Welcome to all of you.\u00a0 It’s wonderful to see you.\u00a0 It’s always so inspirational to me when the year starts.\u00a0 The energy of our students is palpable.\u00a0 Now, why are you here?\u00a0 I mean, I know the obvious, you’re here to learn your instrument and to learn music; to be able to get good enough to make a career.\u00a0 But, why are you\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0here?\u00a0 I hope you\u2019ll spend some time thinking about that if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n Yes, you’re here to practice.\u00a0 Practice hard – this is a chance to do that!\u00a0 Get all you can out of your outstanding teachers.\u00a0 At the same time, expand your horizons.\u00a0 There is a breadth of musical opportunities before you.\u00a0 Be eclectic and seek out different experiences – it will pay off.\u00a0 You should want to perform in every configuration you can get yourself into, and every genre imaginable.\u00a0 The same for the academic opportunities – there is a whole university out there.\u00a0 And beyond the university, the city is your campus – don’t live in a bubble.\u00a0 I promise you that in any job you’re lucky enough to get, community will increasingly be part of what you do.\u00a0 Find the joy in it.<\/p>\n Now, here’s something you may not know.\u00a0 The Peabody Institute was not founded as a music school, it was founded as a cultural center for the city.\u00a0 It started as a library, a lecture series, an art gallery, and yes, a performance space before becoming a conservatory later on – it was in its formation a cultural mecca for the region.\u00a0 Springing from its supporters were individuals who went on to found Baltimore\u2019s museums, its orchestra, even Johns Hopkins University.\u00a0 So when we talk about the importance of a broad and holistic view, we come by it genuinely – it’s in the bones and DNA of the Peabody Institute.\u00a0 And it’s that very history and boldness of it, coupled with a great tradition of training professional musicians, that gives us the imperative and obligation to look differently at music, its impact and how we shape our role accordingly and how you are shaped as musicians.<\/p>\n So with that in mind, there are important questions that I hope you’ll ask yourselves.\u00a0 And I suppose it brings us back to my question about why you\u2019re really here.\u00a0 It\u2019s another way of asking, why does what you do, what we do, matter?<\/p>\n What does being a musician mean today?<\/p>\n What kinds of skills will I need to be able to navigate an environment that is vastly different than it was just a decade or two ago, and will be vastly different still 10 years from now?<\/p>\n How do we as artists make a difference in this brave new world?<\/p>\n What makes a meaningful performance? It’s not just about playing well, or the hall you\u2019re playing in.\u00a0 It may not even be a hall.\u00a0 It’s about the connection you make with the listener.<\/p>\n Is that the same for all audiences?<\/p>\n Are some audiences more important than others?\u00a0 Do you make a value judgment about that?<\/p>\n What do I bring that is uniquely me?\u00a0 That\u2019s an important one. \u00a0Each of you are a small, independent business that needs a vision or mission, a plan, and yes, customers.<\/p>\n If you think you know the answers to these questions, you’re ahead of the game.\u00a0 But don\u2019t worry if you do not, yet.<\/p>\n Part of your time here should be focused on finding the answers to these questions, and others, as you hone your musical skills.\u00a0 It will not always be easy.\u00a0 You may have to challenge long-held assumptions.\u00a0 Some people may tell you it’s impossible to do anything other than practice and play your instrument, and that there is one path.\u00a0 They’re mistaken, and I believe that because having led major performing arts organizations, I\u2019ve witnessed the pace of change in the professional arts environment, and seen the consequences and benefits of artists who are well prepared for this, or sadly and more commonly, are not.\u00a0 Are you open to it?\u00a0 Can you imagine the possibilities?\u00a0 See what performing artists at the highest level are doing – and it’s increasingly more than what we imagine it to be.\u00a0 Ask Yo-Yo Ma, whose community work today in many ways is front and center of what he does.<\/p>\n Soon enough community connectivity will be part of the curriculum here and you will have an opportunity to learn firsthand why this matters.\u00a0 For now, at this moment in time, what I offer you is this.\u00a0 Practice and make every moment count.\u00a0 But don\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 Be curious; be flexible; learn to innovate and experiment; learn different skills; stretch yourselves; make room for more than you think you have room for.<\/p>\n I think of Frances Pollock, singer, composer and recent Peabody alumna, who last year wrote the moving and timely opera,\u00a0Stinney<\/em>, produced it herself in the community, and has just been commissioned by the Washington Opera.\u00a0 Or Julian Xuereb, who set up shop in residence in a senior retirement home and in exchange for living accommodations, works as an artist-in-residence.\u00a0 Or the Marquee Brass who will be the second round of participants in the Young Artist Development Series we launched last year with a week-long, full-on community residency in El Paso Texas.\u00a0 Never, ever underestimate the value of flexibility and creativity – musically, professionally, personally – learn that now, not later.\u00a0 These folks I just mentioned know what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n Also, never stop loving what you do – we are so lucky to have the passion we have.\u00a0 Lots of people go through life without a passion – don’t take it for granted.\u00a0 Your ultimate professional challenge will be how to share that passion and make it relevant to others. \u00a0This is a unique time in your lives – believe it or not, it doesn’t last forever.\u00a0 This is the canvass on which you get to paint your future.\u00a0 Make the most of it.\u00a0 And have an awesome year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" September 15, 2016: Convocation Address Welcome to all of you.\u00a0 It’s wonderful to see you.\u00a0 It’s always so inspirational to me when the year starts.\u00a0 The energy of our students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":1389,"menu_order":66,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1450","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1450"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29384,"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1450\/revisions\/29384"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}