Welcome from the Chair
We're Happy You're Here!
Greetings all!
As we are emerging fully from the COVID-19 pandemic experience, I am noticing that we have learned a few lessons.
First and foremost, music is a crucial aspect of human existence. We need music to come together, we need music to feel better, and we need music to heal. We at Cal Poly Pomona were able to emerge from COVID-19 with renewed vigor and enthusiasm because I think we all realize this centrality of music on our lives. Our ensembles are performing with renewed vigor, our recording studios are busy, our hallways and practice rooms active again.
I think we have also realized that much can be accomplished online. If designed correctly, some classes that were converted to being totally or partially online could still support student learning as well as in-person classes. Meetings can be successful online, and some lessons and master classes, too. We can have copyright experts from New York and Nashville “drop in” on our classes though Zoom or Skype, just as we can access archives of music and research at the Library of Congress that are swiftly being digitally converted. We don’t have to print and sign all documents and wait for someone to follow them along a paper trail, we now have a digital trail. These are all innovations that have accelerated and lingered in the last three years.
Still, fundamentally, music is a shared experience and we realized that, too. Ensembles work best when people share the sonic space with audiences and other musicians. Hanging out is essential to making music, too, and we are celebrating the return of socializing in the hallways and at “the couches.”
If you are contemplating applying to Cal Poly Pomona as a musician, or even just interested in music as a hobby, come on by!
Contact me to book a tour of the facilities with your family, drop in on a songwriting or conducting class, come to a concert, have a look at our recording studios, or come to meeting of our student clubs. By all means audition for one of ouf many ensembles (they are all open to non-majors– just contact the ensemble director – and we have instruments to rent at a ridiculously low price).
You will likely come to the same conclusion we have over the last three years: You need this!
Dr. David Kopplin,
Music Department Chair