Version 5.2 - Reinventing myself (again)

At various points throughout my life, my professional work has bounced between (and sometimes intermingled) three very different fields: biological science; music; and social justice advocacy.

 

Even though I was very interested in music as a child and started composing in my teens, my initial plan was that I would pursue biological research as my vocation, keeping music as just a hobby.  I earned my B.S. in Biology from Tufts University, but remained broadly active in music.  However, as I was finishing the degree and deciding on next steps, I realized that my musical interests and abilities were more centered on composing than in performing; but because of this, it would be hard to stay active in music as just a hobbyist.  After graduating, I decided to shift my career focus to music.  I then went on to earn my M.A. in Composition from Queens College, and then my Ph.D. in Composition and Theory from the University of Minnesota.

 

At that time, it was very difficult to build a career as an independent composer; so like many composers, I saw college teaching as my main career path.  However, teaching was never just a "necessary evil" for me; rather, I enjoyed the pedagogical challenges, and I saw it as an equal complement to my work as a composer.  Graduate school was also the time when I first became interested in political activism, mostly centered around LGBT issues (and arts advocacy to a smaller extent).  Indeed, my work as Music Director of the One Voice Mixed Chorus in the Twin Cities tied together my work as a musician, teacher, and LGBT activist.

 

During my first career as a musician-teacher, I taught at 10 different colleges in four different states.  I eventually landed at the Crane School of Music, SUNY-Potsdam. While at Crane, I was voted Teacher of the Year on campus three times, as well as receiving the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the President's Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity.  Meanwhile, I continued to build my career as a composer, garnering performances, awards, recordings and commisions from a variety of renowned performers across the country and abroad.

 

During my time at Crane, I was targeted with severe harassment from a colleague in my department for a period of 8 years, which was ignored by the college administration.  The harassment became so severe that it required a medical leave of absence.  The college then went into "legal defense mode"; this turned the harassment into a mobbing situation from every level of the college administration.  This led to a 4-year legal battle against the college.  The entire ordeal eventually forced me out of my teaching job, and it destroyed my career as a musician.  At age 53, I found myself having to rebuild a new career (and forge a new self-identity).

 

Living through the harassment-mobbing ordeal taught me a lot about the complex organizational, psycho-social, and legal aspects of workplace bullying.  This reignited my earlier engagement with social justice issues, and community service has become a core component of my work in the post-music phase of my life.  For more than a decade, I have served as the Legislative Researcher for the New York Healthy Workplace Advocates, working with the NY State Legislature and other stakeholders for passage of the Workplace Bullying Prevention Act.  Besides legislative advocacy, I also provide educational workshops, consultations, and personalized coaching to individuals and organizations.  I have also become certified as a Mediator for the Resolution Center of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, through whom I provide Alternative Dispute Resolution for the NY State Unified Court System; my mediation work includes child custody/visitation, landlord-tenant disputes, small claims, and community cases.

 

My post-music reinvention likewise revived my earlier interest in biology.  I have become a Master Naturalist (Level IX), working as a volunteer in collaboration with state agencies, community organizations, and private individuals; projects have included management of invasive species, habitat restoration, data collection, and educational activities.  I have also conducted extensive research on the invasive Lily Leaf Beetle (Lilioceris lilii); projects have included surveying its levels of infestation and impacts on wild populations of native lilies (Lilium canadense), as well as developing an integrated pest management protocol for controlling infestations in ornamental gardens.  My background as a naturalist also informs my work in designing, installing, and renovating ornamental gardens for organizations and private individuals.

 

Along with these new endeavors, I continued teaching in the First Year Program of St. Lawrence University, where I taught interdisciplinary courses that focused on core writing, presentation, and research skills.  I also returned to conducting on a more regular basis, creating The Any Music Singers community chorus, and conducting the choir at our Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton.

 

It's rather ironic that the harassment at Crane began with petty insults of "not being scholarly" and being "just a generalist," eventually being sickly twisted into accusations of "lowering the academic standards of the school" and "hampering student learning."  Reinventing myself in ways that embrace the diversity of my interests and experiences, and using them in the work of community service, has indeed been my ironic revenge.