Interview Series: Alice Kanack on Music School

In the Arts Leadership Program at Eastman, we can take a lot of classes related to practical issues in music. Although my first few posts have been somewhat abstract, I would like to provide resources on some more concrete issues. My next several posts will focus on a successful musician or other member of the arts community, and the advice they have to share with aspiring artists.
Once I decided to start this interview series, I immediately thought of Alice Kanack. Ms. Kanack, a graduate of Eastman in viola performance and composition, founded and runs a thriving community music school in Rochester. Before moving to Rochester and starting her own school, she worked with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki in Japan and was on the faculty of the Third Street Music School Settlement in Manhattan. The Kanack School currently boasts almost 20 faculty members (including my fellow Polyphonic blogger Zachary Preucil), and offers private lessons, chamber music, theory, and a variety of other classes for people of all ages. In addition to teaching, Ms. Kanack is a writer and researcher interested in music education and cognition. She has published several books, pedagogical guides, and papers on these topics.
Ms. Kanack was kind enough to sit down with me and share her wisdom and experience, and I hope you will all gain as much insight into running a music school as I did!
SEK:  What is your background and what inspired you to start a music school?
AK: I did what a lot of people do right out of college-I got a job. I began by teaching in multiple schools and I settled in one for about 10 years. When I decided to start my own school, I moved out of NYC and back to Rochester. Since I had worked for a number of bosses over the years I decided to try being my own boss, which I love. And as far as my own educational background, I was an Eastman grad and I went to the University of Miami for a Masters. I’m also a writer and that had a lot to do with wanting to be on my own as well. I write about education and I have very strong opinions about how things should be done. So when I started my own school it was because I really wanted to do things my own way.
SEK: So on that topic, what is your musical or teaching philosophy?
AK: My teaching philosophy is three-pronged: Students need to develop excellent technique, unique musicality and be very literate. My school is based on that philosophy, so all the kids get private lessons but they also get classes in all of those areas. Literacy is covered by chamber music and orchestral programs, even note reading if they haven’t had it yet. We also recently added AP theory for advanced students. Technique is covered by traditional or Suzuki training. The musical piece is the one that is rather original: we use my improvisation method to develop the creative side of the brain. This translates to unique musicality because the creative side of the brain deals with artistry and self-expression.
SEK: I noticed that you do have an emphasis on improv just based on conversations with people who went to the Kanack School. Why do you think improv is so important? It’s something that we don’t necessarily do outside of jazz nowadays.
AK: Well I made the discovery when I was in college. I was teaching, and I was given a public school student who I think was in the fourth grade or the fifth grade at the time.  He really wanted to join his school orchestra and he was having trouble learning how to read [music]. I tried to teach him how to read music using all of the traditional methods, but he was still really struggling. So I tried teaching note reading like I approach teaching composition, by having him improvise and then learn how to notate that. His note reading, violin technique, and musicality improved dramatically. It was like I turned a key on in this kid. He was making beautiful music immediately, after struggling for so long. So it made me think, something is going on here that we’re missing as educators. This kid was actually a brilliant musician, and even went on to write for the orchestra he was trying to get into within a year or two. This inspired me to begin exploring the whole nature of the creative process in the brain. I did a lot of research and I came up with a theory of how creativity works in the brain which is in my books. Basically, improvisation helps develop the part of the brain that deals with self-expression, and having kids improvise makes them play more musically. And that’s an important part of what we do at my school. What’s interesting is that now the science is catching up with my theory. The works of people like Charles Limb at John Hopkins and Dan Coyle really support this. You can read more about this in my books if you’re interested.
SEK: So back to the music school aspect, practically speaking, what kind of obstacles or considerations did you have to take into account when you were starting up?
AK: Well, I started up very grass roots in an apartment. One of the first problems I ran into was not enough space. As a result I wound up borrowing someone’s house to run my bigger classes and my orchestras. That’s an unusual situation. A lot of people rent space but that’s an expense and you’re not gaining anything by renting so that’s not a good option. So then I bought a house and moved the school into the house. But there I soon ran into problems with the street outside because I was getting so many students that they were blocking the street and neighbors complained. So then I found a place which I could not afford [to buy] but the woman who owned it needed to sell so she let me rent it until I could fill it to the point where I could buy it. I had to be very creative with finding space. And I’m still being creative with space, because I’m still working out of that same space but now I have many more students. So for a music school, I think the #1 problem is space.
The second problem is what do you offer to attract people? Especially in Rochester, you have the Eastman [Music] School and you have Hochstein [Music School] downtown. These are great schools. Coming into that picture as a single person – what could I offer that wasn’t already there? My answer to that was: I can offer something different. But you also have to satisfy what people are looking for. So it’s like you have a buyer and you’re selling something and you have to meet their expectations while also selling your concept. Initially I had to satisfy expectations before I could sell my concepts. Now people are looking for our original concepts. They have heard about The Kanack School and come looking for what we have because it’s working and it’s unique and they want to check it out.
SEK: Initially, how did you reach out to the community? How did you get your name out there?
AK: Actually, it was very grassroots. I got a few students through my family, who live in town, and those people talked to other people and those people talked to other people. In my first three years, I tripled our population. Every year I tripled the number of students that we have. And now our growth is a very consistent thing. I don’t do a lot of advertising because I find that the best sales people are my own students.
SEK: One last question. What advice do you have for young musicians who have similar aspirations?
AK: Start small. Somebody gave me a piece of advice recently that I was very grateful for: don’t try to be bigger than you already are. He didn’t say it quite like that but that’s the best way I can think of to say it. You will only take in a certain amount of income. It’s wonderful to have grand and glorious ideas but if you don’t have the finances to support those ideas, you’re not going to go anywhere and you’re going to end up shooting yourself in the foot. Right now we are expanding and I’m thinking very carefully about how I’m spending money. Making sure what I build is what I indeed need, and no more than that because I won’t be able to afford it if I go farther than that. The other piece of advice is to do as much as you can without borrowing because most banks will not support a new business. They want you to be very well established before they step in. It’s very had to get loans, to get start-up money so you sort of have to start up small and save, and be careful with what you do with it. Because, again, the ideals are great but if the money is not there to support the ideals, you are going to fail. So be very conscious of what you’re doing with your money.
If you want to know more about Alice Kanack, her ideas about music education and cognition, or her school, you can visit her website at http://www.kanackschoolofmusic.com/ and www.creativeabilitydevelopment.com. Her books are published by Creative Ability Development Press and Alfred Publishing. They are distributed exclusively by Alfred.