APU’s developing music culture is shaping students’ identities as artists
In the past year, a number of musicians have made their debuts as solo artists from Azusa Pacific’s School of Music. The school itself, which is one of the founding schools that make up APU, has developed a unique culture that enables independent artists to flourish within the program and feel ready for their post-graduate careers.
Stephen Martin, DCM, the music and worship director, points to the tight knit community as one of the first things he thinks of when describing the music culture at APU.
“We learn in music early on that there’s a kind of leaning on others and needing others in order to fully allow music to be what it needs to be,” Martin said.
This is seen in the unique class performance forum, where every Monday, music students gather together and watch each other perform, listen to guest artists, or divide up into masterclasses for more specific, instrument-oriented learning.
“It’s the only major that I know of that meets for one hour a week all together in the same room,” Martin said. “You see them forming community even just prior to performance forum out in Munson courtyard.”
There is an interesting intersection between culture and the developing identity of artists and how each plays into the other. Kahea Subiono, a sophomore commercial voice performance major, can attest to this. She identified the performance forum as one of the times where she could be exposed to other artists and their identities.
“When we have new people come in to teach masterclasses or teach performance forum, [I can think about] their identity and how can I relate to that,” Subiono said.
Another distinctive aspect of APU’s music department’s culture is the accessibility to the faculty and the way the department helps steer students towards success and prepare them for the music industry.
“That is unique in some ways, even from some other Christian universities, sometimes there’s this kind of gap between students and faculty … faculty [members] don’t want to be accessible, and that just isn’t the case here,” Martin said.
Subiono agrees with this view and elaborated on how the professors guide students to realize that the music industry is a difficult place to thrive. She describes how the faculty and music department is uniquely preparing the students by guiding them towards a realistic vision of what the music industry will look like, instead of simply letting them get thrown into it.
Rebecca Manrique, a senior music major, agrees with the fact that the faculty are what make the music department stand out compared to other schools and their music programs.
“One of the advantages of being here at APU is the ability to get to know my professors in a smaller setting which isn’t always the case at other larger UC’s and other universities,” Manrique said. “What’s great about the music faculty here is that they are all working musicians outside of APU and are doing gigs, are writing [and] composing.”
Manrique sees herself as a growing musician and does not know what her place in the music industry will look like in the future. Nonetheless, she feels that APU has helped her prepare for anything that she may face in her future.
“I feel that I am getting a well rounded education in all aspects of the music industry which makes me feel much more prepared for when I do get hired at a labeling service, a publishing company, or get called for a gig,” Manrique said.
Along with the faculty, there are other ways that the music culture is helping students cultivate their individual identities as artists. One of these, Martin explained, is the things we do over and over again. He points to these habits as creating the discipline needed to do music every day.
“That absolutely forms us and who we do it with and how we go about that. There’s a kind of level of all in or nothing approach to that and I think it is very formative and very shaping of who we are,” Martin said.
This habit-forming practice is part of the process of becoming an artist, which is one of Subiono’s favorite aspects of APU’s music culture.
“My favorite part is watching the process and being in the process,” Subiono said. “Maybe the process in working with the professors. There’s a lot of amazing, talented, smart, funny, kind, God-driven professors that I’ve met that have opened up their lives to me in the sense that I get to look at what a career in this would be for real.”
This process also includes developing an artist identity. As a sophomore, Subiono hasn’t discovered her groove yet. She is not worried about finding one quickly, as she wants to take her time and learn from others. She recognizes that “identity is something that you have to develop over a long period of time and something that you kind of have to do trial and error with.”
“Definitely a lot of the dedication aspects, the creative aspects, technique, foundation go into an identity and I think a lot of faith integration plays into my identity as well as an artist, with my faith at the center of it all,” Subiono said. “I definitely have watched APU’s music culture, not guide me, but kind of have us bounce off of different ideas: what does identity look like, what does this one look like.”
In the end, it comes down to the shared value of community.
“I think that’s one of the markers of our school of music is that our students understand early on [that they need each other],” Martin said. “They build bonds and friendships that are unique to the school of music.”