I write from across the Pacific Ocean in
Nelson, New Zealand, as I attempt to digest the news that the
music program at Huntington University has been
suspended.
As an active musician in the Sudbury
community for the last 20 years, I am disappointed to learn
another arts program has not been deemed important enough to
merit support.
Indeed, Huntington's website states the
program's demise results from the continuing financial burden
of maintaining a highly specialized, low-enrolment program
within a small federated university environment.
I must smirk at the irony of these words. Is
it not the low-enrolment and small university environment
Laurentian University touts in its sales-pitch to
students?
I can't think of a more practical skill than
music. My own classical music background taught me discipline,
gave me confidence to be in the public eye, and developed my
cognitive abilities.
Music gave me the opportunity to travel and
perform throughout Canada. It allowed me to meet and interact
with others who share my passion for sound, and it meant I
always had the best summer job any student could have. Why then
do we continue to neglect our music programs. Let's keep music
at Huntington.
Vanessa Rukholm
Sudbury Symphony Orchestra 1997-2002
National Youth Orchestra of Canada
1997-98