BEYOND THE CONCERT HALL: THE CREATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A TEACHING ARTIST TRAINING PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Abstract

This document is part of the dissertation requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance. The major portion of the dissertation consists of the Music Link pilot program created by the author, a Teaching Artist training program that took place in the 2014-15 academic year. Participants in the Music Link program included the University of Washington School of Music, the Meany Center for the Performing Arts, and the communities that received free concerts. Copies of educational concert lesson plans are bound at the end of this paper. Music Link was a yearlong partnership between a university school of music and a performing arts presenter. Music Link intended to serve undergraduate and graduate music performance students whose academic requirements included performance, history, theory, and pedagogies, but no training or requirements for performing off campus as Teaching Artists. The program aimed to provide occasions for select university music performance students to engage in training experiences with professional Teaching Artists, and participate in positive social contact with communities on and off campus via interactive music performances in schools and community centers. Teaching Artist training programs at universities are a very recent phenomenon. The programs on the cutting edge of this type of training are at conservatories and liberal arts colleges and are usually collaborative programs partnered with outside arts organizations. The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a pilot program through observations, interviews, and exploration of material culture, and compare it to two other established programs, the 21st Century Musician Initiative at DePauw University and the Teaching Artist Program at the Longy School of Music at Bard College. The information was assembled over the course of the school year, and an assessment was offered of the benefits and challenges in the creation of a Teaching Artist training program in a public university setting. The outcomes of Music Link were then compared with two other similar programs at private liberal arts colleges. Through comparison of similarities and differences of the Teaching Artist training programs advice for the future implementation of Music Link is presented, as well as suggestions for universities looking to create a Teaching Artist training program.