performance work , and academic courses that we have .
CM : Around recruitment season , what would you say about your program to recommend it to potential future students ?
Carrabré : We have a very broad range of programming . We offer most of the traditional instruments — everything from piano , strings , winds and brass , percussion , we have a big voice and opera program … so all of those things , and there are great opportunities to perform for our students . We have very high-level ensembles and so , if you ’ re interested in that , we have a jazz band , an early music ensemble , saxophone ensemble , clarinet choir , all these things that are available to a music school our size . One of the things about UBC is that we ’ re inside a very large , high-level , internationally recognized university , so there ’ s access to lots of other great programs within the university . The School of Music is in the Arts and Culture district , so we ’ re very close to the theatre department and the visual arts department . I think generally , students who are coming are coming because they want training in the basic skills on their instrument and knowledge of how musicians situate themselves in the world .
CM : What are some of the things you see alumni pursue and achieve after graduating ?
Carrabré : Bachelor of music graduates these days tend to go in a variety of directions . Quite a few students go on to graduate school because they ’ re looking to even further advance their training . We have very high success rates of having our students placed in outstanding graduate programs around the world . There ’ s another stream who go into music education and get a bachelor of education degree after , and then we have many students that also go out and work . They may gig , they may teach , and we have an excellent record in terms of where our students end up . There are UBC grads all over the world , and they support each other . As you go into the world , there are many great opportunities to connect with alumni , and to connect with the music industry community .
CM : As the music industry and music world change so rapidly , do you find your teaching methods have to adapt to these changes ?
Carrabré : Absolutely . We ’ re in a very interesting curriculum renewal process right now and we ’ re trying to look at what the skills should be for 21 st century musicians who are going out into the world now . We ’ re observing our alumni and looking at other programs around the continent to see what is changing about how a music degree is articulated . A number of things have been coming up and certainly entrepreneurship is one of them , as well as ability to work in music across different cultures . We still have the same basic things : students want to be better on their instruments , to know more about research and , again , how we position ourselves in the world so we can be relevant and significant in the work that we do and contribute to society . Trying to figure out how to balance those sides is pretty core to the program . It ’ s asking us and challenging us to change how we do things .
CM : For a musician and music student who wants to go into the music industry or music education , is Vancouver a good place to be ?
Carrabré : Oh , absolutely ! The Vancouver music scene is very lively , there ’ s a great population , and it ’ s a very large , extended lower mainland population that has lots of opportunities for musicians . It really doesn ’ t matter what kind of approach you ’ re taking when you ’ re done or what genre of music you ’ re interested in ; there are opportunities here and Vancouver is very progressive in that even the City of Vancouver has a music strategy , trying to support artists in various stages of their career to make Vancouver their home and to kind of flourish in this environment . There are lots of professional organizations to be part of and lots of opportunities to perform . Music education , I think , is challenged in many places , but we ’ re seeing lots of opportunities in new places compared to where they were before .
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