Making sense of Lakehead`s musical community

Anthony Marrelli and Mike Trevisanutto

Every university owes it to its students to make full use of tuition costs, knowing that those finances are funding their department according to their hopes, needs and philosophies. One of the most ethically difficult programs to apply standardized praxis to is the music program.
Music is a unique form of individual expression, and leaps beyond simple banking systems of subject regurgitation. Music provides the individual with a personal form of expression, and is an intimate form of human learning. Therefore, a standardized music program will only cater to certain audiences of music students, making it an exclusive and narrow form of education.
To look at how the individual student fits into these roles set out by the University`s plan, it was time to gouge the answers out of these students to discover what they believe could help surmount their potential.
The first issue is the fact that LU’s music program provides students with a classical focus, with few exceptions. Not all musicians fit this role exclusively, with Lakehead`s program not offering resources within their library to allow students to discover other forms of music for their primary instrument. With a low student population in the program, it becomes an issue to provide a new versatile program that encompasses all styles of music. Only 13% of professors in the music program are full time, the rest are all contract lecturers. With contract lecturers being an unstable instructor pool, it is problematic to find enough instructors for all forms of music, from blues to metal. Currently the only type of non Western art music that is taught is jazz, and there is only one ensemble class for it. Does that suffice?
The Lakehead University music program is also home to the only full year course offered at Lakehead that is only worth a half credit. Although the end result is always an amazing performance put on with the class and the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, it does seem unfair that the work load to put on a professional performance is only worth a half credit. This is not the only flawed class in the department. In the ensemble classes, small groups are made to collaborate on a certain piece. Often the stronger or more hardworking students must pick up the slack of the weaker students, causing frustration and fewer opportunities to learn. This is not a case of lazy group members in a class project, it is guided by the professor consciously knowing that stronger students will have to work harder but receive the same amount of credit.
The main issue regarding the music program at Lakehead boils down to the human element.  Whether you can play music or simply enjoy its sounds, we are all sentient to its impact on human emotion. Music is a multidimensional form of learning that spans both the deep cognitive capacities of the individual and their emotions and values.  Music making of all kinds should be at the heart of any musical program. This provides an environment where the student can grasp their interests and delve into music with a positive attitude based on their personal feelings for the music they love. The problem with a program such as this is the necessity of having enough instructors to guide students with all forms of music composition and experimentation. Without a doubt many other programs suffer from the same issue of being a standardized program with little elasticity for the student`s interests. Therefore, newer programs must be put into place that allow for such elasticity.
Other universities such as North Texas provide some of the most extensive music programs in North America, yet struggle to maintain full time instructors for all forms of instruments. Universities such as these have provided students with a range of global musical studies from Brazilian to Afro-Cuban. Their programs also utilize an online network to allow students in the music program to distribute their compositions to the public for free, allowing for their music to reach beyond their own community. Support such as this is a benefit of a larger university, meaning a larger student base and therefore a bigger budget. However, despite these hurdles it is possible to implement programs, such as an online distribution network or a larger digital library of various musical compositions for students to distribute and explore. To provide your own feedback, speak to the chair of the music department, Dr. Glenn Colton to have your ideas considered.
“Music is a multidimensional form of learning … music making of all kinds should be at the heart of any musical program.“