Alexander C  
Instruments: Trombone
Styles: Classical

From a very young age, I desired to explore the world by doing something meaningful and purposeful with my life. In elementary school, my sister played the baritone saxophone, followed by the french horn. This inspired me to also play an instrument in school. The school's music teacher provided me with a trombone. Since then, the instrument, music-making, and art, became an essential part of my being. In High School, my band director introduced me to great works of classical music by great composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and many others. Listening to these masterpieces filled me with great awe and made me more aware of the world, which strengthened my desire to explore it through music. Therefore, I chose to attend Montclair State University in my home state of New Jersey where I majored in music. My goal was to achieve a principal position in a high level orchestra and teach. However, I started to rethink my decision. Although playing the trombone gave me purpose throughout my early schooling, I did not explore other disciplines. In college, I discovered my interest in dancing, other forms of art, psychology, philosophy, and more. Also, I had equated greatness in music with having a principal position in a high level western classical orchestra. This is not to denigrate western classical music, however, I began to see a need and value for the study of music making from all cultures- “world music” or “ethnomusicology.” I also began considering other ways of contributing to music and the world, such as through music therapy. By this point, I decided to focus more on music education than performance. In high school, I was always subconsciously passionate about improving the state of education. As a musician, one of society's ills that I became more aware of was the lack of arts education in schools. I later decided to change my major from music performance to music, school and community settings. This program essentially gives students training to teach music primarily in private and community/after school programs. Therefore, student’s can later decide whether or not they wish to pursue the certification to teach in k-12 public schools. I myself enjoyed teaching both in schools and camps. However, besides teaching, I was still not sure if there was another way that I wanted to affect positive change in education and society. Fortunately, I had a life-changing opportunity during my time at Montclair State University. I resided as president of Musicians for Diversity and Culture (M.D.C.)- an organization dedicated to using a multicultural approach in order to advance music, education, and society. Despite the challenges of running the organization, this experience was overall rewarding. For others, I believe these types of organizations will provide opportunities for future generations. For myself, I discovered that nothing excites me more than working with people to conceive a good vision and see it through to fruition. This was similar to opportunities that I had working in community programs and summer music camps, where I got to initiate and lead many engaging educational activities/projects. Some of the events we hosted were as follows: a Latin Dance Night where I taught salsa, Bachata, and Merengue dance to 30 students, an African American culture/history recital, and a world music expo including distinguished musicians teaching Taiko drumming, Balkin music, Global flutes, and West African drumming and dance. Before these experiences, I did not know that I could work in this capacity. I was not even conscious of this work being an available path for me to pursue. Therefore, I hope to gain more experience working for a nonprofit organization in order to eventually start one or more of my own. One that is primarily focused on advancing my passions of education, community work, culture, and art, particularly starting in an underprivileged area then outreaching globally. Overall, all of these experiences taught me more about myself and the world. They have also given me invaluable skills that are well suited for my current goals. I believe that as long as you stay on a productive path, you will travel to where you need to be and live out your calling and purpose.

I want to get to know my students on an individual level, found out what musics speaks to them, understand why, and help them convey that on the instruments. I also want my students to explore and experience an eclectic mix of music and understand what it means to others. I do a lot of guided improve. This helps us as musicians just enjoy music making with out all the thinking. We also do musical exercises to improve tone and increase freedom of expression. Lastly, the students, parents, and I set goal based on each individual student's musical interest and needs.