Careers in Music--Beyond the Classical

http://www.careersinmusic.com/

Looking at the link above and studying the 100+ jobs in music, it occurs to me that in academia, based on our curriculum, we are preparing students for approximately 11 of the positions listed. Before going further with this idea, let's take a step back for a minute to discuss academia as vocational training. I am not supportive of this concept, embracing a broader reason for a college degree as something necessary for quality of life, thinking skills, decision making ability, adaptability, and entrepreneurship. We are not, nor should we be in the business of vocational training, teaching skills that are functional for the work place immediately upon graduation. This defeats the totality of the educational process.

But the other extreme defies logic as well. Educating students for something that is narrowly focused with limited possibilities becomes irresponsible. To remove our process from the pragmatic need to make a living is to create a world that has no purpose or place for anyone. In that respect, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. We are to help our students achieve success in their discipline that will allow them the greatest possible options for careers. We are to hand them tools they can use in the discipline of music that can be applied comprehensively to any number of careers in music.

As I look at this remarkable list of professions in music, I begin to question the traditional training ground that has been established as the curriculum in music in universities. Are we truly preparing students for the complexity of the musical world that awaits them upon graduation?

Obviously it is impossible and not even wise to try to be all things to all people. At some point, a college curriculum must narrow its focus to try to prepare students for particular positions and upwardly mobile opportunities. This idea requires the identification of those professions deemed appropriate for collegiate study. A closer look at the list shows us some areas that either do not require advanced study or whose content is not rich enough to warrant a college degree.

In addition, there are several areas of specialization which demand a particularly substantive program and credentialed specialists in the field. The most obvious is a career in music therapy which involves music, psychology, special education, and social work. Much of the careers in marketing and web design require training in advertising, design, and communication, all of which are demanding disciplines outside of music. They may need some degree of music training and understanding but quickly move outside the regime of the musical mosaic.

Not all of the careers are within the scope of a small liberal arts institution, this much is certain. But perhaps there is way to encompass more than the usual 11 identified earlier. If we in academia are targeting our professions to cut into a sliver of the world of music under the auspices that the "classical" training and cognition imparted and subsequently received provides foundational informational applicable to all areas of music, then there is little doubt as to the efficacy of the academic program. But if, however, that idea does not hold up in light of the myriad opportunities in music, most of which do not have much to do with a stronghold built on classical music, then it stands to reason the training, the skills, the information received, does not have comprehensive application.

This therefore implies that colleges and universities who are steeped in a classically based model in music may need to reach beyond the traditional scope to encompass a broad-based professional world that touches, maybe not all, but certainly more, possibilities in the music profession than previously delivered. Down with a laborious and ancient rite of passage, we need to create a world that allows for industry, initiative, and entrepreneurship to find fruition for the musicians of the future.

Rather than this being debilitating to our programs in music, in fact it may be liberating in many ways. We in academia often feel constricted to a form and style that while meaningful in most ways is also oddly restrictive to the masses. Having an opportunity to teach music that garners acclaim from a wide audience may be a battery charge to the cause of music and higher education. We just need to be willing to take a risk.