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

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When the degree of Bachelor of Music is conferred upon you this June, you will notice that President Williams says in his formal conferring remarks that you are now admitted to the society of educated men. In the excitement of the occasion, the clapping of hands, the adjustment of cap and gown, these words are often lost -- but for you, both individually and col- lectively, they hold a great and ancient meaning. This school as a college of music offers you, as its graduates, a dual dis- tinction. With your graduation, you natu- rally become (to a greater or lesser degree) a professional musician, trained to perform or teach at a professional level. You not only know the discipline of your instrument, but the long history of musical development, centuries and centuries of different types and kinds of creative musical experiences . You know, too, the form and analysis of the art itself. Youthen have arrived at a certain level or plateau from which you may survey this musical world. But the musical world is not alone, and here we find the second aspect of the earlier mentioned dual distinction . The Bachelor ' s degree is the first degree in the arts -- the liberal arts. The attain- ment of it is not purely professional, for the whole man must be considered; he must be one who is not only sensitive but aware, free, yet disciplined. A sound education at a higher level includes both awareness and discipline, knowledge and judgment. And in the final analysis, when the whole is assessed, the creation and the performance are, closely linked to the individual. As Yeats posed the question, How can we tell the dancer from the dance? Ruth Capers McKay Dean of Graduate Division 11