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Conservatory Students Take Charge
Story and photo by Liz Fox '00
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Three Conservatory organizations have served as outlets for self-starters such as Walter "Hudie" Broughton, a junior percussion performance major, and Gloria Kim, a fourth year double-degree student pursuing piano performance and a self-designed major of arts administration. When Broughton and Kim leave Oberlin to pursue their respective careers, they will pass on the proverbial torch to future student leaders of the Conservatory Council, the Oberlin Music Coalition, and Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS.
The Conservatory Council serves as a liaison between the student body and the administration. It also provides grants for college and conservatory student activities, and funds student-initiated community outreach--including concerts and student ensemble tours--master classes and career development.
Through trial and error, Broughton spent the past two years rebuilding the Con Council, which had floundered following the graduation of its student leaders--a situation that Broughton inherited, and one that he seeks to avoid in the future.
"The danger of losing Con Council," he says, "is that students will lose funding for their organizations and projects. With less funding, student groups won’t be able to tour as much, and fewer student initiated masterclasses will be feasible."
The organization's charter stipulates that unless its board is active, functioning and providing leadership, its assets must be frozen. Unallocated funds evaporate. Budgets for future years dwindle. Recognizing the importance of a student-run organization to fund student projects, Broughton picked up the pieces and started from scratch. As part of his legacy, he hopes to inspire rising juniors and seniors to become involved, and extols the benefits of doing so.
"New Con Council leaders can use their cooperative skills while working with others to write budgets, review proposals and interview other student leaders who seek funds," says Broughton. "These are useful skills for musicians to have, since quite often they must produce their own performance opportunities."
Broughton worked with Kim and junior Rick Sanford to create the first collegiate branch of the national AIDS fund-raising organization Classical Action. As a result of last September’s Classical Action concert, the activists raised more than $4,000 for AIDS research and programs. Classical Action formed ad hoc coalitions with pre-existing campus organizations."The Classical Action concert was a great opportunity for Oberlin student musicians to perform in a benefit concert—and for the leaders to hone their organizational skills," says Broughton.
"The benefits of working with these organizations have been innumerable," says Kim, who will intern at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra this summer. "Volunteers get experience teaching, playing in an orchestra, and organizing and implementing outreach. These days, musicians auditioning for orchestras need other skills, such as how to run a workshop, in addition to their musical abilities."
Kim found the Oberlin Music Coalition in a similarly hobbled state her sophomore year; the Oberlin Music Coalition had also lost its leadership to the world beyond Oberlin. Kim succeeded in renewing student interest, and reviving programs such as the Annual Winter Term All Stars Concert, music workshops, and music lessons for local children, taught by Oberlin Conservatory students.
"Oberlin students are incredibly gifted and have so much to offer to the community. The Oberlin Music Coalition bridges the Conservatory and the community through personal interactions," says Kim, explaining why the Coalition is necessary. "Local kids have the opportunity to go to free concerts. But not all of them can afford music lessons or have the opportunity to interact with musicians. The kids are interested in the musicians, as well as the music and the instruments. Conservatory students love that because it reminds them of when they got started."
Broughton and Kim seek organizers -- especially from the first- and second-year classes -- to continue the organizations they resuscitated. "We’re looking for students with passion. They should have inherent organizational and leadership skills which they will improve on the job -- but the passion cannot be learned," says Kim.
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