On Monday, the McGill Conservatory of Music announced its imminent closure on social media. Shock. Incredulity. Consternation.
Right away, I thought of the teachers at this school, who are in the midst of exams. The news was for them extremely surprising insofar as they had received the week before reassuring words from their employer as for the perenniality of the Conservatoire. I then had a nostalgic thought for my beloved former teachers, teachers who marked my musical journey, but who also contributed greatly to the human being that I have become today. Some are still in post at the Conservatoire, others, from up there, see the work of their life swept away out of hand.
My name is Véronique, I am a teacher of 6e year, violinist, pianist, lover of culture and children. Music has always occupied a very big place in my life. As a result, my learning is closely linked to the McGill Conservatory of Music since the program and the exams punctuated my learning and my potential as a future student of the Faculty of Music of McGill University as a violinist (2005).
Reactions, I read everywhere on social networks and in the musical community of the greater Montreal area. The sadness is real, the incomprehension is even greater. The heritage of the Conservatory is incalculable and heavily underestimated by the people who, until last Monday, had the mission to make it shine.
A codependent relationship
First, as a student at McGill University, I quickly understood what values made its walls vibrate: performance, appearance, money. These values are not the individual reflection of the professors who teach there, but rather the reflection of a “Mcgillian” culture, where a complex internal policy reigns, filled with unspoken words and awarding of prizes between managers.
At the beginning of its creation, the Conservatory played the role of a preparatory school for the Faculty of Music. I dare say that this is no less true today. Investing in music education from a young age is key to shaping the artists of tomorrow. Moreover, several students of the Faculty began to learn music at a very young age.
But beyond the creation of professional musicians, what goes under the radar is the training of music lovers. All the children, teenagers, adults passing through the musical education of the Conservatory or other institutions form a huge percentage of the population that keeps musical culture alive in Quebec. These same people will go to concerts and allow artists to make a living from their art. Musicians and music lovers come together and thus share a common passion. And we know that after a pandemic, it is all the more urgent to support our artists, celebrate our cultural events and develop our arts-oriented schools.
What the Faculty of Music of McGill University forgets is that its own two institutions (academic and community) are the steps of the same level, the members of the same team, the stages of a common project. of society. Their relationship is based on codependency, not grace.
In June 2022, I am still one of the students registered at the Conservatoire. I take piano lessons there with a passionate and human professional teacher with whom I share wonderful musical moments. Unfortunately, since the confinement in March 2020, the teaching of the Conservatory of Music is done online. You understood me well. For two and a half years, even if the resumption of face-to-face music lessons has been legally permitted in Quebec for more than a year, the director of the Conservatory (professor of the Faculty) continued to praise the comfort and security of online lessons. .
Inadmissible apologies
The administration of the Conservatory claims that there will be less than 100 registrations for the next session, which is false. Mentioning the drop in registrations as the main reason for its closure is not very honest. It goes without saying that the drop in registrations at the Conservatoire happened on its own, face-to-face lessons not being allowed. Several teachers and students of the Conservatory fought, begged the administrators to give them a small window in the calendar. And the demands weren’t exaggerated: “A local, any day, at any time, please!” »
The University claims that it cannot share premises for more than 100 students and argues that it would not be profitable. The lack of space is also an inadmissible excuse, as there are certainly other premises available on the McGill campuses for lessons in instruments other than the piano.
Lack of money is also an excuse that lacks credibility. Moreover, the Conservatoire is not allowed to fundraise and the Conservatoire teachers are paid indirectly by the students. And um… let’s not forget that we are talking about a project that falls under McGill University.
Incidentally, on receiving the 2022 Angela Hildyard Recognition Award as an Influential Leader, the dean of the Faculty of Music at McGill University, Brenda Ravenscroft, published her “bold and visionary five-year strategic plan”. . At 3e point of the section ” Partnerships and Outreach we can read: “Developing new opportunities for community involvement through the McGill Conservatory of Music. What happened in the three months between receiving this prestigious award and the announcement of the Conservatoire’s closure? Is this just an impression on my part or is the receipt of this award blatantly hypocritical?
I would like to say to the Deans of the Faculty of Music and to the management of the Conservatory that they absolutely must do everything to keep the McGill Conservatory of Music open, because it does not belong to them. And if these two or three people inside don’t really care about looking for solutions, they should leave the torch to people who have real leadership. This Conservatory belongs to the teachers who hold its mission at arm’s length, as well as to past and future generations of this precious heritage of musicians and music lovers who make music in Quebec a living art.