson can turn into a three hour investment.”
Despite these inconveniences, UR students are delighted that they are fortunate enough to have a school like Eastman within their reach. And though the bus schedule may be unpredictable, it is still what allows so many students the opportunity to learn and study at Eastman.
“It’s great to be able to take advantage of that resource,” Takagi said.
UR students find that teaching styles at Eastman often overlap with teaching styles at UR. Many UR faculty members teach classes at Eastman and vice versa, so there is a constant exchange of knowledge and resources.
“There’s a good amount of overlap in the teaching styles,” Snider said.
A technique like this is entirely favorable for the commuting students, as there is a large chance that they may otherwise feel overwhelmed if the learning experience were to vary greatly.
Needless to say, the Eastman community has generously opened a world of opportunities to UR students that would have not been possible otherwise. The close proximity and appeal of Eastman is what can often contribute to the attractiveness of UR as a stimulating learning environment.
Fuentes can be reached at
jfuentes@campustimes.org.
