NEWFANE — I write this letter in regard to the recent budgets proposed for the Leland & Gray Union High School music department.
This letter comes from a freshman who has recently left the cozy, comfortable world of southern Vermont for the much broader horizon of “the real world” at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in upstate New York.
College is an incredible learning opportunity that needs to be taken advantage of in a world where job opportunities are becoming rapidly more competitive.
I am extremely thankful that I was able to go Leland & Gray, where I was given a wide range of opportunities to explore education in whatever way I wanted.
Like many others, I chose to extend myself through the music department, a perfect outlet for many of us. It provided us with another type of learning that did not involve textbooks or equations, but expression through and appreciation for music.
Music does not exist within a bubble, as many may think. Understanding music requires a set of skills represents the epitome of interdisciplinary learning.
Music teaches us to focus on more than a single aspect of an issue; a sonata cannot be approached only by thinking of the rhythm or the notes. Each component must work to come together with equal importance.
We learned to work with other students in a large group and in smaller ensembles. I challenge you to think of a single profession that does not involve working with others. Music taught us how to work cooperatively far more realistically than any group poster project ever could have.
I shudder to think that the incoming freshmen at Leland & Gray will not be able to have the same opportunities that my class had. I would not be where I am today if it had not been for the music department and everyone involved.
I implore those with say to reconsider taking funding from an incredible program - a program like no other high school.
The program is intimate, yet it offers an incredibly broad range of learning opportunities: concert and small-group ensembles, samba band, chorus, a cappella, and all of the work done in collaboration with the theater department.
All have given time and time again to the students and to community.
A scholarship in music is the only thing allowing this 18-year-old to continue her education. So thank you to everyone who helped, especially Matt Martyn, Ron Kelley, Annie Landenberger, and Daniel Timmermans.
To those who have the power to salvage to music program at Leland & Gray - which once was a huge draw to the school and can be again - I ask you, please, to do all you can. We cannot hope to bring back a strong music program with these proposed cuts.