Important Message from the Artistic Director Regarding Summer 2011
Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory has been in residence at Lowell Whiteman School from 2003 through 2010. During that period, this unique facility provided a place that enabled us to create a nationally recognized program based upon our four compass points: the pursuit of excellence, physical vigor, vision-directed leadership and balance. Students from across the nation attending leading universities and conservatories have made RMSC, and by extension Steamboat Springs, their summer home. As we developed this program, we changed the way music is taught and in the process changed the lives of our students. Unfortunately, the Lowell Whiteman facility will not be available going forward. We appreciate all the time and effort that was invested in our program and hope for a great future for Lowell Whiteman School. We will miss what became our summer home.
RMSC is built upon a unique concept, empowered by gifted and dedicated individuals, and delivered in a facility that supports all our activities. We are now in a search for a new facility for our resident program. This is a significant challenge - one that cannot be rushed, as it is so critical to our ability to provide the experience that is the hallmark of our program. It has already become evident that the search for a new facility is actually a metaphor for something greater. We are in search of our future. What began as an operational challenge has transformed into a call for reflection, analysis, and strategic decision-making. Time has become our most critical resource. In order to make the best decisions possible, ensure the quality of our offerings, and invest in our future, the resident program will go into a one-year hiatus. This challenge has served as a catalyst for creating a sustainable structure that is as audacious and effective as the program it supports. To that end we are expanding our executive structure, board of directors, and national advisors. Many hours have already been invested envisioning our future. In the words of Max DePree: "it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." In the near future, we will seek input from all our constituents. These contributions will be carefully considered as we craft our next emanation.
Three years ago, RSMC developed the Steamboat Connection, under the direction of Teresa Greenlee, for students living in the Steamboat community. The Connection distills the essence of the resident program into a one-week experience with the faculty and staff of RMSC. As this is a non-resident program, we need only a facility that provides the teaching spaces necessary to deliver the quality experience our students and their parents expect. Because the impact of this program is so important to the children of Steamboat, this intensive immersion into the study of music will continue this summer. In the near future we will announce the dates, events and opportunities to support the Steamboat Connection. The third week of July is full of promise.
RMSC is fueled by the potential within each person embraced by its community. The motivation of the faculty, staff, board, and advisors transcend standard expectations and rewards and can only be explained by a deep and abiding commitment to the students we serve and the art we cherish. In the final analysis it is about beauty - the beauty of a perfectly turned phrase, of genuine human communication, of a life lived "on the edge of our possibility", of aspens, columbines and trout streams. We are a community woven together by a passionate commitment to the realization of the best within us. Regularly we talk with our students about the core components of RMSC - our compass points. One of those discussions revolves around the challenge of the effective daily practice that is required to achieve the excellence we pursue. At the core of that discussion is the concept of "the greater yes that burns within." Rather than a discipline that is reluctantly shouldered, "the greater yes", our vision, motivates our actions enabling us to embrace our aspirations and dismiss the distractions that obscure our vision. Our organization has the opportunity to live out that discussion as we focus upon the greater yes that propels us to realize our potential: functioning "on the edge of our possibility." In order to pursue that edge, the excitement generated by our dreams must surpass that of our memories. This is the time we dare to dream. We look forward to sharing this process with you.
Sincerely,
Ernest Richardson
Artistic Director & CEO