Emily M. Neuberger

Belief Statement

 

Music has always been a part of my life, always.  From the time my four-year-old self first held a violin in her hands to the moment I stepped onto the Concert Hall stage for my college Senior Recital, I have been consistently encouraged and driven to pursue music in the classical tradition.  Everyone I have met on my personal, musical journey has said, “You can do this.  I’m here for you.”  For the longest time, music was just something that I did, at church, at school, at home, every single day.  Now, it is my purpose, my dream.  I want every single child to feel encouraged to make music for his or her entire life as I do.  This is why I teach.

 

Performing music has transformed my life. Music was part of my family life from the moment I was born. I saw it as something that my entire family did without question.  I always enjoyed music, but it did not hold the kind of power over me that it does now.  Two of my choir directors changed that. The first, Beth Holmes, was a temporary conductor for the Wisconsin School of Music Association Treble Choir in 2009, of which I was a member. She made me see connections between people, the emotional content that drives them to write or perform music, and the music itself. Her guided interpretation of David Childs’ “I Am Not Yours” with text by Sara Teasdale inspired me to delve deeper into my musical studies and forced me to ask questions like, “Why do we perform music?”  I did not consider a career in music education until I spent a year at the Interlochen Arts Academy.  Being surrounded by brilliant artists, actors, and musicians forced me to start questioning my own artistic goals. John Bragle, the young, vivacious choral director at Interlochen made me see myself as an artist with something new to contribute for one of the first times in my musical experience. He made me see myself as a singer who deserved to be heard, and in turn made me see my future self as a music educator encouraging my students to see themselves as singers and musicians who deserve to be heard.

 

There can be creativity, and artistic intention in recreating works written by other people. Each musician brings a new perspective, a different subtext to the song. I want my students to understand that composers are not the only creative musicians. The personal life experiences that students bring to interpretations of choral and instrumental works make the music different each time it is performed. I want my students to take personal ownership of the music they perform and study. In my ensembles, the “goose-bump moments” occur when the director tells me to make a personal connection to the text or the story on which the music is based. I want to inspire my students to learn and perform music deeply as my teachers have inspired me to do. “Organized sound” becomes music when performers invest personally. I know that I can encourage my students to make that investment, one of the most rewarding in a lifetime.