I’m told that this is Teacher Appreciation Week- and I know that a lot of people are making a point of thanking significant teachers in their lives. I also know of at least one colleague from Carthage (you know who you are, Lorian Schwaber) who took a moment yesterday on Facebook to thank her students for making her life as a teacher so rich and satisfying. I heartily applaud both sentiments, because I am incredibly grateful for the teachers in my life (Weston Noble, Cherie Carl, David Greedy, David Judisch, Richard Grace, Donna Harler, Bart Butler, Delma Wright, Jean Howarth – and many more) as well as the students in my life (I couldn’t begin to list them all) without whom I could not possibly be the teacher that I am.
But in this Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to take a moment to direct my thanks not to my own teachers- nor to my students – but to my colleagues, my fellow teachers here at Carthage, who make me so grateful to be part of this music faculty. I am blessed to teach with people who are brilliant, creative, caring and fiercely devoted to the well-being of our students. I am also thankful for the astonishing depth and breadth of their collective expertise, which extends well beyond their own professional areas of emphasis. When we have music faculty meetings and our discussion turns to a topic about which I know next to nothing … which happens more and more these days … it is always gratifying and reassuring when my colleagues weigh in with their various perspectives. For instance, if the topic of technology comes up, I know that Mark Petering and Ed Kawakami know ten times what I do. If questions arise about our curriculum, Corinne Ness seems to have the entire college catalog memorized. (I don’t even know where my copy of the catalog is.) When we are talking about trying to get something done with the administration, Peter Dennee and Amy Haines always seem to know who’s who and what’s what – plus as Carthage graduates themselves they have the longest institutional memory of any of us. Wael Farouk and Deb Maslowski are the newest of our full-time faculty but are already making a tremendous contribution to what we do. Dimitri Shapovalov, probably the smartest person I’ve ever known, is also a lovely office neighbor to me. Eduardo Garcia- Novelli is our caring and impassioned department chair. And Jim Ripley is the music colleague I have known the longest, since our acquaintance goes all the way back to our days at Luther College some 35 years ago. I treasure all of these colleagues- and I also believe that when all of us are gathered around the same table, discussing any important question or weighing a difficult choice, that our collective knowledge and wisdom and integrity will inevitably guide us to the right decision. That is one of the best feelings in the world- to be part of something that is growing and flourishing, and to be able to feel so good about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.
But I’m not done gushing. I also want to say a word about how blessed I am to be one of nine voice teachers we have at Carthage. We are a very intriguing group – varied in our personalities, life experiences and pedagogical approach – but also a cohesive team that knows how to work together. We like each other- we respect each other – and we trust each other, which means that we are not assailed with the ‘turf battles’ that can make life miserable for faculty and students alike. And it has been like this since I began teaching voice at Carthage back in 1991, when it was just Richard Sjoerdsma, Amy Haines and me. The three of us were very different from each other in style and approach, but that was our strength. And I still remember the day when Dr. Sjoerdsma, the department chair at the time, told me right before the beginning of my second semester at Carthage that he wanted one of his own students, who had temporarily shifted over to me while Dr. Sjoerdsma had been on sabbatical, to remain with me because the two of us had hit it off so well. Dr. Sjoerdsma did not have to do that; he was the figure of authority for the entire department and I was just an adjunct instructor with not an ounce of clout. But he thought the switch was best for the student in question- and I have never forgotten that generous gesture. It confirmed that he respected me as a teacher- and that he trusted me.
In Amy Haines I found both a treasured colleague and friend – and also someone who could not have been more gracious and patient in sharing a studio with me for eight years. Anyone who knows me – and especially anyone who has lived with me – knows that I tend to be one empty pizza carton short of a hoarding disorder, while Amy is quite organized and tidy (at least when it comes to her office.) But much the same way that Kathy has managed to tolerate my untidiness all these years, Amy put up with it as well until the day I got my own studio downstairs. (From that point on, I have been inflicting my mess on my students only.) But beyond all that, Amy was also an invaluable confidant to me in my first years at Carthage when I was still finding my way as a teacher and prone to a lot of doubt (for good reason) and her patient and wise counsel made a huge difference for the better. I value her counsel to this very day.
And now, more than 25 years later, there are nine of us (if you count Corinne Ness, whose duties as Dean of Arts & Humanities keep her from being able to teach voice lessons, but who is still very much one of us) and I could not feel better about what we represent as a team of dedicated teachers. Lorian, Peg, Allison, Kyle, Elena, and Kerry all bring a wealth of experience and smarts and sensitivity to the task of nurturing our young singers – and it is thrilling to be a part of that. I only wish that the craziness of life allowed us to interact with one another much more than we do.
During this past semester, we engaged in an experiment with Voice Studio. This is the hour of the week when each voice teacher would meet with their own students as a group – and in many ways it is my very favorite hour of the whole week. The students sing for one another in a semi-formal setting and then offer thoughts on what would make a given performance even better. The experiment, which was suggested by someone else, was for us to begin sharing Studio in various combinations – meaning that one week my students and Kyle’s would meet together- and my students with Elena’s the following week- and so on. Being an Old Dog who doesn’t enjoy learning New Tricks, I was a little bit hesitant, but went along with the proposal …. and could not be happier with how it turned out. It was a chance for my students to receive immediate, hands-on feedback from one of my colleagues – and some of the most exciting moments of growth in the entire semester occurred in those instances. Of course, being the flawed and fragile human being that I am, I would feel brief pangs of anxiety, thinking “Oh no! Now Joe is going to want to switch to Kyle” or “Oh no! How did Peg manage to achieve that breakthrough in two minutes that I’ve been unable to do in two years of lessons?” But those little twinges of uncertainty would be immediately swept away by the good feeling in the room- by the deep and unassailable trust and respect that we have for one another- and by the inescapable fact that it has to be about the students and helping them be the very best singers and musicians that they can be. And when all of us are working together for the betterment of our students, everyone wins.
I am also mindful in this Teacher Appreciation Week for the rare pleasure and privilege of working for almost a decade with Matt Boresi, my partner in crime for Carthage’s Opera Workshop. I have said this before and I’ll say it again- Matt is one of the only people around here who makes me feel like a Dull Person simply by being who he is. Matt is so energetic, so fun, and so ‘hip’ – if that’s a word that anybody still uses. Matt relates to our students in a way that I never will, by knowing their language, knowing their cultural landscape, knowing what makes them tick. He’s just cool – and because he loves opera so much, he manages to make opera cool in a world that views it as anything-but-cool. He is also one of the funniest people alive- and I have never worked with anybody with a more unerring sense of how to make onstage comedy the funniest it can be. But it’s clear from what he’s done with Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Black September that he also understands how to create powerful, moving, drama as well.
Case in point is our most recent opera workshop, which was titled “The Magic of Menotti: Celebrating a 20th Century Operatic Master,” with excerpts from The Medium, The Old Maid & the Thief, The Consul, Amahl & the Night Visitors, Amelia goes to the ball, and Vanessa– plus a complete performance of The Telephone. I am sure that we have never done anything finer that what we managed to accomplish with this program- particularly in the way that it so beautifully showcased the talents of each and every student. Unfortunately, our performances fell during a very busy patch in the calendar, so we had our smallest audiences in recent memory. But those who managed to get there were treated to something very special indeed. And it was with this particular workshop that I came to realize just how much I have learned from Matt about the craft of creating opera and of bringing it alive for our students – as well as the abiding joy of collaborating with a kind, appreciative colleague.
So I want to say again in this Teacher Appreciation Week how thankful I am that I teach with such fine colleagues whom I respect and enjoy and love – and who help me to be the best teacher I can possibly be.
I appreciate you.
Every. Single. Day.
Pictured above: My colleague Peg Cleveland works with one of my students, Stephen Steinheiser, during one of our shared voice studio classes.