New England Conservatory of Music - Neume Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 11 text:

sillii urn Fellow Seniors: — On the seventeenth of June this year, we, the Seniors, partici- pate in an event known in the catalogue as Connmencement Day. We think of that day usually as being the close of a phase of our growth into nnusicians; the day when we are bestowed, amid great dignity and cerennony, with acknowledgments of our com- pletion of certain requirements which are intended to insure our musical and intellec- tual development. But why, then, if that be a day of finality, the last day of our con- nection with the Conservatory as students, why is that day known as a commence- ment ? On the seventeenth of June, we do not end anything. Rather, we begin the most important part of our lives; we are graduated from apprenticeship to full-fledged membership in our profession. Had we only to fulfill the standards of the profession to our own satisfaction, we might face our future without concern; unfortunately, however, we find that whatever branch of the profession we choose, we must fulfill the standards to someone else ' s satisfaction in order to procure the essentials of living which we cannot ignore. And we must fulfill them better than a host of other musicians can, for, in our form of society, the rule in the musical profession as well as in any other, is the survival of the fittest. We may ask, What formula for success can we follow to guide us in our struggle for survival? There is no answer to this question, for success depends upon more than a formula, more than can be enumerated by one person in one paragraph. However, if we examine those who have already proved successful, ws will find one characteristic common to all. They have always kept themselves and their work to high standards, higher than they can ever expect to attain. The great teacher expects, and obtains, more from his pupil than anyone else; the great artist is never satisfied with his per- formances and always seeks to Improve them, to be satisfied only with perfection. They always strive for more than others do, and, although they never satisfy them- selves, they succeed in achieving more than the less ambitious; they thus become the fittest, and survive. Similarly, although each of us will pick out our individual road to success, we all must strive always to follow the road further and more faithfully than we expect possi- ble, lest we join the unfortunate many who must sit by the wayside and watch the progress of the ambitious.

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KALMAN NOVAK Editor-in-Chief ROSE BONGIOVANNI MARGARET CLARK Associate Editors RUSSELL CETLIN EDITH McCANN Advertising Manager HENRY GRZYBALA ) EVELYN RICHARDS ) LOUISE PICERELLI Circulating Manager MARCIA JUMP Assistant Circulating Manager SUMNER PETERSON Photography Editor Assistant Advertising Managers — 6 —

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y dm in is tra L ion WALLACE GOODRICH Director QUINCY PORTER Dean of the Faculty GEORGE A. GIBSON Dean of Students, Placement ELIZABETH C. ALLEN Secretary for Alumni Relations FREDERICK W. C. LEHMANN Assistant Treasurer EATHEL J. FINLEY Registrar LAURA B. MALLETT Librarian CLARENCE H. CORNING Financial Secretary for Endowment — 8 —