Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES • WINTER 2016 • sai-national.org 24 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z By HolliS tHoMS Michael Kaiser states, in his recent thought- provoking small book entitled Curtains?: e Future of the Arts in America (Waltham, Massachusetts: Brandeis University Press, 2015): …I have believed in the power of the arts to inspire, educate, and entertain. People in every culture draw and sing and dance. e need to express oneself is innate to human beings. It cannot be ignored, submerged or repressed for very long. Artists need to create beautiful and meaningful works. It is not a choice, it is a requirement…e arts are necessary for every community's health and well-being. No great civilization can be sustained without the joy and the release provided by the arts…While I am confident there will always be art and artists in our world, however, I am less optimistic about the future or organized arts institutions… (Preface, ix) …it is likely that our children will not think of the arts as integral parts of their lives and communities…Little by little, city by city, art form by art form, and organization by organization, we will witness an erosion of the scope and diversity of the arts…e arts world is changing and the children of my children will simply not have the same opportunities for inspiration and education. (120-121) As Kaiser looks at the next twenty years for arts organizations in America, he sees great challenges for arts organizations and unless there is a transformation in the way we present the arts, the future of the arts in America could be very bleak. Michael Kaiser looks at the arts problem through a top-down lens, seeing the bigger organizations as the driving forces behind the success of the arts in America. I wish to explore a different approach to the arts challenge in America, that is, from the bottom up. Vaclav Havel, intellectual, playwright, politician and essayist, has written a powerful book, Living in Truth (London: Faber and Faber, 1990), where he talks about advocating a dissident movement and parallel structures to create a new society that will eventually emerge spontaneously from the old decaying and dying one. He sees a transformative power within each individual to change society. He writes: …the most interesting thing about responsibility is that we carry it everywhere. at means that responsibility is ours, that we must accept it and grasp it here and now, in this place in time and space where the Lord has set us down, and that we cannot lie our way out of it by moving somewhere else. (104) It is, however, becoming evident- and I think that…a single, seemingly powerless person who dares to cry out the word of truth and to stand behind it with all his person and all his life, ready to pay a high price, has surprisingly, great power. (156) I would like to introduce you to three young individuals working in the arts who are each day transforming the arts where they are, carrying out their responsibility and moving the arts in America towards a brighter future. Recently, I sent a multi-question survey to my three grown children, who are all working in the arts, derived the central meta-question: How can we, who believe in and have committed our lives to the beauty and power of classical music, create a new American society where such beauty and power are essential, necessary, and transformative? e three respondents to the survey spent time reflecting on the questions and their responses give hope that there is a dissident movement emerging and parallel structures being developed that will bring about a transformation in American society. e respondents are: Jonas oms, 31, teacher of horn and music at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio and free-lance horn player; Sonja (oms) Winkler, 34, Senior Director of Operations with the Nashville Symphony and free-lance oboe player; and, Dr. Jason oms, 41, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Director of Choral Activities at Concordia College-New York. THE SURVEY AND THE RESPONSES Question 1: What has motivated you to pursue a career in classical music? Jonas: I have loved playing the horn since elementary school and found a career in playing the horn to be the most natural career path to follow. I enjoy the activities, the experiences, and the people I am involved with everyday as a classical musician. Sonja: I have spent many years studying oboe and classical music. I feel that live music is essential to life and have found a great opportunity to pursue working in music through arts management. I enjoy the variety of experiences in my work every day, interacting with talented musicians and colleagues while contributing to a product that inspires thousands of people. Jason: I am a classical musician because it is what people in our family have done for four generations. As a vocal performer, I enjoy performing great music with great colleagues. As a teacher, I enjoy motivating students to achieve musical high points in their lives. It is not only fun and rewarding, personally, but it helps to pay the bills. Pulling Back the Curtains and Opening the Windows Wide MODERN MUSICIAN SURVEY From left, music professionals Jonas Thoms, Sonja (Thoms) Winkler, and Dr. Jason Thoms considered how to craft a society which embraces classical music.

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