PHI MU ALPHA MEETS TO IMPROVE MUSIC DEPARTMENT

By Eboni Farmer
The Hilltop

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

The brothers of the Howard Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America held a town hall meeting yesterday for students in the music department.

"Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia decided to hold a meeting because we felt it was an obligation to understand students whose voice may not always be heard," said senior business major Wesley Steele.

During the meeting, students expressed the opinions of what the school’s weak and strong points were. Improvements the school needs to make were also discussed.

"We have strong faculty that can compete with the best, but a lot of the time students do not take advantage of them," said Fine Arts student Brian Lawson.

Adrian Hall, a sophomore music education major believes that Howard has a great school of music. "Howard has the most competitive music school out of all the HBCU’s, but one of the issues I have is being exposed to the competition that I will face once I leave the university," Hall said.

Freshman music education major Beverly Johnson stressed the importance of students exposing themselves. "Students should venture out and do their own thing and not only rely on the University for opportunities. There is a lot of competition out there but we have to find it to see what we need to do to improve," Johnson said.

The main issue that was shared among many students was the condition of the equipment. Freshman music therapy major Taylor Harris expressed concern about the tuning of pianos. "If an instrument is out of tune it does not allow you to perfect your craft. I think it is extremely important that every piano in the building is tuned properly and regularly."

Robert Birdfong, an employee at Rick Jones Pianos located in Beltsville, Md. gave insight on the issue. "The price of tuning a piano varies," said Birdfong, "if it is just a regular tune up the price will be about $100.00, but if it has been 3 or more years since the piano has been tuned it will cost more."

Professor and chair of the music department Valerie Eichelberger attended the meeting to show students that the faculty supports the effort being made. She wanted the students to know that she was there to assist them and their voices and concerns were not falling upon deaf ears.

HUSA President Jennifer Owens was also in attendance at the Town Hall meeting. "I felt it was important for me to come to the meeting because a lot of the time students in the Fine Arts Department do not feel like they are represented," said Owens.

Owens hopes that this meeting will help The Music Department be more in tune with students. She added, "I want the Dean of The Department to know about the students concerns. Having the Town Hall meeting was the first step to change. The students have valid questions that need to be answered."

Steele wants everyone outside of The Department of Music to be aware of the struggles Howard is facing so that they can be addressed and taken care of. "We plan on having more meetings where students can come and be heard. After further discussion with Professor Eichelberger and Vice Provost there will be a follow up."

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