Dominique Edwards is a student at the University of Florida pursuing a PhD in Music Education. After pursuing piano performance degrees from University of Florida and Florida Atlantic University, Ms. Edwards began her music-teaching career as a teacher in Palm Beach County teaching middle school chorus. She later taught general elementary music and strings to grades K-8 at a private school in West Palm Beach, while maintaining a private piano studio. She returned for her doctorate at the University of Florida. Ms. Edwards is interested in undergraduate piano curriculum and advancing high school class-piano programs. Ms. Edwards currently works as a graduate assistant at the University of Florida teaching Music for the Elementary Child to elementary education majors. She also teaches private piano lessons.
Dominique Edwards
1852 NW 10th Ave.
Gainesville, FL 32605
561.574.5234
dom04@ufl.edu
Beginning in the 1970s, universities, colleges, and music conservatories across the United States began to establish collaborative piano degrees on the graduate and doctoral levels. The graduate collaborative piano degree offers pianists a focus on collaborative piano literature, instead of the solo repertoire study of a graduate piano performance degree. Pianists pursuing this degree typically study in either choral or instrumental literature, with some programs offering students a blend of the two. The degree was established to meet the needs of today's pianists, who are needed to work in a variety of musical settings after graduation, most of which require more than a strict solo repertoire education. The degree also provides a solution to schools' accompanist problems by hiring graduate students as accompanists, while simultaneously providing the students with training needed for their degree. Schools also can advertise free accompanists as a recruitment tool for singers and instrumentalists alike.
There are, however, setbacks associated with the collaborative degree. Issues of scheduling and timing constraints, exhaustion, improper training, under-developed technique, degree validity, and lack of focus on solo repertoire are a few of the criticisms that departments face. Further problems include exploitation of graduate students as free accompanists, as well as a lack of professionalism amongst music majors while in lessons, rehearsals, and recitals. Music schools must balance the needs of their music program along with providing these pianists with the proper skills needed for collaboration without exploitation. The paper provides a background as well as an explanation of the issues and solutions associated with the collaborative piano degree. While still in its developmental stages, advocates strongly believe that the collaborative degree prepares graduate students with the skills and technique requisite for today's pianists' career.
In 1972, Jean Barr became the first keyboard artist in the United States to receive a doctoral degree in piano accompanying. The degree was the first in its field to recognize the study of instrumental and vocal accompanying repertoire on the doctoral level. Barr has been a pioneer in her field, developing the collaborative piano curricula for the master's level at Eastman School of Music. In the past few decades, many schools have adopted variations of the degree and have implemented the graduate collaborative piano curriculum most commonly at the master's level.
After World War II, America was greeted by an influx of European immigrants who had fled their native countries in search of work in the United States. Musicians headed out west in the hopes of finding a job in the entertainment industry and California was a place where they could find work playing for musicals, entertainment venues, and Hollywood film sets. Gwendolyn Koldofsky first established the degree in 1947, at The University of Southern California when she recognized the gap between the study of piano repertoire and the working world. Koldofsky realized that the pianist trained in solo repertoire would not have the skills needed for this genre of music and convinced the University of Southern California to allow her to develop the collaborative performance degree. She began implementing the skills and repertoire displayed by pianists in the working world into this new curriculum.
Building on Koldofsky's program, faculty members from schools around the nation recognized the potential for such a curriculum to act as a solution to another inescapable problem: hiring staff accompanists. The degree track was a way for the universities to solve the accompanying needs of its music programs. Traditionally, one system that schools across the nation have used to solve its accompanying needs has been to employ staff accompanists. Staff accompanists can be defined as professional accompanists hired by the school to work with vocalists and instrumentalists belonging to its music program. Some music schools have large vocal or instrumental programs, which require many staff accompanists. When a school hires staff accompanists, the school must find money to pay each pianist a salary. Depending on the size of the program, this could add up to a large sum of money. The significant problem with this arrangement is that the schools must allocate a budget to pay the staff accompanists. However, having on-staff accompanists is a big recruitment tool for many schools of music. According to Paul Green, "Colleagues expect accompanying as a service and recruitment tool. It is a strong recruitment incentive to tell a student that if you come to University of North Carolina at Greensboro, you will be provided an accompanist during your entire degree."1 Schools that can provide vocalists and instrumentalists with a staff accompanist can quite often be favored over schools that lack this resource. Schools also can hire accompanists to work as subcontractors. This means that professional accompanists are affiliated with the school of music, but the students bear the responsibility of paying for their services. College students usually operate on a small budget and good accompaniment can be a huge expense.
With the implementation of the collaborative degree, faculty members of schools and conservatories across the nation discovered a possible solution. Performance undergraduates wishing to pursue the graduate piano degrees should have acquired the technical skills needed for accompanying. The idea was that students who were proficient in higher-level solo repertoire would be able to play collaborative repertoire with ease. Schools began to award aspiring graduate students with an offer of a graduate assistantship. The assistantship was set up so that the pianist would play for the vocalists and instrumentalists of a program in exchange for waived tuition and a small stipend. With this solution, however, some ethical problems surfaced. Barr pointedly asks, "Is it fair? Is it appropriate for a school to solve its accompanying needs by using their students that are still developing their craft?"2 A situation can occur where the amount of work demanded in the assistantship could be too much. The intense workload poses such threats as exhaustion or even injury.
One result of excessive playing without the proper training is tendinitis. Tendinitis is inflammation, irritation, and swelling of a tendon, which is the fibrous structure that joins muscle to bone.3 Tendinitis occurs when a pianist repeatedly strains his or her wrists. When pianists are not properly trained, they run the risk of injury with extensive practice. If tendinitis is not treated in a prompt fashion, it could potentially damage a pianist's wrists for the remainder of his or her career. One factor that has been linked with tendinitis amongst pianists is the physical demands of the piano. A keyboard player with relatively small hands, for example, may not have the same flexibility as a player with larger hands.4 Both players, however, must play the same size piano. Another factor is the virtuoso repertoire that has been popular amongst pianists since the early romantic era. The technical demands of a piece by Liszt or Chopin place more strain on the hands than the earlier works of Bach of Haydn.
Another threat associated with the accompanying assistantship is the time it takes each individual student to learn the music. If a student were not a facile sight-reader, he or she would need to spend a considerable amount of time learning the repertoire. Devoting the time to learning accompanying music would take away from learning solo repertoire on the graduate level. Dr. Barr acknowledges that there are professors who are skeptical of the accompanying degree or assistantship because of the time it takes away from solo repertoire study: Some teachers do not want their students to study this degree [accompanying], because they feel that it is distracting. Good sight-readers are often put in great demand, and hopefully these students will be able to juggle both the solo and accompanying repertoire."5
Despite the drawbacks, however, schools hire graduate assistants to accompany a music school because it is an easy solution. Schools are able to recruit instrumentalists and vocalists offering the attraction of free accompanists. The school is able to save the money previously allocated for a staff accompanist, and pay graduate assistants less money. The drawbacks of the assistantship also indicate a solid point; the point that the collaborative degree provides the proper training needed for this type of work.
In 2008, a panel of five professors who specialize in collaborative playing discussed the issues and requirements of the graduate collaborative degree, including graduate assistantships. The panel members included Jean Barr from Eastman, Carolyn Bridger from Florida State University, Anne Epperson from the University of Texas at Austin, and Paul Stewart from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music. Paul Stewart from UNC discusses the graduate assistantships:
We currently have 11 piano graduate assistantships (GAs): six in accompanying and 5 in piano performance. The audition for piano GAs includes sight-reading, and an interview about teaching experiences. The needs of the school for piano GAs usually includes class secondary piano instructors and accompanying, as well as theory instruction. We have tried several methods to distribute the load of the accompanying GAs, including developing a formula to evaluate sight-readable repertoire for up to full chamber recital programs. Currently, Harley (collaborative professor) creates a repertoire list of needs from faculty requests and matches those with his accompanying performance studies students' repertoire needs, as well as the availability of the small ensemble students, the accompanying assistantships, and the staff accompanist. Also, all accompanying GAs must accompany prospective undergraduate and graduate vocal students at our audition days.6
Stewart and his colleagues at UNC seem to have an effective system whereby they observe the pianists' ability to sight-read and play with vocalists. Then, they match the pianists' repertoire with his or her skill level. Stewart also mentions the different demands required of the repertoire:
We all know the differences between vocal and chamber accompanying, but trying to make equitable assignments for GAs compounds the issues. Voice students require the accompanist for every lesson, but the instrumental students wants the accompanist a few weeks before the performance or jury. Further, the opera accompanist may be sparsely needed for many weeks and then expected to put in the long hours leading to the opera performance.7
Anne Epperson from the University of Texas at Austin discusses her approach to properly executing the graduate assistantship assignments. During the audition, the three characteristics Epperson looks for are strong pianistic skill in high-level repertoire, the pianists' ability to adjust to a partner, and sight-reading ability. Epperson strongly supports the assistantship program.
I view the collaborative or accompanying assistantship as an all-win situation for the whole school. Not only do the collaborative majors receive broad experiences in their repertoire, but also this is one of the most economically efficient ways to cover most of the studios in the school. I provide lessons for my collaborative students on every piece of music, whether it is for their assistantship assignment or not.8
Though she recognizes the benefits of the assistantship, Epperson emphasizes that the collaborative degree needs to be equivalent to a performance degree:
Traditionally, the role of an accompanying pianist has been thought of as secondary or as a default for those who couldn't "make it" as soloists. My approach is to elevate the relationship on both sides, but it's not enough to just stand up and say accompanists are not appreciated. We need to make the reasons for respect happen by developing a professional attitude and enthusiasm for our craft.9
Dr Barr also believes that collaborative work is done best in a school where the student wishes to pursue accompanying, and later work in the collaborative field. Teachers across the country agree with Barr and Epperson's idea of a professional attitude and enthusiasm. Kevin Class is the director of the Opera Theatre department at the University of Tennessee and is the former conductor of Indiana University. He suggests that the first step in equating collaborative piano degrees with performance degrees is to point out that "piano literature" includes all music written for piano, not just solo repertoire.10 Class cites the master composers as a vital and valuable source of some of the most brilliant collaborative piano literature. The list includes Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and other classical masters who have written magnificent operas, chamber arrangements, concertos, etc. If these composers had thought that solo piano literature was the only important literature, then we would not have many of the masterpieces that exist for us today.
Class outlines strategies for successful collaborative training. When a pianist begins collaborative training, he or she should begin learning vocal literature. Vocal literature includes a written text, which a pianist can study to gain a better understanding about the piece of music. Once the pianist knows the mood of the piece, he or she can integrate musical techniques. These techniques could include playing legato, staccato, using soft pedal, and so on. Class recommends that a pianist should be familiar with some German, Italian, and French to interpret vocal text in the proper context.
Once the art of collaborating with vocal literature has been mastered, Class advises moving to instrumental repertoire. Class states, "Matching the articulations of a legato cello passage or the softest dynamic reaches of a clarinet demands that a pianist have a wide palette of sounds and control."11 He believes that the collaborative pianist must be sensitive to all the timbres and nuances of every instrument, including the human voice. When playing vocal and instrumental repertoire, a pianist must maintain a high level of sensitivity. For example, a pianist playing a flute concerto would have a to play with a different touch than if he or she were playing a cello concerto, or vocal recital. Anne Epperson comments on the wide range of skills a collaborative pianist must have:
Collaborative pianists are expected to have additional skills in sight reading, understanding of languages and diction and to be familiar with an enormous amount of repertoire in all style periods, including music not written for piano. Understanding the role of the conductor and the subtleties of orchestral textures and rhythm are vital tools in the world of opera and in the vast repertoire of concerti for all instruments.12
Class suggests that organization is a top priority of collaborative pianists and points out that those pianists wishing to succeed must be extremely organized. Class makes his point through comparing the demands of the soloist with those of the collaborative pianist. A soloist, for example, may present one or two programs a year. The collaborative pianist, even as a graduate assistant, is often responsible to accompany a few recitals per semester. This type of work requires that the pianist utilize as much practice time as possible. The collaborative pianist must decide which measures of a piece need practice, which measures can be sight-read, and which measures need more control.13
Skills of organization and teamwork are all components of practical training, necessary for real-world survival. The ultimate goal for any student graduating college is to be properly equipped with skills necessary to succeed in the workforce. Unfortunately, because students are not trained enough in collaboration, it decreases their confidence level about their chosen major. By placing students in real-life settings, such as vocal or instrumental recitals, students are exposed to situations that are similar to the working world. Dr. Patricia Stowell, former president of the Maine Music Teachers Association, emphasizes the importance of collaborative training for the well-rounded musician in her article, Preparing the Young Collaborative Artist: "A solo career is difficult and sometimes lonely, and there are few musicians pre-destined or suited to its enormous challenges. But this does not require abandoning the music field; what a tragic void that would leave in the life of a gifted musician whose musical gifts could be shared."14 Stowell points out the importance of educating students from a young age about financial stability and career choices: "One reason I discuss financial issues with students is to educate them, as well as their families and others, about the value of music as a profession. While few choose it as a primary career, many can still earn money from their musical accomplishments when they are properly trained."15
Supporters of the degree also believe that that training in collaboration promotes quality and professionalism amongst all musicians. Quite often, it is routine for vocalists or instrumentalists to provide a pianist with music on short notice with the expectation that he or she learn it quickly. The assumption is all pianists should be able to quickly sight-read and learn repertoire. Barr asks the question, "Is it professional to slap things together?"16 She believes that with increased awareness of the collaborative degree and the skills it underlines, that musicians will be less likely to throw pieces together. A vocalist or instrumentalist who is aware of the skills demanded by such a vast range of repertoire might take collaborative work more seriously. This notion, coupled with the knowledge of job placement, will prove that the collaborative degree is a justifiable degree track. Anne Epperson, from the University of Austin at Texas, agrees: "With these skills and good training, the career options will be plentiful and rewarding."17
In conclusion, the degree emphasizes professionalism in the field and provides a student with the necessary training and skills for success in the workforce. At the end of studying a graduate collaborative piano degree, a student should be equipped with the sight-reading abilities, technique, and diction knowledge needed for today's society. When asked what her thoughts were about the recent popularity of accompanying degrees, Barr stated, "The degree has come so far in fifty years. We can hope and assume it will be a part of society in twenty years." Colleges and universities that offer the degree will be able to provide their students with some of the best training necessary that is demanded by today's workforce.
References
1. Janice Wenger, "Passion for Collaboration," American Music Teacher 57, no. 4 (2008): 32.
2. Dr. Jean Barr, interviewed by author via telephone, November 13, 2009.
3. Mayo Clinic Staff, "Tendinitis," MayoClinic.com, last modified November 15, 2009, http:// www.mayoclinic.com/health/tendinitis/DS00153.
4. Robert R. Alford and Andras Szanto, "Orpheus Wounded: The Experience of the Piano in the Professional Worlds of the Piano," Theory and Society 25, no.1 (1996): 3.
5. Dr. Jean Barr, interviewed by author via telephone, Gainesville, FL, November 13, 2009.
6. Wenger, 35.
7. Ibid.
8. Wenger, 34.
9. Ibid., 32.
10. Kevin Class, "Forum Focus: Collaborative Performance- Why Collaborate," American Music Teacher 58, no. 4 (2009): 60
11. Ibid.
12. Wenger, 32.
13. Class, 60
14. Patricia Stowell, "Preparing the Young Collaborative Artist," American Music Teacher 58, no. 1 (2008): 20.
15. Ibid.
16. Barr interview.
17. Wenger, 32.
18. Barr interview.
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|---|