The Collegian

Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: Arts

Sophomore Melissa Stewart plays the violin. Stewart played in several string orchestras in high school. {William Clayton/Collegian}

Four years ago, super senior Jeff Myers left his native Seattle for Hillsdale, bass trombone in hand, but he hasn't settled here. He travels to study with bass trombonists from some of the best symphonies in the world.

The lessons he takes during school breaks have widened both his vision of how to pursue a career and given him contacts for future jobs, he said.

He's not alone. Other students pursuing future careers in music supplement their college education with extra-curricular performances and lessons at other universities.

Myers considered transferring to a larger university during his freshman year hoping to surround himself with more advanced musicians and performance opportunities. But with Hillsdale's music program, liberal arts focus and location, he realized he could benefit by staying.

"Hillsdale has a central location to larger cities such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago, where there are many opportunities to receive lessons from many accomplished musicians," Myers said.

He plays bass trombone in college ensembles, including the Hillsdale College Big Band and the Hillsdale College/Community Orchestra. And while he studies with Hillsdale's bass trombone teacher, Lecturer in Music Dan Harris, Myers has also sought lessons with bass trombone players from top orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Seville Symphony Orchestra.

Other music students brought high-school orchestral experience with them to college and they build on it while at Hillsdale.
Junior Elyse Mayotte played violin with a church orchestra in Pueblo, Mexico while in high school. That experience, along with performing in musical ensembles in college and teaching a string quartet at the Hillsdale Academy gave Mayotte a "wide variety of learning opportunities," she said.

During senior Sarah Paye's sophomore year, a conductor from the Adrian Symphony Orchestra worked with the Hillsdale College/Community Orchestra and offered her a contract to play violin four to five times per year.

Hillsdale doesn't have the same close proximity to a vibrant off-campus arts community as a bustling metropolitan-based school, but teachers work closely with students to offer them beneficial performance, learning and teaching opportunities, Associate Professor of Music Melissa Knecht said.

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