Does the Study of Music Matter?

President and CEO Paul W. Hogle’s address focused on the future of classical music—how conservatory and music school students must prepare for careers in the age of social media, social justice through the arts and social innovation, and how Cleveland Institute of Music is driving change and empowering its students to be the future.  

In his talk, Hogle highlighted the work of Dr. Anita Collins, an award-winning educator, researcher and writer in the field of brain development and learning. Collins’ research shows that musicians—those who formally studied music and had played for a reasonably long period of time—had incredibly successful careers even if they weren’t working as professional musicians. She says that “music education is essential, so that [our children] can build a better world for themselves.”  

Hogle invited the conference attendees to imagine how that early study of music in school would influence the future: “Without your inspiration, your passion and your enablement of music learning, there are no conservatory students, no audiences, no donors, no arts advocates, no composers, no instrumentalists, no singers and no conductors. We at CIM are your proud partners in this work.”  

He also described the extensive strategic planning and “futuring” process that CIM embraced in 2016-17, which led to the development of new mission and vision statements for the school; creation of the Center for Innovative Musicianship (known as CIM²) and the Musical Pathway Fellowship for pre-college students; critical work around diversity, equity and inclusion; and ultimately, identified the need to significantly reduce the net cost of education over time and reduce the size of the student body. 

The annual New York State Summer Music Conference brought together school music educators and administrators from across the Empire State.