To the editor,
Re: University may cut the music due to ongoing budget woes, March 13.
We are shocked and dismayed upon learning that action is being taken to dismantle the music program at Vancouver Island University. We believe this is short-sighted, as music is one of the most lucrative degrees to attain for so many reasons. We can attest to the success of this program, as we are both graduates from VIU’s former Malaspina College two-year jazz diploma.
Ingrid and I have made an international career in the music industry as multi Juno-award winning conductors, performers and producers, in part due to our formative years at this institution. I am a saxophonist and the jazz composition and arranging professor in jazz studies and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music, consistently ranked as one of U.S.A.’s top 10 music schools. Ingrid is currently dean of jazz arts at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where she teaches some of the world’s best musicians. Both of us have had ample opportunity working as visiting guest artists at a wide array of music institutions across the globe, and upon each return we both concur that we deeply value our time spent with the program at Malaspina.
It is vital to maintain our culture industries on a local and regional level. These are the places that nurture our young talents to hone their skills and shape the future of the arts in Canada and globally. VIU is integral to supporting the vibrant music scene on Vancouver Island especially, as it is the final frontier for arts culture on the Island. In fact, it is the only alternative to UVic’s more traditional music program.
We would hope that rather than cutting this program, that there be a pause for reflection and then a rebuild. We believe that there is a strong market in the institution to have a robust body of students that want to be trained to enter the ever-growing and changing Canadian music industry, whether it be in education or professional arts careers in music. VIU is the perfect place for this to happen. Nanaimo has always had the potential to be a culture magnet and has had growth in this area because of VIU’s music program.
Closing this program will definitely shutter culture in the Nanaimo region, period.
Christine and Ingrid Jensen
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Losing VIU music program would be heart-breaking
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