Pate 10
Penn State Has a Conductor in the House
By Joe Kupec
If you have been hearing music
down near the Lion's Den on Wednesday
evenings and it sounds like Vivaldi,
Teleman, Bach, or Mozart, it is probably
originating from Room Wl2.
Since the semester began, many
curious students have looked in on Dr.
Ronald Schafer's CMOS 212 class, The
Development of The Concerto. Each
Wednesday during the fall semester, Dr.
Schafer guides a diverse class ranging
from Music majors to Engineering
Technology majors through the devel
opment of the concerto form.
Diversity is something this
Lancaster native deals with daily. His
schedule takes him from class in the
basement of the Olmstead Building to
the director's podium at Hershey Theatre.
In between, Schafer acts as the music
director for the Harrisburg Youth
Symphony Orchestra and serves as the
string specialist for the Derry Township
school district.
His strong emphasis in music
education is reflected in Schafer's aca
demic background. He received a B.S. in
Music Education from Westchester State
College and both his masters and
doctorate degrees from The Pennsylvania
State University. During his residence at
the university, he studied under Ray
mond Page of The Alard String Quartet
and served as assistant conductor of The
Pennsylvania State University Sym
phony Orchestra.
Musical interests and devel
opment for Schafer came together when
he was in seventh grade. His music
teacher, who stimulated his developing
interest in music and the arts, was the
catalyst that directed his musical devel
opment.
Later, in high school, Schafer
had the opportunity to play string bass
in a jazz quintet. Again, this group was
influenced by a music instructor who
enjoyed the style of Dave Brubeck,
which was popular at the time. But it
was his involvement in the high school
nrrhestra, both as an instrumentalist and
student conductor, that made the greatest
impression on Schafer the student.
His experience conducting at
several high school concerts led to the
choice of a Music Education major, with
a Conducting minor; which he later
expanded on and today employs both in
his activities as instructor-director-con
ductor.
When asked about the challenge
of getting young people, who are
familiar with MTV and 3-4 minute
music, to listen to the classics, Schafer
is optimistic.
"If young people are regularly
exposed to good music literature, they
soon learn to appreciate and enjoy it," he
said.
He points out that, "My daugh
ter, who is in ninth grade and a violinist,
enjoys U-2, but she also enjoys playing
Bach and Handel."
At the youth symphony level,
Dr. Schafer finds the students bring a
high level of interest and energy to
practice sessions.
"They tend to be a hands-on
Conductor Ron Schafer appearing onstage with the Hershey Symphony
type of student who want to try new
works. These young people are looking
for a challenge and the opportunity to
play a composition without transcription
(altering the composer's original). The
challenge of playing original com
positions successfully produces enthusi
asm in the students," he said.
"Music programs at American
schools are quite different from those in
Europe," according to Schafer. Here we
tend to have "music for the masses."
Everyone has a general exposure and
opportunity to participate or play in an
orchestra or band. In Europe, the
emphasis is to specialize early on. By
the time a young person has reached
early adolescence, parents and instructors
know where the pupil's musical talents
lie. Early recognition of talent, com
bined with state-sponsored schools for
the arts, result in virtuoso playing and
quality technique.
However, Schafer noted during
a trip to Europe that major orchestras in
the United States are on par with their
European counterparts. "The appreciation
for the arts at a local level is fantastic.
People in the communities play well
there because the music is so much a
part of the culture," he said.
The relationship between the
development of a culture and parallel
changes in its music is just one element
Schafer uses in exploring the develop
ment of the concerto. Starting in the
Middle Ages and on through the Baroque
he explains how the shift from voice to
instrument, liturgical music to secular
music, and the evolution of the
instruments and playing styles shaped
the various works from different periods.
After realizing that some stu
dents in class did not know what a viola
was, he arranged to have one of the
Music majors who played the viola to
bring her instrument to class and
demonstrate the tonal difference between
it and a violin. After playing a few
notes, Schafer took the instrument and
demonstrated trills and stops for students
unfamiliar with music terminology.
Is there much difference be
tween the lecturers' and conductors'
podiums? According to Schafer, the big
difference is in controlling the material.
"In a concert the musical score
controls the music. While I have an
interpretation. In the classroom I must
exercise judgment over all of the
material in the text. Suddenly I have to
be selective of what to emphasize as
being important and there is so much
good material to choose from," Schafer
said.
Above all else, in class he
"tries to make music enjoyable."
Oct. 7 1987