Professorship and performance go hand-in-hand for the faculty of the College of Fine Arts’ School of Music.
Professors from multiple departments came together to perform duet, solo and group ensemble pieces during the Faculty Spotlight Concert recital on Oct. 25 in a night for them to set aside their teaching responsibilities and demonstrate their skills.
“The joy of performing here on campus is not so much another professional feather in our cap,” said Shiela Kibbe, an associate professor in CFA and chair of the keyboard department. “It’s really the joy of bringing our artistry first-hand to our current students.”
Kibbe is a collaborative pianist, or a musician who plays with small groups of performers in chamber music settings or in supportive roles.
She opened the recital playing an orchestral reduction of an opera solo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, sung by Thomas Cannon, an assistant professor of voice. Kibbe also performed the “Miniaturas” series by Ricardo Pereira alongside Don Lucas, an associate professor and chair of woodwind, brass and percussion.
For Kibbe, playing with her colleagues is a rare and rewarding opportunity to showcase their collective talent as a faculty.
“It’s also so important for us to be able to have an opportunity right here on campus … to show our students that we actually do what we ask them to do,” she said.
Kibbe has taught at Boston University for nearly 30 years. She said a career built on a lifetime of variety has been her greatest asset as an instructor.
“I bring years of such valuable and meaningful experience in my life to the kind of mentoring that I can provide for my students,” she said. “[My colleagues and I] can give them advice based on our experience about what to expect.”
In addition to faculty, students were invited to perform a large group piece by George Enescu with their professors.
Hazel Davis, a lecturer in horn, wrote in an email that she was happy to play “side by side” with developing musicians.
“The fastest way to improve is to sit with players that are better than you and learn from their sound, their cues, their adjustments,” she wrote. “It is a really special opportunity for students.”
Davis has worked at various music schools since 2013, and she joined the School of Music as a lecturer in 2023. In her eyes, playing professionally and teaching are intertwined.
“When we are practicing or rehearsing as professionals, we are constantly problem solving and learning and tweaking our own playing,” Davis wrote. “When we teach, we just transfer those same skills — active listening, problem solving, experimentation — onto the student.”
Like Davis, many professors in the School of Music maintain a performance or freelance music career outside of BU.
When she isn’t teaching, Jihye Chang Sung, a senior lecturer in music specializing in piano, has been recording CDs and researching work by Korean composers.
Despite her many responsibilities outside of their performance, Chang Sung found time to work on new music that she had not often played for an audience.
In the vein of new experiences, Chang Sung recently joined the piano department of the School of Music this fall.
She said she finds college education has a collaborative approach, which is different from other levels of education.
“[Students] are at a place where they can actually have a very quality conversation, and they can also contribute a lot to the classes,” Chang Sung said. “What I teach can really make a big impact.”
Along with her collaborations with composers and students, Chang Sung has built relationships with other professors through the faculty recital and amongst peers in the keyboard department, particularly Kibbe.
From Kibbe being at her hiring interview to serving as her department chair, Chang Sung said they have developed a close friendship.
“Having something like this faculty recital is a delight,” Kibbe said. “It’s really a lovely opportunity for us to enjoy each other’s musicianship and artistry.”
