Lame Part 6: Pansies hiding behind advanced music degrees

It happens in every walk of life: those members of our society who minimally kept passing classes until they got all of the fancy degrees. Let me clarify before I continue that I am not talking as a generalization of anyone with a higher degree. I even hold one. There are many deserving individuals who have worked hard and used the knowledge of their degrees to better our society. I am talking about those who hide behind their multiple state college degrees and snag teaching gigs and community performing arts group director jobs and hang on to them until they die.

While attending various colleges and universities as well as teaching at them, I have seen these urchins of society protecting themselves by building barriers so thick that they stride right into retirement. They rarely perform and they are very opinionated about those who do. Often, when a talented student threatens their safety by questioning talents or exceeding them, the student suffers by being shot down with insults, bad grades, and lost performance opportunities.

The state Board of Regents is largely to blame. They want highly qualified teachers. Education is most often not an indicator of quality. They want clean nosed folks who won't rock the boat. Hell, Mozart rocked the boat. Beethoven rocked the boat. So did Verdi, Wagner, and anyone else who actually makes a difference in our lives. You don't get anywhere by being a good "t" crosser or "i" dotter.

This mentality breads apathy. It breads bad future leaders and it kills a true creative thinker. Why do you think the most creative people break out of pre-defined genres anyway? My point is simple and has been echoed for many generations. In order for anything but genres like hip hop to survive, we need dynamic teachers to teach not just the basics, but the dynamics.

Also, since many of these pansies that I speak of hold esteamed posts at colleges and universities, they also are elected to run community music ensembles and again spread their form of apathy to the masses. No wonder classical music is dead. We need another Bernstein or Solti, or might I dare, Mozart.

The universities in metro Atlanta can't muster even a semplance of a true music conservatory as long as they have losers leading. Look at GSU. It is dead from the top down. They can't keep an orchestra director, their dean inherited the position and is so weak, he couldn't pull a greasy hair out of a sick whore's ass. Their opera guy is worst of all. Ask him how much money he brings home from his summer workshop. I dare you to ask.

KSU can never get anything right. Their dean has his whole family tied in with good jobs. Hmm? I wonder what his motivation is? There really is no orchestra or opera program.

Clayton State has a great performance hall. Nothing else.

Emory has a token program.

What is wrong with these people? Doesn't anyone care beyond the ink on their paychecks?

Prove it!