Shortly after becoming dean of the Ithaca College School of Music in 1985, Art Ostrander realized there was something lacking in the school’s offerings. He wanted to start a concert series to bring well-known performers to campus. “Our goal was to train excellent music educators and excellent performers,” he said. “And one of the ways you do that is to provide opportunities to learn from nationally known artists.”
Thanks to support from alumni and others, the school now has half a dozen endowed concerts and accompanying master classes each year, where renowned artists and groups come to South Hill to perform and meet with select students. And during his time as dean, Ostrander saw the value the master classes provided the school. “Faculty selected the performers, and they loved the opportunity to show off their school and meet those artists,” he said. “It generated a lot of enthusiasm.”
The benefits to students, who get to perform pieces under the watchful instruction of some of the best players in the world, are immeasurable. Megan Donahue ’24 was a music education major who, this past April, took part in a master class held by pianist Kirill Gerstein, a former winner of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. “Hearing his insight was amazing,” Donahue said. “He was helping me visualize a story during my performance so that I could better understand what lines of the piece to emphasize while I was playing. Listening to these artists share things with you is so helpful. It gives you an entirely new perspective on your piece.”
“Having regular visiting performing groups and soloists that have an international reputation and play at the highest artistic levels is an important part of any students’ education at a serious school of music,” said Richard Faria, professor of music performance, who recently had students take part in a master class with WindSync, a wind quintet based in Houston, Texas. “It gives them something to aspire to.”
