For students looking to engage with the full range of the liberal arts curriculum at Smith, music performance lessons can provide a new area of immersion.
Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Chair for Performance Activities Dr. Jiayan Sun underlined how performance lessons embody the principles of Smith’s open curriculum and the liberal arts methodology at large.
“The mission of a liberal arts college, our college, and liberal arts education is to provide this learning environment for the students to engage with these wide-ranging subjects,” Dr. Sun said.
Performance lessons enable students to expand their skill set. Lessons are offered once a week for four credits total for the year-long course and require only one performance a year. The Smith Music Department offers lessons as part of the music curriculum, and they are meant to be taken in addition to the average 16-credit course load.
Auditions are held at the beginning of the year. Though the word “audition” could be intimidating, performance lesson auditions are closer to a placement test, where students are given the opportunity to have a conversation with faculty in-person. Afterwards, students are placed with an instructor best-suited for their instrument, genre and skill level.
Dr. Sun emphasized how, regardless of students’ main area of study, lessons are a way for students to explore artistic expression. Sun stated, “A student can major in engineering or computer science, but they come here to take piano lessons or voice lessons. Not only for leisure or just self-enjoyment, but because of their artistic pursuit, and that’s just part of what Smithies do.”
With only a dozen total declared music majors and minors, the majority of students participating in lessons come from outside the department. 30% of students taking lessons are Natural Sciences majors.
“And that’s what I cherish most about teaching here,” Dr. Sun added. “The students love music, so they take lessons, not because they are forced by somebody. … Even at the most distinguished [music] conservatories I’ve encountered … [not everybody] has that genuine love for music. But for me, this is the most important thing.”
Performance lessons have become more accessible following Smith Music Department’s unprecedented move last September to allow all students — regardless of whether or not they are a music major or minor — to take lessons free of charge. Funding is provided by the College and was procured through the 2021 “Equalizing the Student Experience Initiative.” According to prior reporting by The Sophian, non-major and non-minor students were previously required to pay a fee of $690 per semester for lessons. This cost is now covered.
There has been no statistically significant change between the number of non-music major students taking performance lessons as compared to last year, when the change was first implemented. The department reports that last year, 89.2% of students taking performance lessons were not music majors or minors. For Fall 2022, 88.6% of students taking lessons are not music majors or minors.
Performance lessons are one of the many phenomenal resources that all students should consider taking advantage of. Between learning transferable skills, having access to passionate instructors that love to teach and being completely free, it’s a pretty sweet deal.
