The Journey to Employment aboard the Music Machine

        Truth be told, I had no idea that I was going to be teaching music in public schools a couple years ago. Throughout my college career I knew that I loved playing the bass and that I loved performing, but the reality of the musician's life was also very real: your income might be unstable, orchestras are having financial difficulties left and right, and the self-employed nature of free-lancing means that healthcare is completely your responsibility. These looming thoughts that I'm sure we've all had caused me to meander back and forth between phases of intense bass playing and phases of doing trying new things (mostly computer science) throughout my four years of undergraduate study. Before I had finished making up my mind, my four years were up coming to an end and I needed to think of something to do. 

        The thought of teaching in public schools had always been at the back of my mind; after all the very reason that I was at a music conservatory was thanks to an incredible music teacher that I had in middle school that gave me something to do and something to love. Come to think of it, all of the biggest influences in my life have been incredible teachers and mentors that have helped me try to figure out what in the heck I was going to try to do with my life and how I was going to do it. Of course there was my middle-school teacher that got me started, but from there the list of teachers goes on and on: from Douglas Basye, (my first bass teacher. Yes, his last name is actually Bayse), Thomas Sperl, Scott Dixon, Joanne Erwin, LeslieAnne Bird, Andrew Hire (I could keep going forever). 
        After much internal debate, I got myself enrolled in the one-year Masters in Music Teaching program at Oberlin to see if I was cut out to be a teacher. 
        I'll cut past the Masters in Music Teaching(MMT) program so the post won't get too long and also because I want to talk a bit about it in another post, but the program was a one-school-year-and-two-summer program that gave you licensure to teach in Ohio (which is pretty much allows you to teach in all states). 
        After the somewhat anti-climactic ending of the MMT program, I drove home back to Southern California and got to work looking for a teaching job. I was quite surprised about how fast I was able to find jobs, and I decided to take up an offer in the Rowland Unified School District in Los Angeles County teaching elementary and middle school band and orchestra. 
        So now here we are in the present day -- but wait, what was the deal with the Music Machine in the title?! Well, on the first day on the job, I was told to go around to the different school sites to figure out my teaching schedule and greet all of my principals. 
        So far so good. 
        At the first school I showed up at, I asked which room I was going to be in so that I could start getting a grasp of how to set up. The office lady looked up at me a little confused through her glasses. "You're in the bus... aren't you?" It turned out that the district I am working in had purchased two busses for the music teachers to drive around in and use as mobile classrooms. Without further ado, I present to you the Music Machine! I haven't quite started having classes in it yet because I'm cleaning out the inside. 

This is my mobile classroom: the Music Machine!

        Leave a comment down below if you have any suggestions for decorations! 

The inside of the Music Machine - help me figure out what to do with it!

Starting from the bass line

What to do when you're facing the end of your time in school?  Why not do a little of everything and make a blog while you're at it?    

Everyone who has pursued higher education knows the feeling of having to decide what to do when you are facing their last year of school - do you keep going to more school and get another degree or do you take the plunge into the "real world" and try to figure out how things work outside the safety of an institution.  And many people in an arts-related field know the feeling of stepping into the unknown (or maybe the feeling of running off the edge of a cliff) that comes with choosing not to go back to school without having a full-time job lined up or in preparing to move to a completely new area because of a job.  

Most of us have been there or will be there at some point, and as someone who enjoys working as part of a group (or section, I am a bassist after all), it seemed to me that I should gather a few other bassists navigating this transition at the same time to talk about how it's going and hopefully make it seem less overwhelming to anyone who's going to do it soon (you're already worrying about it, aren't you).  Additionally, as someone who still isn't completely set on what I want to do when I grow up (aside from making some music), I always love hearing what my diversely talented friends are up to, and I am very excited to share this space with three people who are all doing different things, despite our fairly similar educational backgrounds!  

Let me introduce you:  

Shota and I onstage with Tom Sperl

Shota - The bassist here who I have known the longest, Shota was like a little brother to me at Oberlin where we did our Bachelors Degrees together. He just finished a Masters of Music Ed also at Oberlin and is now starting his first year as an Elementary and Middle School teacher in Southern California.  Those lucky kids!

Concert in La Serena, Chile

Ivy - Spending a summer touring with Youth Orchestra of the Americas is generally a permanent bonding experience, and I'm so glad that I got a chance to hang out and play with Ivy while we toured Chile.  Not only is it always nice to have another girl in the bass section (our world is growing quickly though!), but Ivy has been making a name for herself in the New York freelancing scene and is now getting ready to move to Geneva, so I'm glad I got to play with her while I had the chance!

Sam and I with Willie Ruff,
one of our favorite Yale professors

Sam - One of the more recent additions to my personal bass family, Sam was my classmate at Yale, and we endured many double rehearsals and late night beer-brewing sessions together.  Sam is staying in New Haven to freelance and start a new conductor-less chamber orchestra, something I'm sure we all would enjoy having more of! (just kidding if there are conductors reading this)

All of them are badass bass players, and I'm lucky to have them as friends and to have played in sections with them!  

Personally, I'm interested in a lot of different things like teaching, playing chamber music, and traveling, and although I really do love playing in orchestra, I don't feel ready to fully commit myself to the audition circuit yet.  So I've decided to take the advice I've heard many times to "travel while you're young!" and I'm planning to spend this year doing that, taking time to work on personal projects, teaching and playing chamber music as often as possible, and keeping an eye out for auditions in interesting places.  

Please enjoy my ramblings as I attempt for the first time to navigate this "real world" that we've all been hearing about!  I'm excited to hear about everyone's adventures and to have a few of my own!