Interview with Jason Silveira, conducted by Annie Liu, Spring 2024

 

Annie Liu — How did you get into music education? And I was thinking maybe first as an educator and then more specifically into higher ed.

Jason Silveira — I knew that I wanted to be a music teacher, I think starting in 10th grade. Originally I wanted to be a doctor until I found out that the sight of blood made me faint. That ended my aspirations for a medical career. But I knew that I wanted to be a music teacher, specifically band, because that’s what I was doing. Why? I think most of us were kind of good at it and we enjoyed it, and I always wanted to be someone who could help others. So, you know, music teaching seemed like a nice marriage of my interests and music.

As far as higher ed, when I was teaching high school, I started taking on some student teachers and I really enjoyed that mentor relationship with the younger teachers and kind of helping them through the program, and that’s when I decided, well, I was going to go back and get my masters degree. I wasn’t sure at the time if I wanted to do a conducting masters or a music masters. To be perfectly honest, the decision to do a summer program was based in finances, I just couldn’t afford to take two full years off of teaching with perhaps not being able to come back to that same job.

So I did a summer masters in music ed. And at that point, I knew that I wanted to go in to get a doctorate, and I wasn’t sure, again, if it was going to be conducting or a PhD, PhD or DMA. So in chatting with my professors at Ithaca College over the summer masters program, I came to realize that what I really wanted to do was continue working with student teachers, continuing to understand and read research and that sort of creative process really intrigued me. So I went to Florida State and the nice thing about that program is there is no DMA in wind conducting. There’s DMA in orchestra conducting, but not in wind conducting because they want the band people to, like, have one foot in both worlds, like conducting a group and also doing research because some music Ed positions in in higher Ed are strictly music and they don’t get to have an ensemble. But I wanted to do both. I still think it’s important for me to make music, whether it’s conducting or playing trombone.

So I was able to get that experience there. And I knew that when I was looking for jobs, I wanted to find a job where I could do both. And it was at Florida State where I kind of, to borrow a phrase from my major professor, develop a love affair with research and it truly inspired me because the way he taught research was, you learn by doing. How do you learn research? Well, let’s do it.

And I’ve taken that with me in the classes that I teach here with the research methods courses in music and other disciplines. A survey of research methods, you know, like positivist, post positivist, naturalist, those, those kinds of things, but, you know, I think of it like a music appreciation class. How do we appreciate music? What do we gotta do? Music. We’ve got to be involved with music. So that’s what led me to higher ed. I started at Oregon State. And I loved my time there. Wonderful, wonderful colleagues. Job opened up at Ithaca College, which is my alma mater. And I thought, well, let’s go home, you know, and my wife and I missed being so far. We missed being close to family because all of our families are in Rhode Island. So we moved cross country again and both of us realized that this was not the right fit for us. She was working at Cornell. I felt the research fruit dying on the vine because Ithaca is a small liberal arts college, and it’s a teaching institution. And I went there and I knew that, but it was not the right fit for me, nor for my wife, and this position opened up. And I mean, I was looking for jobs in November. That’s how unhappy we were.

Thankfully this this position opened up and, well, I distinctly remember the question from the search committee was, you’ve been at Ithaca for a year or will be out there for a year. Why? Why are you leaving?

And I said, well, it took our leaving Oregon to realize that this had become our home. So that’s how we ended back here in Oregon. I totally understand the the philosophy behind the small liberal arts college and teaching. And I was the recipient of that as a student, both undergraduate and masters degree. But I couldn’t engage creatively in the manner that I wanted to, and I was conducting an ensemble there, but I wasn’t able to create with my, you know, intellectual side of things. I just didn’t have time.

AL — What do you think is special about the music education program here at U of O?

JS — Lots of things. Of course I’m biased, but I do like the fact that most of us on the on the music at faculty work with an ensemble. So that was important. I think that’s important for our students to see too, because like, it gives us a little, you know, street cred. So that helps. But I think what I’m most proud of is our placement rate: one hundred per cent.

I talked to our corporate teachers and like this is where we want to send our students. And my favorite day of the year is the OMEA conference Friday night, when the University of Oregon reception happens and all the teachers come back and it’s nice to just catch up and celebrate their successes.

AL — What can students do with their music education degree? And maybe you could speak to the undergrad, masters, and PhD levels.

JS — Well, primarily our undergraduates, they go into K12 teaching. They are certified pre K12 music. So most of them take that path. Some of them do studio teaching as well. Last year we had a student who was place bound. They wanted to stay in Portland, so they did some substitute teaching there. I mean really you can do just about anything with the, with the bachelor’s degree in music ed.

For masters degree students, some of them will go back to the K12 classroom. Some of them decide to go on to a PhD program. Of course, the nice thing about getting a masters degree and going back to teaching is you get a pay raise. That’s always a nice bump.

And for our PhD students, again, primarily they head to the academic route teaching at colleges and universities.

AL — What is your go to coffee or your tea order?

JS — This is gonna sound boring, but I just like, you know, plain drip coffee. I mean Starbucks, just Pike roast. My tea: I love mint tea.

 

 

Read the longer version of this interview.