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Music will not cease to exist because of a pandemic. What we have witnessed in the past months proves this. There has been an unprecedented influx of music on social networks and a thirst for music-making and listening. Somehow, not being able to make and share music through live performance has highlighted how important music is for us. For Jean-François Rivest, conductor and educator, what we are going through today is only a temporary setback, a difficult time testing the music community on a global level. “Music connects the past with the future,” he says. “It is a catalyst for the very role of tradition. Tradition is not just a funny old-fashioned word but has always been a springboard that allows us to project ourselves into the future from the past, and music is a vehicle for doing that.”
Music is one of the most fundamental aspects of human life. To make that music, we need professionals, we need people who continue to pass on that heritage to those who will create the music of tomorrow. For Nathalie Fernando, dean of Université de Montréal faculty of music, the pandemic cannot undermine the importance of the human relationship we have with music. “There is not a society in the world that does not have that emotional, almost spiritual, connection to music,” she says. “People will always need music, it is part of being human. It is a fact that the sector is extremely affected economically, but the human relationship we have with music has not changed, and even has developed. That is a strong argument for not giving up studying music. You just have to put your head above the clouds a little, look to the future and keep believing in it.”
The students chose to come back. “They have not questioned whether this is the right thing to do,” says Brenda Ravenscroft, dean of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. “They have accepted that it is not
perfect at the moment and this is still what they want to do. That is telling us something.” As for Betty Anne Younker, dean of Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music, she notices that student engagement with music has not diminished. “They are seeking out ways to engage with music however they can. They are given the opportunity to work differently with aspects of the music and to be creative.” For André Cayer, director of Université de Sherbrooke’s music school, this crisis might even enable students to adapt better to future changes.
The pandemic has challenged our normal way of doing things. Schools and universities were forced to look more closely at how they were training students and preparing them for the real world – a world that we know now can change so radically, so quickly. “It is questioning everything that we are doing,” says Patrick Carrabré, director of University of British Columbia’s school of music, “and it can only make our understanding deeper. It points out the flaws in our systems and encourages us to experiment and try to figure out what could be a good musical experience in that world.”
“It is kind of clarifying in a way,” says Ravenscroft. “We should not pretend everything is great, because it is not, but at the same time, there are all sorts of interesting, positive things that are coming out of this.” She also reminds us how studying music has always been about so much more than just developing musical skills. “An important part of the study of music is that you come to it because you love your instrument, but what you gain in the process of the training is so much more than just playing your instrument. Communication, problem-solving, leadership, focus, resilience, dedication; those are all transferable skills that one gets from practicing their instrument and from working towards a goal over a very long period of time.”
Working, studying and performing largely from home is not incompatible with a commitment to advancing the transformative effect that music has on society and human connection. Students and faculty at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto find themselves inspired by Gould, the great Canadian pianist, who explored the frontiers of performance practice through technology and multimedia.
To return to the central question: If by “worth” we mean practical and convenient, then no, it is not worth studying music now. But, has it ever been the convenient thing to do? You are a musician, or you are not – it is not a choice – it is something that cannot be ignored. No one knows what the implication of the current situation will be in five or 10 years, but there is no reason not to hope for the future.
While everyone agrees that the situation is devastating for independent artists and frightening for arts organizations, many in the sector predict that good things can come out of it. “What COVID did is that it brought that timeline for absolute change to now,” explains Tricia Baldwin, director of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University. “The outcome will depend on the urgency we have individually and collectively to get through this period.” Humans have always used the difficulties of their journey to transcend themselves. There have always been difficulties. Difficulty leads people to invent, to be creative and to find solutions. If anything, the awareness that we cannot take music for granted will make us better
musicians, teachers and students.
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
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