From the Howard basement to the national main stage, the Hillsdale College Department of Music connects talented students with opportunities outside the Hillsdale bubble to sharpen their abilities and compete with others in their field.
Closely following his recent Hillsdale Concerto Competition win, senior Jacob Martin entered Bowling Green State University’s Double Reed Day Oboe and Bassoon Solo Competition. Martin’s former oboe instructor Nermis Mieses, now an assistant professor at BGSU, notified him of the opportunity and encouraged him to enter. He submitted a recording of the third movement of Bohuslav Martinů’s concerto for oboe.
On Jan. 25, Martin and fellow senior oboe student Teddy Sawyer travelled along with their oboe instructor, Adjunct Teacher of Music Kaycee Ware-Thomas, to Bowling Green, Ohio for the competition. During the day of trying-out high quality instruments and master classes, the two mixed with professionals in the field, including Alaine de Gourdon, maker of F. Lorée oboes. Based in Paris, F. Lorée is the oldest firm specialized in oboe manufacture, and each F. Lorée instrument is made by Gourdon.
Though he did not place, Martin was pleased with the the challenge the competition offered. He says the competition, like his experience with the oboe at Hillsdale, has helped him gain confidence in his art.
“Before coming to Hillsdale, I was playing mostly second oboe, and being in the orchestra forced me into position to play orchestral solos,” he said. “That helped me develop the confidence to be comfortable in positions like that.”
The BGSU oboe competition is just one of the many opportunities available to music students beyond Hillsdale’s campus. Music students have also been involved in competitions by the National Association of Teachers of Singing, in addition to the department’s own annual aria and concerto competition.
“Guest judges are always amazed at the quality and depth of what they hear from our students,” Professor of Music James Holleman said.
Music faculty also endeavor to allow students to take advantage of educational opportunities to develop skills in their field of specialty. Among these are the American Choral Director’s Regional Conference, International Conferences of the Percussive Arts Society, the American String Teacher’s Association National Convention, the Exploring Trumpet Music Festival in Greece, and the Pilson Music Academy in the Czech Republic.
“We were able to bring students to a Suzuki method teaching workshop where professional teachers go,” said Professor of Music Melissa Knecht, teacher of violin and viola to many students. “They were able to get the information early.”
The faculty sometimes hesitates to encourage students to take part in these opportunities. With rigorous academic schedules, students often are not able to miss days of school to participate in conferences.
“We offer these opportunities when we feel students can balance academics and musical work,” Holleman said. “It’s something we have to do with caution.”
Participation in such a wide range of opportunities would not be possible without excellent daily teaching.
“We have such confidence in our training here that we feel comfortable offering these opportunities to the students,” Knecht said. “We want them to go out into the world and have these experiences during these important years. Our students have performed comparably to music students in Europe.”
To “make it” in the music world is difficult, and in such a competitive field, the opportunities for specialized training and competition give Hillsdale alumni an extra edge.
“I really don’t encourage people to become music majors,” Teacher of Voice Melissa Osmond said. “There are very few people that make me say ‘you have got to give this a shot.’ The people who do go on –– I can count them on two hands.”
One alumna who has gone on to do quite well is Natalie Doran ’12. Doran is currently finishing her master’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Michigan. She plans to compete in the Herold Haugh Light Opera Competition in Jackson, Mich. this March.
Nick Nestorak ’11, graduated from the University of Michigan master’s program in 2013, and is currently in the Young Artist’s Program of the Palm Beach Opera in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he will be until March.
“He’s competed over in Italy,” Holleman said, “and he’s doing really well.”
Nestorak was given an Encouragement Award by the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and performed with the Lyric Opera Studio of Weimar during their 2012 production of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” in Weimar, Germany.
As a French and Theology double major, with a music minor, Jessye Wright ’96 did not intend to pursue a career in music.
“Singers often say that music chooses them, not the reverse, and for me this was definitely the case,” Wright says in her artist biography. “I told myself I didn’t have the ability, desire or strength to pursue such an unstable career. But a force greater than myself kept pulling me back to music, and I finally had to give in and accept my fate.”
She is now crafting a successful career, performing operatic roles throughout the United States and abroad in France, Austria, and Belgium.
“Jessye was the one with the impetus for getting the opera workshop started,” Osmond said. “And now that happens every year –– and that’s what she ended up doing with her life.”
Whether or not students go on to brilliant musical career, the music department offers challenges for students to more deeply cultivate their musical talents.
“I think a lot of musicians who go to conservatories to study only music aren’t intellectually challenged,” Holleman said. “Our students are intellectually challenged, and that contributes to their music. Critical thinking in the liberal arts helps us make smart musicians, and smart musicians do well.”
