Dr. Joan Backus loves her chosen occupation. "You have the beautiful music
to listen to -- to work with. That is always at the core of it. All of us
in the field feel privileged to be working with such wonderful, wonderful
music. This work might be good for your brain, but it's also good for
your soul."
As an instructor of musicology and musical theory, Backus spends much of
her time teaching. She's also expected to read in the field and do research.
"I conduct research in 19th-century music... and women and music. With women's
music, I look at the woman composers and also examine the social situations
that have prevented women from becoming known as composers.
"I love teaching. I also love learning. I think that the rewarding thing
is getting paid for doing what I love to do. It's a job where you are
always learning new things."
Backus didn't begin her education by studying music. "I first got
a science degree. Then when I was 25, I discovered that my interest was music.
I went...for my master's degree and my doctorate in music," she says.
"The more I learn about music, the more I've learned about the other
arts and history and literature. You're constantly moving out from your
core of music study to learning about other aspects of our culture. It's
always opening up new avenues."
Jim Zychowicz is chair of the American Musicology Society Committee on
Career-Related Issues. He started out as a performer, but decided he wanted
to do more.
"In musicology, you have to put lots of things together. You have to know
the score and know the criticisms of the score. Then you have to know how
to analyze the scores. You have to read the historical backgrounds. You need
to know the biographies of the composers, know the manuscripts that document
the letters. These are all of the things that give us a picture of our past,
and they intrigue me."
Zychowicz has a PhD in musicology. His specialty is the music of Gustav
Mahler. After graduation, he spent a year in France working for a Mahler biographer.
Zychowicz advises those interested in musicology to start by talking to
as many musicologists as possible. Talk to newcomers, graduate students and
senior people. Visit recording studios and publishing houses to find a mentor.
"The outlook isn't good if you want to teach. The biggest obstacle
is our over-evaluation of academic jobs. It prevents someone from taking a
notation class and making it in editing or publishing," he says.
"Graduate students need to broaden their vision and see the other opportunities.
Perhaps they have to work at two or three different things. Do studio work,
be a church musician, freelance for a publishing company."
Professor Victor Anand Coelho agrees. "You can't look for an immediate
job. You have to feel a genuine pursuit -- not a pursuit for a job, not a
pursuit for something tangible at the end, but a pursuit for personal gratification.
And if it's a job you want, you should develop more than one field of
interest. You should have a field that includes popular culture or world culture."
Anand Coelho has a PhD. He was attracted to musicology because he enjoys
the integration of history and music. "Music history changes as music changes.
Our views of the past continually change. Music history isn't an unchangeable
rock. It interacts with how we listen to music, how we perceive the past."
Anand Coelho spends about five hours a day teaching classes. Then there
are two hours of consultation, and another two hours reading and doing class
preparation. In the evenings he conducts his own research, and weekends are
spent on research and marking class papers.
"The stressful aspect comes from the fact that the course loads are huge.
I have over 200 people in one class. There are very few assistants. Graduate
funding is low. It's also stressful when students don't read. Teaching
is a two-way street. If reading is done, a course can be taught, but if it
isn't done, not even a great teacher can teach."
Marioa Wilson Kimber -- an assistant professor -- also finds balancing
teaching and research responsibilities stressful. "There's insufficient
funding for research, and there are general pressures associated with the
problems that higher education in America is experiencing," she says.
"It's rewarding when students respond well to the class. The other
rewarding thing is when I feel that my research or my articles are presenting
some new and important ideas."
Wilson Kimber takes her work seriously. "I believe that musicologists need
to become more visible to help people understand music, so that classical
music in our culture can continue to survive. It can be a very
rewarding occupation."