To the editor:

Loyola’s School of Music & Theatre Professions boasts national recognition for its creative arts curricula, which is dedicated to an incredibly wide array of musical and theatrical disciplines/genres. We are proud of our status as a destination to learn alongside our faculty of world-renown musicians.

Naturally I, as the director of this school, was dismayed to read last week that a student had not been given the correct information in order to tap into our rich world of music-making experiences within the school and wanted to make sure our campus community knew just how welcome they are in our musical groups and productions.

We do, in fact, allow non-majors into our ensembles like: concert band, orchestra, wind ensemble, big band, hip-hop ensemble, Crescent Collective -vocal jazz ensemble, and pop contemporary ensembles. At present, we have a great many non-music majors in our groups and even more students from across campus partaking in private lessons each semester as well as jumping into our fantastic plays and musical theatre productions.

Students of all Loyola majors (even our cohorts in master’s and City College programs!) are welcome to join in what we do in the SMTP and all it takes is registering for one of these experiences listed in the LORA Course Catalogue. Even more to the point of wanting to include all Loyola majors in what we do, we work to offer non-major scholarships that fund students who play needed instruments/voice parts a chance to join our large ensembles, an offer that we have extended to our dear op/ed-writer.

There is a lot of data around the general benefits of playing music, but making music with others is an incredibly special and unique gift, of which those who partake can attest. As an ensemble director myself, I see the special bonds formed when people join together to create something artistic for the greater good, and how much closer to the Jesuit mission could we get?

I personally met my lifelong best friends in ensembles throughout my educational experiences and truly love folding new people into this (often) life-changing experience, regardless of major. Our choir/band/stage doors are open to you, Loyola, so I look forward to seeing more of you in our future concerts and productions!

Kate Duncan, Director – School of Music and Theatre Professions