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Northwestern University has decided to discontinue its Jazz Studies undergraduate major for next year after closing the search for a new director. The jazz department had been searching for a new leader since the departure of its director, Don Owens, in 2005. Jazz studies enrollment has been around 12-14 students in the last couple of years with only two freshman entering the program this year and no prospective students passing the auditions for next year's class. The previously enrolled students will be able to complete their degrees and the Music Department will continue to carry a jazz minor and operate the jazz band.
We feel it is disheartening for Northwestern to lose this program since jazz has a vital and important connection to the city of Chicago. Brett Johnson, one of the two freshman Jazz Studies students, laments, “…you have to immerse yourself in jazz and that style. With no other peers to look up to and learn from, it’s going to be difficult for me to develop as fully as I should. Jazz essentially is communication, and they’re cutting off people for me to communicate with.”
Chicagoist doesn’t know all the answers, nor the implications of a major university cutting one of their programs. Is this just the market righting itself due to declining popularity of jazz and classical music? Should there be a more concerted effort to teach and protect America’s art form?
Update: There's some good discussion going on in the comments and Josh Moshier sent us this link to the Friends of NU Jazz website where more information is available. Listen to www.wnur.org today (Tues., May 22) from 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. for further discussion about the decision to end the Jazz Studies major and to hear those NU Jazz majors play some of their recordings.
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Chicagoist doesn’t know all the answers, nor the implications of a major university cutting one of their programs. Is this just the market righting itself due to declining popularity of jazz and classical music?
Im not sure how Northwestern's jazz program has been "vital and important" to jazz in Chicago. Most of the major players in the city never studied in any university jazz studies program.
Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Vonski, Fred Anderson, Ernest Dawkins, Michael Zerang, Robert Shy, etc...
The most vital and important places to study jazz in the city remain the New Apartment Lounge and the Velvet Lounge--not some North Shore university started by a bunch of prohibitionists!
I'm not sure if you're a lazy reader or just missed the boat here Moinf. The point of the statement that you don't even quote, but then go on to question is not that Northwestern's jazz program is "vital and important" to Chicago, but that Jazz itself is vital and important to Chicago. You can see it right there were it says: "...since jazz has a vital and important connection to the city of Chicago." If it were to mean what you've implied it to mean then it would look something more like this: ...since Northwestern's program has had a vital and important connection to Jazz in Chicago. Which it clearly does not say. Now, I'm not trying to detract from your overall point about New Apartment or Velvet Lounge, I'm just saying that it looks like you lost focus somewhere in the middle there. The point again being not so much that Northwestern is a great jazz school, but that Chicago is a great jazz town and that it's sad that one of the most recognizable and prestigious schools in the area can't keep their program running in the shadow of a community with such a great history as Chicago...
Why would you pay $40,000 to study jazz? The Northwestern degree is not going to help you when go to an audition. It's not like their academic programs where you can slap down your resume and get respect from the first line: "Northwestern". Not every school needs to have a program in Chicago icons. Besides, when was the last time any jazz event in Chicago caught the attention of the entire city? Jazz is a nice style of music, but in 50 years people will treat jazz the same way the treat classical music today. It already is played in classical music halls, played as hold music on the phone, played in elevators, etc.
McReader- Chicagoist is the one implying that there is some connection between Northwestern's Jazz program and the city. My point is that University jazz programs have nothing to do with jazz.
North Texas State has one of the best Jazz programs in the country, yet Denton, Texas has no jazz scene.
The kid quoted in the post shows how clueless the mindset is in Evanston. there are countless jam sessions and mentors in this city for jazz musicians. Losing NU will have no effect.
I am an administrator at Northwestern that actually deals quite a bit in these issues, albeit at the graduate level. There is a lot that goes into creating and maintaining an academic program, and it is always a tough decision to eliminate one. Big and small programs - even entire SCHOOLS - are eliminated from time to time - whether it be small programs like Jazz Studies or well-established programs like NU's School of Dentistry (closed in 2001).
I think Chicagoist has pretty much hit the nail on the head: there just isn't a market for this type of focused education right now. At some point in time, a program needs to demonstrate that it can sustain itself, be successful, and give the University and its students a competitive advantage over other institutions. That just hasn't happened. This is evidenced by their current (lack of) enrollment, as well as the absence of similar programs at other institutions.
There is some consolation to be found in the "rolling up" of these programs into larger, more successful programs such as Music Theory, with could potentially offer a concentration in Jazz Studies. Offering the minor (as is the current plan) is good way to retain the excellent faculty and students you would have otherwise lost.
I think what you are seeing is the result of the underfunding (or nonfunding) of music programs for children and teens. I definitely agree a concerted effort should be made to "teach and protect" musical expression, particularly jazz music, but right now those efforts need to be focused at the elementary and secondary levels. Excellent (or even just decent) education at those levels drives the demand at the postsecondary level.
PS - Regarding Juhn Munich's statement "Why would you pay $40,000 to study jazz?", I don't think many people do. It's my understanding that undergraduate music students are so in-demand at schools like Northwestern (schools that don't have a proper conservatory, where you see so many influential musicians coming from) that those students' tuitions are often heavily subsidized by the school. It's the only way to keep your most talented students from going to a conservatory like Oberlin or North Texas State (?).
I am a minor in the jazz program at Northwestern, and I'd like to say that I would not have come to Northwestern if the jazz major did not exist. I came to be part of the intellectual community, get a liberal arts education, and study personally with the musicians I admire most. But most of all I came to immerse myself in a community of peers who are as serious about the music as I am. Cutting the major will starve off this community. I am well aware that jazz education happens outside the classroom - most of my learning happens to occur at Pete Millers. But the earlier assertion that there is no "market for this kind of focused education" is dead wrong. And to prove it, 13 applicants were admitted into the jazz program and for next year but the school of music let zero in. People want to come here for a focused jazz education, but the administration apparently doesn't think it's a worthy pursuit. The jazz program at Northwestern COULD sustain itself if it were given support from the administration. Focued study of jazz at Northwestern is an amazing opportunity for musical growth. I'm ashamed that my administrators don't agree.
I agree that there needs to be more emphasis on music at the elhi level, but doesn't Northwestern have more money to mess around with than the Chicago Public School system? Or at least more affluent contacts to raise money for an endowment?
It's a pretty big catch 22 to say - we don't offer it because no one else teaches it - when those very same elhi institutions can use that same excuse. Why should they teach jazz if there's nowhere for the students to continue their education? Just thought I'd add that.
I should have prefaced my comments above with a bit of a disclaimer that I do not work at the School of Music, that program/curricular review change is by no means my primary responsibility, and that my comments are based solely off of what I'm reading in to Dean Montgomery's statement, combined with my own attitudes about the "educational marketplace". And of course, my opinions do not represent those of the University... just the thoughts of someone with a degree in higher education administration who happens to work at Northwestern :-)
So, take that with a grain of salt. It's important that we hear from students like Josh on this because students absolutely should be included in the dialog. I certainly hope that the School of Music solicited input from their students when considering this action.
Here's a piece done on it by the Northwestern News Network.
Stephen, it's important that you know that the students were
Stephen, it's important that you know that the students were NOT CONSIDERED/CONSULTED IN THIS DECISION. Dean Montgomery is jive as all hell and her treatment of this subject proves this. I just graduated last year from the jazz studies program and the amount of bullshit & toying around we have had to put up from the administration is a travesty. I don't believe Dean Montgomery has ever had any intention of pushing the jazz program forward, and her "suspension" of the jazz studies major is a nice way of saying that it's over, even though some of the school's best musicians come from the jazz department.
Besides, MOST HIGHER EDUCATION MUSIC SCHOOLS DO OFFER A JAZZ DEPARTMENT. NU will be unique in this regard if it shuts its department - and it won't be due to lack of student interest.
As the parent of a current jazz student, I can verify that the jazz department has been treated very poorly. I have to agree with the previous poster who said Dean Montgomery never had any intention of continuing this program. If you read at the site the students put up you can see there have been many questionable actions by the Dean.
If people want to use marketability as an argument it would be interesting to find out what percentage of Northwestern classical Performance majors end up in actual performing positions. For some reason the school doesn't list this information on their website. The so called "market" is shaped by the school - if the school is portraying itself as a conservatory it will attract that "market". This decision is going to make Northwestern the laughing stock of music schools across the country. The impact of cutting a jazz studies reaches farther than just the jazz studies department. What about other music majors who are looking for a school and want a strong jazz education element of their study? Most public schools with instrumental programs have jazz ensembles - what happens to the "marketability" of music education majors who won't have access to a strong jazz program? What about musicology majors who are interested in jazz? It also makes the school look extremely conservative and close minded which will have a far reaching impact on potential applicants for the school.
The music theory comment by Stephen is also somewhat curious. A theory degree basically limits you to a job of teaching theory. The only reason it may be marketable (if it is) is because of the role of many in academia in replicating traditional programs and resisting progress and new ways of thinking.
The current state of the Jazz program is simply a choice of the administration. With the national recognition that Northwestern has they could easily provide the resources, leadership and direction needed to have an amazing jazz studies program. This is clearly an issue of priorities and conservatory mentality. The people making this decision are classically trained musicians with a very narrow perception of what music is and what a music school can be. If this was about marketability you would think the school would be allowing for more diversity not closing its doors to it. There are many people who are worried about the reputation of the Northwestern School of music based on these types of decisions.