Mrs. Deborah Gibson is a music educator at Laconia High School in Laconia, New Hampshire and also a Professor at Plymouth State University. Because of the distance we were not able to meet in person, but Mrs. Gibson was willing to allow time for an email correspondence.

 

     Hello, Mrs. Gibson. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule for an interview. The online journal that my class is running, Knack, is heading towards a second issue. This second issue is focused on careers in the arts. I am hoping to ask some questions that lead those of us still pursuing our education from where we are now (still in school) to where we hope to find ourselves in the future (in a career of our artistic talents), along with others that I have.

 

● When did you first realize that you wanted to be a music educator and how did you work towards that career?

Actually, my mom reminded me that after my first lesson on the clarinet in fifth grade, I came home and said I wanted to be a clarinet person when I grow up. I knew for sure in 10thAnd with that, I started taking lessons on the clarinet and piano.

 

● How did you balance commitments and responsibilities while working toward your degree? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Wow, I had a mission, my degree, and did everything to accomplish that. I was highly self-motivated and I loved to practice. So that was easy. I found much pleasure in learning more about music teaching and great pleasure in performing. I wouldn’t have done anything differently. When I went for my second degree, I was teaching full time during the day, attending 2 nights a week at grad school, on Friday and Sat. night I was a seamstress in a men’s clothing store and on Sat. and Sun. I played the organ at two masses in town.

 

● What difficulties did you encounter while trying to get to where you are now?

I always believed in myself, and road blocks I encountered never deterred me. One was, I was a woman band director in a world of male directors. I wasn’t included in conversations, dialogues, and meetings. But that didn’t stop me, I smiled, introduced myself, shook hands and brought my babies with me wherever I went.

 

● What goals and values do you bring to your teaching?

I believe I bring integrity, excellence and love of life and music.

 

     As a former student--and as many others I went to school with can attest--Mrs. Gibson is the type of person who shows passion and love for all she does. When she is conducting any number of her ensembles, it easy to tell that she is feeling the music that is being created. She always made sure we were staying hydrated, didn’t want anyone to get sick, and was constantly talking to us about how to stay healthy physically and mentally.

 

● To my knowledge, you direct the full chorus, concert choir, marching band, concert band, jazz band, and faculty chorus at Laconia High School. How do your experiences with each group differ?

I find that my prep for chorus is greater than band as I continue to seek out new pedagogies to help my students excel. Guitar is probably the easiest for me as it is the least demanding in performance schedule. Band has the highest demand of my time with both the community performances and the social activities that come with marching band and band camp and then continue throughout the year.

 

● You are a clarinetist as well as a teacher. Are you able to find time to engage in your own music making?

Finding time is the challenge. But I am fortunate enough to have joined a local orchestra and I have a woodwind quintet I play in. Rehearsals are about all I can do with my clarinet. When it is the summer, or toward the end of the school year, I have time for practicing and working on new literature. Singing is the same, I do sing for church every Sunday and now direct two church choirs, so there is prep for those.

 

● Is there a particular composer or genre of music that you enjoy playing on your own time? Is this different from what you prefer conducting with your band(s)/chorus(es)?

I love playing band literature, transcriptions of musicals, and classic orchestral music. My favorite composer is John Williams, who hasn’t written any clarinet literature, but his fore runner, is Aaron Copland and he has written two great pieces for clarinet. I love singing sacred songs, especially believe it or not, funeral music, I find it very comforting for those that listen to the music and the words. In school, my conducting songs, hit a wide range as I try to expose my students to different genres.

 

● As a former student, I remember you giving the band a ‘manner of the week’; each week there was a manner we were challenged to uphold for the week’s duration, such as holding the door for someone, excusing yourself from a group to take a phone call, or taking your hat off at the table. What inspired you to create ‘manner of the week’?

That was actually an outreach of planning on taking students on trips that would span several days, and teaching them how to behave in public.

 

     Mrs. Gibson tries to bring her marching, concert, and jazz bands, as well as concert choir on trips every two years to compete. One of the trips is to Busch Gardens in Virginia and the other is to Walt Disney World in Florida. Both of these trips get the students excited to work on more difficult music, preparing for the competition, and also to be active in their community, fundraising money to be able to attend.

 

● What challenges do you see as challenges facing the arts in education and what do you think we ought to do about them?

The arts face the challenge of tax cuts, limited funds to school districts and test scores running the program making administration feel that Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science drive the courses. They feel students should be loading themselves with these classes to prepare for college. The arts compliment these subjects, teach these subjects and prepare students for life beyond the next four years. I talk about advocacy at my concert, print it in programs, always thank people for choosing live music over recorded music. There is more that can be done, but teaching is a very demanding field.

 

● Are you advocating for any sorts of programs in the school system or community to raise the number of students involved in the arts?

I encourage high school parents and students to make sure their students include the 3 A’s, Academics, Athletics and the Arts. I share how students score higher on test scores if they are in a performing group.

 

     As Mrs. Gibson stated, when schools have to find somewhere to cut funds, it is generally found in the arts. However, Mrs. Gibson actively speaks at all of her concerts about the 3 A’s. The education system bases its courses and funding on test scores, but the 3 A’s help a student stay healthy all around. Athletics helps keep a student physically healthy, and academics keep a student mentally healthy, while the arts open up parts of the brain that the other two do not.

 

● Is there any advice you have for those searching for a career in the arts?

You do it because you love it and you want to share your love. You bring passion, it is not the second choice because you couldn’t get your first choice in careers, and it has to be your first choice. And you will find it extremely rewarding and tiring.

 

● Any for those who simply have a love for the arts?

You don’t have to major in music to enjoy music. It is never too late to start an instrument or join a chorus. Music enriches your life. I sometime feel the musician that joins a community group and meets once a week will be more satisfied and complete then the music teacher, who has to do all the logistics. Music brings people together socially and helps you express yourself. It is medicine for the soul.

 

     Mrs. Gibson lives her life in a way that others can look up to her. She does whatever she can for her students and is finding ways to help the arts. She is a strong woman who has earned her seat in a world of men. The influence that she holds in her students’ lives, the lives of her colleagues, and the lives of her family is great, and she uses that influence to make you the best person that you can be.