Why do I want a Masters degree?

This post is based on an email I sent to the Handbell-L. I'm putting it here so that I can refer back to it when the doubts come on little cat feet in the middle of the night.

Now that I'm nearing the end of my undergraduate career -- yes, "nearing" is relative; I still have a year and half to go, but see my previous post as to why now is the time I have to look to the future -- I've been wrestling with the question of WHY I want a Masters in the first place. I've boiled it down to two main reasons:

1) I know that in California, you must have at least a Masters to eligible to teach at state colleges & universities (private schools are not bound by this, of course). I think many other states have this requirement, too. I would love to be able to teach Theory or History at the university level, BUT - and this is really important! - how many times have we heard of young people wanting to major in handbells and the school asks, "But who will be your teacher?" I want to be on that short-list of people who are eligible to teach handbells at the University level. I need (at least) a Masters for that.

2) I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure out how to word this gently, but I think perhaps it's best to just come out and say it: Women conductors have a harder time of it in the musical world. And not just in the larger world of orchestras, but also in handbells -- we've talked about that on the Handbell-L more than once or twice. It's not that there aren't any women conductors out there -- good grief! Look at how many are on the Handbell-L!! -- but rather that they seem not to get the recognition they deserve. I feel that if I want to be taken seriously as a "marquee conductor," then I need a degree in Conducting. While it's true that the Concordia degree is not specifically in conducting, see what I said in my previous post about having the time to be able to supplement it with other workshops and continuing/extended learning opportunities. I believe I have the discipline - and yes, the ambition - to do this.

I'll be honest; a degree in Church Music was not my first choice. I come from a Conservatory background in which Church Music was seen as a "lesser" degree for some reason (I don't quite understand it, but it was something "everybody knew" - just like a degree in Education was also somehow "lesser". ???), so I've spent a lot of time thinking about whether this is really something I want to do or not.

Then I realized that I've been a church musician for almost 20 years. I've worked for the Methodists, the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, and the Lutherans, and played in a number of other denominational churches (and some non-denominational). I have a great love for church music, and the rhythms of the church year -- and music is essential to my worship experience. From a more utilitarian perspective, my main employment opportunities are and probably always will be with the church and having a degree in church music can only help that (it certainly can't hurt). Other employment opportunities will see the Masters (and the supplemental education) on my resume and know that I have the musical background to do the job.

In short, I think pursuing a Masters is the right course of action for me. I've heard nothing but good things about the Concordia program and it has many things that appeal to me because of where I am in my life and what I want to accomplish.

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Where have all the blog posts gone? Long time passing!

Wow - I haven't blogged here since June? Really? How is that possible??

A lot has happened since last June. I walked Commencement at Foothill College, I attended the Walden School Teacher Training Institute, I took American History & German 101 at Palomar College, plus Vocal Ensemble at CSUSM, I started a new ensemble, I got a church job ...

... and it was at Palomar on the first day of Fall Semester that I saw a sign that said that CSUSM was accepting applications for mid-year admissions. They don't usually do that. Usually you have to apply in fall for the NEXT year's fall semester - meaning you apply Fall 2010 for admission to Fall 2011. This application period was for admission to Spring 2011, which starts in January. They weren't 100% certain they were actually going to be able to admit anyone - it all depended on the California budget that was in process of being approved - but things looked promising.

The sign said that the application deadline was in 2 weeks! So I filled out an online application that night & frantically ordered transcripts from all the post-secondary schools I've attended (BGSU, UC, LCC, FC, DAC, and Palomar), crossed my fingers & settled down to wait.

Long story short: I was accepted as a Junior with no conditions. That means that I suddenly went from being someone who was doing General Education stuff at the local Community College to someone who is in the middle of her Junior Year in College!

... and THAT means that I have to start looking at grad schools because I have to apply for them THIS FALL! Eep!

(I've actually been thinking off-and-on about grad school since this past summer, but now that I know I have to actually DO something about it "soon" I've been thinking about it more "on" than "off"!)

I have been planning to pursue a Masters in Conducting. I have a few options for schools. San Diego State University is of course on the list. It's the obvious choice because it's so close by. However, it's a very competitive school for music: they only accept 7 conducting students per year and the application requirements are difficult to fulfill. Not impossible, but difficult enough that I can see the program is obviously intended for people with a fairly substantial amount of experience with orchestral (or other large group) conducting. Plus, the classes are mostly in the evening to accommodate the working life of most grad students. Unfortunately, I mostly work nights - did I mention I have a church job now? - because the people I direct have day jobs. So where else might I go, if not SDSU?

California Baptist University is in Riverside. That's not too far away from me, probably about 1.5 hours. I have a friend who lives in Lake Elsinore who offered to let me stay at her place during the week while I'm attending classes. They have a Conducting program PLUS the FAQ page for their Performance degree says that you can study with a teacher of your choice. That is, you're not limited to studying with one of their faculty members. Hmm, does that mean that I could study Performance with handbells as my instrument? Could I possibly do a double degree - BOTH Conducting AND Performance? Again, though, their classes are mostly at night.

Azusa Pacific University is near Pasadena. A little farther away than Riverside, and requires dealing with a bit of LA traffic, but not outside the realm of possibilities. They also offer both Conducting and Performance AND they have a handbell choir, taught by Dr. Donavon Gray, who does a lot of teaching in AGEHR Area XII.

Another possibility is Redlands University in Redlands. North of Riverside and a bit inland, this is where my friend Beth Mays is currently working on a BA in handbells. I know she plans to pursue a Masters, too, and is also in the middle of her Junior year, so perhaps we could attend together?

All of these options, though appealing, would require me to spend a lot of time away from my home and my husband. Sure, we're used to a bit of that, since I travel so much, but it would be nice to not have it be *every* week. I found the fall of 2009 - when Brian was living in San Diego & I was still in the Bay Area - to be very difficult. Darnit - we got married because we wanted to be together!!

OK, so there's still one more option and it's looking more appealing to me all the time. Concordia University in Wisconsin offers a Masters in Church Music with Handbell Emphasis that can be completed by attending 5-week summer sessions over the course of 3 consecutive years. (If you miss a year, you have to wait for those topics to come back around again in the rotation.)

One disadvantage I see is that it's NOT a degree in Conducting. I'd really like to be able to be a "marquee conductor" in the handbell world. I'm making inroads in that regard & think that getting a degree would be an important step toward that goal.

However, the advantages I see to this are:

1. I would very likely be able to start the same summer I get my BA, which means I could *finish* almost a year earlier than with the other programs -- Summer 2014 rather than Spring 2015.
2. It would leave my regular year free to do things like re-start my solo performance career, teach more workshops, and maybe even relax a little!  (Nah....)
3. and perhaps most importantly:  take other classes in Piano, Ear Training, Counterpoint, Conducting, etc., without being constrained by degree requirements.

Today I googled for conducting workshops just to see what's out there. I know the AGEHR offers a conducting master class each January, but surely others were out there, too? Not only are do a lot of different schools offer conducting workshops, they are offered nearly year-round AND there's even a website that aggregates notices about them! Bingo!

This makes me much more comfortable with the idea of NOT doing a Masters specifically in Conducting -- there's nothing stopping me from taking as many classes in conducting as I can!

Now, where did I put that Concordia application?

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