Editor’s note:
My friend Dr. Dennis AsKew approached me before the end of the 2019 spring semester to use a couple of my thoughts from a twitter thread in his speech during commencement ceremonies at UNCG. I was happy to oblige and he was gracious enough to send along the transcript of his speech. I wanted to share his speech with you in hopes of spreading some inspiration around.
On another personal note, I mentioned to Dr. AsKew that it blew me away for my thoughts to be mentioned so closely to Karl Paulnack’s quote. That particular quote has been a totem for me throughout the years and it feels very special. My many thanks to Dr. AsKew for including me and for sharing his speech here.
Go be bakers; influence others; save the world.
A commencement speech delivered by Dr. Dennis AsKew, Professor & Director, UNCG School of Music
This year has been marked by many wonderful such accomplishments by you, our students, and by our faculty. Our student body has distinguished itself in winning numerous performance competitions, research awards, and writing honors. As you are well aware, this is not unusual for our students! Our students have once again won positions at the most prestigious summer music programs worldwide. Many of our graduates will be headed to other universities for continued education, another group will be headed directly into teaching positions in public school, universities or as private teachers, and yet others will delve immediately into being full time performers in the world of music. Our faculty, similarly, have won recognition for their performances, compositions, research and books. We are distinctly proud of you all.
Anyone who is familiar with my teaching well recognizes that what I do is assimilate—I put together a pedagogy based upon so many other’s ideas, ultimately making them my own, but based heavily on their ideas and words. What I’m about to bring to you is the result of a variety of thoughts that when pulled together make great sense to me as a whole, and what I’d like to share with you today.
In making your way, I encourage you keep a good eye towards what’s going on around you and what your role might be. I’m sure you remember the story of the Little Red Hen. The hen asks her friends to help her plant and harvest wheat, and they decline. She asks them to grind the wheat into flour, and bake the flour into bread, and they refuse. Then, when the hot, delicious-smelling bread comes out of the oven, all the hen’s friends want a bite. None of them wanted to make the bread, but all of them want to eat it.
The old fable offered a reflection of certain human tendencies back when it was first told, and can tell us something about our culture today.
- Everyone wants their children to have a great experience in youth sports, but nobody wants to coach a team.
- Everyone wants to be invited to a party, but nobody wants to host one.
- Everyone wants more civil, honest, and intelligent politics, but nobody wants to run for office.
- Everyone wants to eat the “bread” of healthy communities, rich experiences, and a strong society, but nobody wants to make it.
Of course, I’m using “nobody” rhetorically — there are a few hearty souls who do take the initiative in creating the things that they, and others, enjoy consuming. But the number of would-be consumers vastly outweighs the number of creators. There are too many people who wait for and expect someone else to step into the breach.
But we, you and I, should be that “someone else.” In a world of endless takers, we need more bakers.
In a very insightful thread on Twitter (yes, it can be used for good!) Mezzo-Soprano Megan Ihnen put forward a set of good reminders/challenges that follow the ideas I just mentioned—
In part, she writes: Here’s this thing I do. It may not be for you; but, I thought I’d share.
- I don’t think other musicians are ‘abandoning the dream’ if they have day jobs or other sources of income.
- I don’t think others are ‘less serious’ because they’re caregivers or have chronic illness.
- I don’t think musicians who play in community ensembles are inferior to those who make a go of professional ensembles.
- I don’t secretly believe you need to play one genre or kind of music to “make it.”
- I believe you when you tell me what “making it” means to you.
- I don’t think you have to live in a certain place to be considered competent/serious/active.
- I don’t think efforts to uplift underrepresented voices are taking opportunities away from me.
- I don’t tell people the only path to success is through a certain school/festival/etc
And finally, she writes: My point: I’m always working on dismantling biased thinking in myself and how I use my words in person and on the Internet is part of that.
This is baking—utilizing your words, your actions to help control what is going on around you.
Dean of the School of Music at Ithaca College, Karl Paulnack, in a speech from 2001 put forth some words that have worked their way into our culture:
If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you’d take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you’re going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.
You’re here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well.
Conductor Soo Han in a recent interview:
Music ignites our imagination, creativity, and our sense of compassion. I cannot think of anything that is more urgently needed in our world today. Through genuine music-making, we are forced to come face-to-face with things like courage, humility, harmony, balance, fear, isolation, love, triumph, and all of other spectrums of thoughts, feelings, and emotions that make us human. Music not only expresses and reflects these things, but it also feeds it and brings it to life. It ignites our imagination, creativity, and our sense of compassion. I cannot think of anything that is more urgently needed in our world today.
This is baking, using your music, in whatever form, to enrich those around you.
Remember that what we do in music is important—to us, and to all peoples of the world. Music is integrated into life, regardless of the path you choose—and surely there will be many paths chosen from this group of graduates. Music allows us to “feel” in a better way—think about it, when sad—there’s a tune for that, when needing to let loose–there a tune for that, when celebrating–a tune for that, when in love–there’s a tune for that. Each of us can create, interpret, write about, teach and internalize music in order to help ourselves and possibly more importantly, to help others. Each of you is uniquely qualified to succeed in ways that no one else is. To quote legendary soprano Jessye Norman: “Celebrate your own creativity, celebrate its wisdom, and celebrate all that is possible.” By following your heart, using your heads, and staying connected to your music, you can and will make differences, huge differences, in our world.
Go be bakers; influence others; save the world.
As you move forward to your next adventure (since your time here was surely an adventure!) We, the faculty and staff who have worked with you here, sincerely wish the best for you. We hope the lessons we have worked to teach, habits we have helped instill and skillsets of adaptation we put before you will allow you to be successful in whatever that next venture is. {BUT! Don’t forget that success always involves failures—(I doubt there are any of you who can’t point to those times in the last four years when things didn’t go as planned or hoped.) you won’t always get it right, and that’s OK! } Be proud of yourselves during every part of your life, and others will respond accordingly. Know that we are proud to call you “ours” and feel very confident that you will be able to succeed in life, whatever that may look like for each of you.
Dennis W. AsKew currently serves as Head of the Department of Music Performance, Professor of Tuba, Euphonium and Music Education and Coordinator for Brass and Percussion at UNC Greensboro. Additionally, he is Associate Coordinator of Educational Activities for the Miraphone Corporation. A recent member of the Brass Staff for Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps he also serves as Consultant to the Board of Directors for Carolina Gold Drum & Bugle Corps. Dr. AsKew received degrees from the University of Michigan, Penn State University and the University of Georgia. He has served as President for the International Tuba Euphonium Association, Assistant Dean for the UNCG School of Music, and was host of the 2002 International Tuba/Euphonium Conference. In 2003, he was elected an Associate Regent for Pi Kappa Lambda, the music honor society. He has been active as a performer, having given solo performances throughout North America, Europe and Australia, as well as numerous concerts throughout the United States and China as a member of the Market Street and Palladium Brass Quintets.
