SUNY Schenectady Faculty of Music expands its vary

Issues are occurring at SUNY Schenectady’s Faculty of Music and Dr. Christopher Brellochs, the brand new dean, couldn’t be happier.

“Our fall 2022 enrollment was up 13% in comparison with fall 2021 and our spring 2023 enrollment is up 17% in comparison with spring 2022,” he stated.

Which means the division had 113 music majors this 12 months when the spring time period opened on Tuesday. Whereas most of these musicians are vocalists, guitarists or pianists, due to initiatives within the curriculum, the varsity is now attracting college students concerned with composing, turning into audio engineers, working in musical theater and educating music.

A lot of this new route comes from Brellochs, who turned dean in Might 2021.

“I used to be chair of the academy of music at SUNY Dutchess and had been conscious for 14 years about this faculty of music by Invoice Meckley,” Brellochs stated. “I used to be very impressed with what they had been doing.”

When the opening for dean got here up, he instantly utilized. As a result of the varsity was recovering from the pandemic and a gradual enrollment decline, one of many questions he was requested was: may he be a visionary?

“I knew the varsity had an extended historical past of music — it’s been accredited since 1984 — and the administration was extremely supportive,” Brellochs stated. “I used to be and intrigued to take it to a brand new chapter, so I gave them some concepts.”

One in every of his first was that there was no musical theater provided.

“They wanted to have that to show college students to have the ability to examine . . . to be a triple menace,” he stated.

Beginning final spring, college students had been allowed to take one-on-one classes not solely in classical music however music for musical theater, jazz, R&B. Coming within the subsequent 12 months or so is basis work for many who need to study to behave and dance in musicals.

“The college additionally didn’t need to be in an ivory tower the place solely music that was written 100 years in the past was taught,” he stated. “Composition must be associated to modern mediums as a enterprise, equivalent to used on Amazon, tv, movie, or video video games. It is advisable keep present and related to expertise. I need to welcome pop composers to SUNY.”

So Brellochs prompt composers examine the most recent in digital packages equivalent to Professional Instruments to study to put in writing jingles or work in audio recording. He additionally discovered that this system Abelton Dwell was not solely software program for composition but in addition for lighting cues for stay reveals — an amazing instrument for bands.
Some college students would possibly solely need to examine for a 12 months after which go to work of their associated area. There at the moment are two choices relying on whether or not a pupil is headed into producing or educating.

“The one-year certificates makes it simpler to broaden right into a two-year program. However the brand new requirement is that the examine should be on a collegiate degree and the coed must take a jury in entrance of a panel as an audition in the event that they want to transfer into a level program,” Brellochs stated.

The college, nevertheless, nonetheless solely presents a two-year affiliate’s diploma. That is effective for these college students who both due to monetary issues or are usually not or prepared for the extra aggressive efficiency ranges usually anticipated at conservatories such because the Eastman Faculty of Music or the Juilliard Faculty. A neighborhood school can also be distinctive in different methods.

“If you’d like solo alternatives with an ensemble or chamber group, you don’t need to take care of higher class competitors. And if you wish to main in electrical bass, for instance, we enable that. Most music faculties don’t,” Brellochs stated. “With the varsity’s measurement, which over the a long time has averaged between 100 and 170 college students, you gained’t get misplaced within the crowd equivalent to at a conservatory. And academics discuss to one another. They’re all the time on the lookout for alternatives for excellent college students.”

Typically, too, many college students do determine to go on to extra aggressive conditions and a four-year diploma. The most well-liked transfers are to SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Buy. Some college students have additionally gone to Ithaca Faculty of Music.

However Brellochs had one thing else in thoughts.

“We would have liked new concepts on methods to attain out to the neighborhood, to native faculties,” he stated.

Allyson Keyser, the varsity’s trumpet/brass instructor and conductor of its wind ensemble, started to enter native public faculties to assist with their ensembles, give classes, get the youngsters to love to observe and usually make music thrilling.

“They see that the Schenectady Faculty of Music has an incredible college. They take the faculty significantly as a spot to go. It lets the native academics and college students see what SUNY is doing,” Brellochs stated.

This was additional expanded to creating the primary Excessive Faculty Jazz Competitors, which the Faculty of Music ran final spring. Working with A Place for Jazz, which just lately completed its fall season on the faculty, the competitors was open to all enrolled college students in 9 Capital Area faculties for any instrument or voice. There was no entry price. The 4 judges included Grammy-nominated pianist Geoffrey Keezer, vocalist Gillian Margot and SUNY academics Dylan Canterbury and Kevin Grudecki.

After a few rounds over the summer season and early fall, the grand prize winner was introduced in October. He was Niskayuna Excessive Faculty drummer Kiemon Noel, who obtained a recording session, a $1,000 scholarship to SUNY Schenectady as music main, and a live performance date Might 3, 2023 with the faculty’s jazz ensemble. The 2 runner-ups — Niskayuna Excessive Faculty tenor saxophonist Nathan Yan and Guilderland Excessive Faculty alto saxophonist Bohdan Kinai — every acquired the identical scholarship quantity and the Might 3 efficiency date.

And what with all this constructive momentum, there may be another success story and this from an alumnus: recording engineer Charlie Put up (Class of 1993) acquired a 2021 Grammy Award for his work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on its recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar.”
In a profile on the faculty web site, Put up credited his SUNY Schenectady training and music college with getting ready him to ulimately switch to Fredonia.

“Mr. [Brett] Wery was an amazing affect,” Put up stated of the previous music faculty dean. “He was a incredible professor and he taught me saxophone in addition to clarinet. It was superb preparation for my Fredonia audition,” he stated.

A music historical past course with Meckley sparked Charlie’s curiosity in studying music scores. “Dr. Meckley obtained all of us actually enthusiastic about orchestral music,” he stated. “I might borrow scores from the music library to comply with whereas listening to large-scale symphonic works at house. I discovered notation, instrument groupings, methods to learn melodies and harmonies, and orchestration. These expertise propelled my profession recording orchestras and helped me to be a powerful candidate for my present place.”

Classes: Entertainment, Life and Arts