The program had existed since 1990 when Dr. David Newby had the program approved and has been a model for other community colleges ever since.
However, while El Comino College, College of the Canyons and Los Angeles Mission College have all been able to retain their related programs even during the state’s budget crisis, AVC hasn’t.
To clarify what the program entailed, the school offered one-on-one instruction for music students with adjunct and full-time professors that specialized on that particular instrument.
There was also a solo performance component that required each student to perform with accompaniment in front of an audience of peers as well as in a group recital at the end of the semester.
The classes MUS 291 and MUS 292 were equivalent to what would be offered at any music department at a Cal State or University of California and were transferable units making the transition from community college to a four-year a smooth process.
This is no longer the case since the lack of these credits may jeopardize the students standing as a junior.
The reasons college administrators gave were financial, with particular concern over the costs of individual instruction.
Those in the music department were not so much asked but informed of the decision.
Newby said “I had no say in the matter,”
This is not the first time this has happened in the program’s history.
In 2004, challenges to applied music led to the addition of a co-requisite enrollment in a large ensemble.
However, the nature of the program itself and the classification of music classes as elective humanities courses insure its constant struggle for funding.
Many community colleges appear to go through cycles were the administration challenges the course’s existence, and the faculty later retaliates through steady persuasion or changing the structure until finally some aspect of the program is revived.
College of the Canyons went through a similar process in 2007, only the students’ parents were unrelenting, forcing the program to be continued under a different name, lessons to be no longer taught by adjunct professors and enrollment to be limited.
“Without the parents we would not have the program back,” K.C. Manji, Applied Music coordinator, said.
Though an Associate’s Degree in music is not necessary to transfer to a four-year’s music department, the Applied Program was a cornerstone in the preparation of AVC music students for a performance degree, a degree in education or whatever future in music they considered.
The program made private lessons accessible to many students, and now with this option gone, students are discouraged, as their skill levels have lowered.
“I had no soloist experience or lessons before college,” said Tim Skinner graduate of AVC and now a clarinetist studying for his Master’s Degree in performance at the University of New Mexico. “AVC turned us into solo musicians and started me on the right path.”
Most music schools require their applicants to audition, and now, as of Fall 2010, AVC promises to prepare its students in music theory, ear-training, ensemble repertoire and music history, but not in the basic playing of their own instrument.
“Community colleges are required by law to provide the same opportunities as any Cal State or UC,” said Dr. Berkely Price of the AVC Music Department.
Newby already has another strategy in the works to bring the program back.
The proposal could possibly involve classifying practice time as lab hours that would then receive a greater reimbursement for the college from the state.
Yet this is tentative.
-By Amber Lucido
