1 Artists Who Can Teach: Music Teaching Artistry in Educational and Organizational Settings Heather G. Kendrick Organizational Studies Honors Thesis Fall 2016 Advisor: Dr. Colleen Conway, Department of Music Education 2 A most sincere ‘thank you’ to my family, friends, mentors, and colleagues, for investing in me and allowing me to share life with you. It is a joy. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 An Overview: The Field of Teaching Artistry ................................................................................ 9 Music Teaching Artistry and Music Education ............................................................................. 15 Music Teaching Artistry and Organizations .................................................................................. 19 Interviews ...................................................................................................................................... 25 Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 25 Development of Interview Protocol .................................................................................. 25 Procedure ........................................................................................................................... 26 Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 26 Proposed Training Resources for Music Teaching Artists ............................................................ 31 References ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 40 A: Interview Questions ...................................................................................................... 40 B: Interview Transcripts .................................................................................................... 43 4 Abstract In a changing arts world that demands more from artists seeking sustainable careers, teaching artistry is an avenue for highly qualified performers that combines educational work and community engagement (largely within the structures of arts organizations). A brief literature review examines teaching artistry as a field while the sections that follow consider specifically music teaching artistry in relation to music education and organizational studies. Interviews with four leaders in the arts from the University of Michigan, Cadenza Artists, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Sphinx Organization offer insight into careers in and the realities of an ever-evolving performing arts world. 5 Introduction In today’s art world, arts organizations connect with their communities through educational and outreach programs that are often ancillary to their focal artistic endeavors. For example, the Houston Symphony’s mission is “to inspire and engage a large and diverse audience in Greater Houston and beyond through exceptional orchestral and non-orchestral performances, educational programs and community activities” (Houston Symphony, 2016). Dean Dworkin at our own University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance plans to make the School “the most relevant school of the performing arts in the world” (p. 4). Like much of today’s business leadership, arts organizations and artists are also seeking relevance, purpose, and holistic impact in and through their work. The days have passed in which an organization can thrive by only producing great products; it must now consider, in addition, the impact of its products on individuals, society, and organizational culture. Tom’s Shoes and Google are examples of organizations with successful products whose public image and influence encompass more than just shoes and software. Similarly, the New York Philharmonic now travels to Ann Arbor not just to perform at Hill Auditorium, but also to march the football game halftime show and visit Ann Arbor Public Schools. Educational and community outreach programs help demonstrate the relevance and value that art and arts organizations bring to communities to fulfill needs, which may also help expand audiences, increase interest, invest and grow younger generations, and generate fundraising opportunities. Many key players in arts organizations are highly trained performers who sought administration and organizational work as a more stable career choice within the industry. Infrastructure is attractive to financially struggling freelance musicians competing for limited contract jobs in a saturated market. Many musicians are willing to incorporate educational work 6 into their performance schedules, but are not certified or committed to classroom music teaching. Teaching artists, as defined by the “Father” of the teaching artist field Booth (2009) were those who chose “to include artfully educating others, beyond teaching the technique of the art form, as an active part of a career” (p. 3). They are significant contributors to many arts organizations. These are the musicians who visit school classrooms, give assemblies and pre/post-concert workshops, and perform and present at hospitals and to service organizations. They actively carry out the educational work of arts organizations that administrators put in place, and do so with exceptional artistic skill while also connecting and collaborating with students, teachers, and sometimes unconventional audiences. Teaching artist work is becoming more common among young musicians breaking into today’s industry and some large arts organizations including the Kennedy Center and the New York Philharmonic house teaching artist programs. Although teaching artists have been a part of the educational system for nearly 100 years (Booth, 2010, para. 11), teaching artistry as a field is fairly recent, but quickly growing as more artists search for diverse and unconventional freelance opportunities as part of their self-curated careers. The field of teaching artistry transcends the full spectrum of the arts including theater, dance, creative writing, and visual arts, but this paper will focus on music teaching artists. I came upon this topic as a violinist nearing graduation and realizing that the majority of employment opportunities in my field required skills other than mastery of the instrument. I had known for years that I needed to do more than play the violin and therefore, pursued additional degrees in music education and organizational studies. However, many of my peers are realizing that even performance-based positions and freelancing require competence in marketing, entrepreneurship, legal and financial basics, technology, networking and public speaking. Our reality facing down a music career contrasts that of our professors and mentors who entered the 7 field forty years ago. According to Friend (2011), former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, and BBC Orchestra, music colleges accept too many students for the amount of available career opportunities (para. 1). He wrote that students deemed ‘Exceptional’ and ‘Highly Gifted’ (i.e., who are already concertizing before they reach university) are the ones who are guaranteed performance-based careers (para. 1). The rest, who may be strong musicians but uncompetitive on the international stage, will have difficulty securing the limited full-time performance jobs and will supplement their career by teaching, administering, working part-time outside of the field, or playing gigs outside of their specific training (e.g., pops music, weddings, etc.). Like arts organizations, the great players, even the ‘Exceptional’ players, often seek variety in their careers--a sense of purpose, to interact with others, and do more than just perform. Teaching artistry provides an opportunity for a portfolio career of performing, teaching, and impacting communities through the arts. In the Silk Road Ensemble’s recent documentary, The Music of Strangers, cellist Yo-Yo Ma speaks to the artist’s need to seek evolution and deeper meaning through music (Neville, 2016). He formed the Silk Road Ensemble in an effort to bring musicians together, strangers, from different countries, languages, and cultures. He did this because mastering the cello eventually was not enough for him, but using his creative musicianship to develop something new--a melding of cultures that elevated and unified them was more satisfying. Business administrators and educators see teaching artistry from different perspectives. Organizationally, this is highly effective and lean. It is essentially outsourcing: hire a few outstanding and personable musicians to do a job, establish a basic structure, spend little on training, send a check when the job is done, and call when the next opening arises. From a music educator’s view, this is highly complex and controversial. The assumption is that great 8 musicians are competent teachers, which is often not the case. Teaching artists find themselves in difficult teaching situations with limited experience in classroom management, educational sequence, human psychology, or learning styles. After four years of music education study at one of the country’s top universities, I still feel underprepared as a student teacher in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Despite college degrees and arts-related experience, non-educators are underprepared for the complexities of classroom teaching especially in underserved communities and/or with students of differing ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Certified music teachers are equipped with the appropriate training and experience to engage in effective classroom learning. However, I argue that teaching artists, performers, educators, and administrators can learn and develop the skills to teach effectively in varied contexts and with myriad students. Equipping employees within arts organizations to do so better ensures our work is impactful and successful for students, teachers, organizations, communities, and the art world. Weinzweig (2016), co-founder of Ann Arbor’s iconic Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, said in his book, A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to the Power of Beliefs in Business, “One of my core beliefs, it turns out, is that if I study hard enough, I can learn a lot about almost anything, and that what I learn will then significantly enhance the quality of my life and work” (p. 37). This paper will begin with an overview of teaching artistry prior to examining the subject in relation to music education and organizational studies. These sections of literature review are followed by an analysis of interviews with four leaders in the arts world. A final section will outline proposed resources for music teaching artists seeking further training and/or professional development materials in education and/or organizational settings. The interview transcripts are included in Appendix B. 9 An Overview: The Field of Teaching Artistry It can be argued that the work of teaching artists began 40,000 years ago with the cave painters (Booth, 2010, para. 4) or that the field of teaching artistry is still in infancy. In my research, I have not found an in-depth scholarly work, which outlines the full history of teaching artistry. However, I begin this overview by sharing what I have found about the history. Booth is the most respected voice in the field and as previously mentioned, is considered the “Father” of teaching artistry. The majority of sources on the subject are by Booth, which makes research in this field inherently biased. Because his work is well regarded in many facets of the arts and by myriad arts leaders, I propose that the sources referred to in this paper do accurately represent the subject and field. In this section, I will define the term teaching artist, provide insight into the evolution and efficacy of the field, discuss current research, and highlight organizations doing exemplary work with teaching artists. Booth’s (2009) revolutionary work, The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible: Becoming a Virtuoso Educator began, “There is no consensus definition of teaching artist in the evolving field of arts education. Part of me hopes there will never be a consensus definition for a practice so varied and dynamic” (p. 3). He continued, “We still live in a time when you are a teaching artist if you say you are” (p. 3). The Arts in Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education runs a series and blog called Continuing the Conversation (CtC) “to promote and advance dialogue in order to identify and work on urgent issues in the Arts in Education sector and to inspire those involved to lead and create change in this sector and beyond through expanding the place of the arts in education and in society” (2016, para. 1). This resource provides a platform for many teaching artists and arts educators to discuss pertinent topics. Kavanakudiyil (2016), a teaching artist and arts education consultant at The City College of New 10 York, shared four popular definitions of teaching artists in her CtC blog post, “Redefining the Teaching Artist: the Marriage of Pedagogy and Artistry”: ● A teaching artist is a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills, curiosities and sensibilities of an educator, who can effectively engage a wide range of people in learning experiences in, through, and about the arts. (Booth, 2010, para. 3) ● Teaching Artists are distinguished from those who dedicate most of their time to teaching the arts in school and are licensed teachers, and from master-teachers who share specific knowledge and techniques from their own work in a limited workshop-type environment. Teaching artists in education are expected to work as artists as well as invest themselves in the creation and implementation of projects in collaboration with other teachers or educational staff. (McKean, 2006) ● Artists who teach. Teaching with great artistry. Teaching about art or through art or using art to teach, explore and/or reflect on non-art topics. All of these descriptions could apply to the definition of Teaching Artists. Therefore we contend that to have purpose and credibility a Teaching Artist should experience and be knowledgeable about both teaching and art. (Dawson & Kelin, 2014) ● Teaching artistry is a practice, requiring dedication and belief in the transformational power of art. (Wiggins, 2013) Kavanakudiyil (2016) concluded, “In all of these definitions I notice a requirement of mastery of the art form, inquiry based practices, and a sense of needing to be distinguished separately from a teacher” (para. 5). My sense about these definitions is twofold. On one hand, defining art and/or the everyday work of an artist will always be complicated because art means many things to many people. Alternately, artists tend to over-complicate things. I appreciate Dawson and