Lack of post-secondary music programs next year concerns educators, musicians in northeastern Ontario

Musicians and music teachers in northeastern Ontario say a lack of post-secondary education for the subject will reverberate through the region, but the music scene will survive.

Facing tough financial decisions, colleges and universities have discontinued or temporarily paused taking in students, leaving no options to start a musical degree next year in the northeast. 

Options started to narrow in 2021, when Laurentian University cut its music program and sold its instruments during its insolvency.

The following year, Cambrian College stopped accepting new students to its music program due to low enrolment and recently confirmed it has no plans to bring it back.

Last month, Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie said it would not admit new students to its program for one year while considering the program's future.

Colleges and universities have said they've had to make these difficult decisions because of financial pressure created by ongoing tuition freezes and a sudden decline in international students.

People like former Cambrian music professor Jamie Arrowsmith dealt first hand with the decline of post-secondary music education in northeastern Ontario.

"I'm disappointed, but maybe not necessarily surprised to see that these programs are dwindling, or being suspended or scaled back," he said.

Arrowsmith grew up in Sudbury in a musical family and went abroad for his post-secondary education, then returned home to work at Cambrian.

It's an option that future musicians who leave the city won't have if they want to return home, he said.

"It means primarily that students who are coming up through the schools, coming up through community programs who are interested in pursuing music in any kind of career path are going to have to leave our region," he said.

"And that means we have to work twice as hard to attract them."

Arrowsmith also said performing and teaching aren't the only career paths for music graduates.

"People who work in music retail have a leg up when it comes to finding a job and a good job, a job that will last, and that will be meaningful and valuable to customers if they have some background and knowledge," he said. 

"So it isn't just that we're making it harder for music performers to come and stay in town, it means that we are now having to try and maybe attract people who have skills in other areas that are also musical."

Science needs the arts, says educator

Carolyn Otto is a retired secondary school music teacher in Sudbury who has been a long-time board member of the Ontario Music Educators' Association.

She's been worried about more money moving into science, technology and engineering programs at the expense of the arts.

Otto said those more technical fields need people who have music and arts education because creativity enhances their abilities.

"Musical training provides students with self-discipline, organization, a quest for excellence, and a foundation for human connection and understanding that is really necessary these days." she said.

"In times when people are concerned about the effects of AI, we need that sense of humanity and conscience."

Jamie Dupuis is a graduate of the Cambrian College music program and has stayed in Sudbury to start his career.

Dupuis is from New Liskeard and Cambrian was a natural choice for him when he studied classical guitar there in 2009.

"There were other options, of course, to maybe go to Toronto or to other schools, but it's a lot more expensive to do that and that's why Cambrian was the option for me," he said.

"I felt like this is a little bit more affordable. There's great teachers. I knew that I could learn a lot there and practise a lot and develop my craft, and without that program, I would have to do everything alone."

Dupuis did leave to study in the United States for awhile, and that's where he fell in love with the harp guitar.

However, he returned to Sudbury where he has established a career as a professional musician.

"A lot of my career has been online as well and that's the reason also why I've been able to locate in a smaller community," said Dupuis.

He's developed a following on different social media platforms, reviews instruments and gets sponsorships in addition to performing.

As for the shortage of higher musical education in the northeast, he said it's a bit of a shock, but he would never discourage anyone from pursuing their musical dreams no matter their location.

"I think there are still teachers in our community that are incredible that can teach someone to become a very high level musician."