Episode 14: The Teacher As Conductor with Dr. Robyn L. Bell
Ways to Reach Dr. Bell:
Website: robynbell.net
Podcast: The Suncoast Culture Club
Transcript:
(Transcribed by kayla.r.fainer@gmail.com)
Melissa Milner 00:09
Hi, this is Melissa Milner. Welcome to The Teacher As... podcast. The goal of this weekly podcast is to help you explore your passions and learn from others in education and beyond to better your teaching. The Teacher As... will highlight uncommon parallels to teaching, as well as share practical ideas for the classroom.
In this episode, I interview Dr. Robyn L. Bell. She is the Director of Instrumental Studies at State College of Florida. She is also the conductor of the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota, as well as the conductor of the Bradenton Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Bell received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in my neck of the woods at Boston University.
In this interview, Dr. Bell discusses the many parallels between conducting and teaching. I hope you enjoy my interview with Dr. Robyn L. Bell. Welcome to The Teacher As..., Dr. Robyn L. Bell. What do you want The Teacher As... listeners to know about you?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 01:07
Well, I have been in the trenches. And I think that's very important to know, because I was a high school band director in the North Georgia Mountains for nine years. So even though I now work in higher ed., and I'm more of a professional ensemble conductor, I have sat through faculty meetings that have nothing to do with me. I have done my share of bus duty, and lunch duty, and doody duty as I call it.
I've had my class interrupted with announcements to dismiss students for orthodontist appointments. I've been screamed at by the basketball coach. I've sat through IEP meetings. I have been dressed down by parents who refuse to believe their child could do anything wrong. You name it, I've lived it. And I'm there with all of the public school teachers. I walked in your shoes. And I come at my job from that world view.
I left public school teaching after nine years for higher ed., and I don't think I could ever return to the public school classroom. I read this book called The $100,000 Teacher by Brian Crosby, and it changed my life. The premise of this book is that if we treated teachers like we treat other professionals, and we paid them as we pay other professionals, we would get the best of the best in our classrooms, people who could handle 40 or 50 students at a time.
You'd give each teacher an assistant that would be there for every class to help them with discipline, paperwork. They would be the substitute teacher when the teacher had to be out. They had the assistants doing the duties so that the teacher, as a professional, could concentrate on grading, and curriculum, and lesson plans.
And you pay the teacher a salary commensurate with an educated professional. We would turn the education world upside down. I loved this book. And it was one of the reasons, after reading this, I said, I can't keep doing this and be treated what I considered unprofessionally and paid so little the rest of my life. They don't make attorneys do bathroom duty during recess of court.
Anyway, it's a fabulous book that I recommend for all educators and administrators to read. Because it'll really put a different perspective just on how you see yourself, and how I feel as educated professional people who really shape the minds of this country. We should be treated better and paid better.
Melissa Milner 03:31
Amen. What qualities and skills does a great conductor have? And how did your teaching help you with that?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 03:40
Well, number one is communication. I mean, that's what a conductor does right from the start. And the biggest part of this communication is what we call in my business nonverbal communication. So I create music through space. I mean, most people have an instrument in their hands or they're beating on something.
My craft is through space, if you can think about that, moving my arms. And most people envision that, as the majority of the information I'm giving to the orchestra, that it comes from my arms and my hands. But actually, my players, my performers in the orchestra, would say that the communication throughout the process comes from my face.
So for efficient rehearsals, I need to be able to look at a section or a particular player and let them know if what they just performed is acceptable or not. I can do that without stopping a whole group just by looking at them and using my facial expressions to give approval or disappointment. And it's this instantaneous feedback, also a very important quality and skill that can be done from the podium. The orchestra knows immediately if what they just performed was up to our standards.
And speaking of standards, very high standards is also one of those terrible qualities, because you're never satisfied. There's always room to get better. And the really good conductors push their players and groups as a whole to become better and better musicians. From a practical standpoint, I've always found that the ability to take a large group of people with differing skill levels and different goals, and get them all to believe in your big vision, and get them going in one direction is a huge skill that has served me well in other aspects of my career, such as administratively or even organizing community yard sales. It's really all about the buy in, and leadership, and in communication.
And all of those skills and qualities served me well. I kind of fine tune and hone them in as a public school educator. And they have served me well. I'm in year 21, so for nine years. Now I've surpassed the nine years that I taught. I have more than double teaching and working in sort of a different field. I mean, it's still education, but it's completely different than working in the public schools. So I've fine tuned those skills and qualities there, and I've used them for this second half of my career.
Melissa Milner 06:14
Did you go to school for teaching or for music? What was your major? What did you pursue?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 06:22
That's a great question. So I have a Bachelor of Science in Music Education. I affectionately call it my BS degree. So it is in Music Education. And then, rather than go get a job, I went straight to graduate school where I got a Master's in Instrumental Conducting.
So I kind of have the best of both. And then I taught, as I said, for nine years, and then I went back and got my Doctorate. And my Doctorate is actually a Doctorate of Musical Arts Education. So here, again, it's kind of this hybrid education/arts music degree.
Melissa Milner 06:59
Your schooling makes you so well rounded. Who do you teach now? And how are you able to transfer those skills to being a conductor of, I'm assuming, college age students, or?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 07:13
Right. Well, I have, absolutely-- I tell people this all the time. For what I do for a living, I have the best job. Because I have my hands in a lot of pots, which is great. So my main job, as I tell, my real job, the job that pays sort of the regular salary, and the benefits, and the retirement contributions is I am the Director of Instrumental Studies at the State College of Florida, which is, in essence, a community college in Bradenton, Florida. So we offer the first two years of all of the music courses that you would take at any four year university.
And in that role, I conduct the wind ensemble. And it used to be the college orchestra, but five years ago, we made it the Bradenton Symphony Orchestra. And we opened it up to community members and college students. And so it's kind of this combined hybrid group. And so in that group, I have musicians from age 16, we have some really talented high school students, all the way up to 74. So it runs--
Melissa Milner 07:14
Wow.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 07:15
Yeah, it runs the gamut. And then I also am the administrator for the music program here. So I oversee all aspects, the choir, the jazz band, the guitar, the piano theory, all the applied teachers, the private lesson teachers. So we have a secretary, plus we have 5 full time faculty, and then we have 30 adjunct faculty in our music program. So I kind of oversee the whole thing.
And lucky for me, that's a 12 month contract, which is different for most teachers. But even when I taught high school, I worked 12 months, because I had a marching band, right? And I wasn't paid for it, but I still worked 12 months. And then I have a second job where I am the conductor of the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota. And this is a whole separate paycheck. So I have a board of directors for that.
We rehearse here at the college, and we perform here at the college. But actually, they're not affiliated other than I just happen to be the conductor for that. And so this is my ninth year going into that job. And that is also, like, we have professional players that are paid first chair players to kind of be like section leaders, and they're professional musicians. And then the rest of the orchestra is community members that volunteer. Some are retired music educators. We do have one or two advanced college students.
But those shows are like-- we'll do a Barbra Streisand show. Or we do a holiday show. It's more popular style music, so we call it a Pops Orchestra. And so I get to run the gamut. I really do teach here at the college, 18, 19 year old students. And then I get to work with what I call community music makers. These are just amateur musicians that learned to play in high school and college and love playing their instruments. They do it for fun. And I get to work with professional musicians. So literally, I get to do it all.
Melissa Milner 10:18
It sounds very fulfilling.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 10:20
Oh, I love my job. Love it. COVID has put a little damper on it, but I love my job.
Melissa Milner 10:25
Definitely. What is the proudest moment in your career so far?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 10:30
Oh, that's a great question and a very hard question. Because you say so far, I can't answer it this way. But I normally say, I hope my proudest accomplishment is still yet to come. But looking back, there was these three days in February 2015. On Friday, which was the first of the three days, I successfully defended my dissertation to finish my doctoral program at Boston University.
And on Sunday, day three, I conducted a 70 piece orchestra and a 100 piece choir in a masterwork piece called Carmina Burana by Carl Orff for a sold out audience at the college's Performing Arts Center. We had 835 people there. And it was just a personal and professional and musical homerun for me that weekend. And it's hard to believe that was only five years ago, but yeah. So far, that's been my best weekend of my life.
Melissa Milner 11:25
That's amazing that they happened so close together like that.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 11:30
No stress.
Melissa Milner 11:31
Yeah, no, no, not at all. Wow. That's incredible. Little mindfulness, right?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 11:38
Yes, or a silo. You know, I had to really just think about this for that moment. I really couldn't let it all be interfering at one time. And so I had to really train myself to just focus on this and then this and not have it all come together. It was fun, though.
Melissa Milner 11:56
Yeah, I'm sure. That sounds amazing. What are you zooming in on right now?
[ZOOMING IN SOUNDBITE]
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 12:03
Well, school starts here on Monday. And we are going face to face with rehearsals. And I have four concerts to produce this fall. And so I am zooming in on music and figuring out how to prepare my ensembles socially distanced, with all the PPE we need. And how to produce concerts that can be live streamed, rather than 800 people in the seats. How we can put up a big screen outside and have a drive-in movie theater type show. So I'm zooming in-- that's a lot.
The big picture is, how do we produce concerts. And in order to do that, there's all of these steps. And so right now, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, I'm zooming in on that. And then, here in my area where I live, Manatee County, last week, they decided some of the high schools and some of the middle schools would not be able to have band orchestra require that were just going to put music students in like a music theory class. Well, that's blown up pretty big.
And I'm trying now to figure out if I can move my ensembles to nighttime classes so that we can help those students that won't have band orchestra or choir at their schools. They can be a part of our groups here at the college if we did some nighttime rehearsals, just so they keep performing and are part of performing ensembles for at least this semester.
Melissa Milner 13:28
Such a wonderful idea.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 13:29
Yeah, there's just a lot of layers in not just public education, but higher ed. And so to get approval for something like that, I need it sort of overnight, and it's going up the chain slowly. Oh, we have a meeting about this on Wednesday. Well, I needed to know Monday. So we'll see where that comes. But that is the other thing that I'm, all of a sudden, zooming in on.
Melissa Milner 13:51
Yeah, yeah. And you also have a podcast, right?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 13:55
Yes, I do a podcast called The Suncoast Culture Club, where it's based here out of the college. And we have our arts faculty that interview people, events, organizations that are involved. I live in Sarasota, Bradenton area, and it is a culturally vibrant, amazingly culturally vibrant place, more cultural arts events per capita than any other city, including New York and the entire country.
And so there's a lot to talk about right now with the pandemic. But once that's over and people can perform again, we focus on sort of marketing for organizations, performances, and for our own, getting people to come to our art gallery, getting people to come to our orchestra concerts. We have a theatre department here, things like that.
Melissa Milner 14:43
You have a lot going on. And you're leading all of it, right?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 14:46
Yes, I am. But you know something? I mean, I am married, but I don't have children. I don't have pets. It kind of changes. Plus, I always tell people, when your job is your hobby, it never ends. I mean, it's all a pleasure. But when your job is your hobby, it is continuous, morning, noon and night.
Melissa Milner 15:07
Right. The passion drives you.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 15:09
Sure.
Melissa Milner 15:09
Before we go to the last question, how can people reach you if they want to learn more about what you do?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 15:15
Well, I have a personal website, robynbell.net, and that's with a Y, robynbell.net. I have the podcast website, which is The Suncoast Culture Club. So you can kind of check out some interviews and people that we're interviewing and things we're talking about there. My college music program has a website, SCF, that's State College of Florida, SCFMusic.info.
And I am on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter, as well as all my organizations. My Pops Orchestra is thepopsorchestra.org. They also have Facebook and Instagram. So it would be hard not to find me. I can't hide. You can Google me, and I'm everywhere.
Melissa Milner 15:59
That's right. All right. Well, thank you. I have one last question. This is usually the hardest one. What is your favorite movie, and why?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 16:08
You know, that's a great question. There's a lot of insights to people when you do this. And I've listened to your podcast, and I knew this question was coming. And so before I tell you my favorite, can I tell you my least favorite and why?
Melissa Milner 16:20
Absolutely.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 16:21
Okay, so people are really surprised by my answer. But my least favorite movie is Mr. Holland's Opus.
Melissa Milner 16:27
Mine, too!
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 16:28
Yes, and probably for the same reason. In the end, everybody left the theater with this wonderful feeling. And they feel good, how great this is. But what happened, the music program died and nobody saved it. And to me, when I walked out, I was mad as all get out that they kind of framed this story in a positive light, when really it's total negative that they would take music out of the school. So that's why I don't like Mr. Holland's Opus.
But my favorite movie, I have three kind of categories that I tell people, sort of this one of man overcoming adversity. My favorite movie there is Shawshank Redemption. Wonderful movie of just how to keep persevering and overcome and good versus evil.
Melissa Milner 17:14
And hope. It's all about hope.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 17:16
Keeping the hope and finding a way to make life go. I love that, love that. And Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were just spectacular. What a great film.
My favorite love story film is Bridges of Madison County. Great book and great story. I cry every time I watch it, to think that you're not going to have the love of your life because you're sacrificing for what you made a contribution to, or what you committed to. Love that story.
And then as a musician, I can't tell you my favorite movies without talking about my favorite soundtrack. So my favorite movie soundtrack is Star Wars, John Williams. Fabulous. Really anything by John Williams. I call him-- he's like the soundtrack of our imaginations.
He is such a great composer and captures the spirit of movies from Schindler's List, to Indiana Jones, to Jaws, you name it. He's just wonderful. So when I watch movies, I also listen to movies. Some people hear the music just kind of in the background, but my focus is always there.
Melissa Milner 18:13
Yes. My father is a conductor, Director of Music for years. And I interviewed him recently, and he said the same thing. He's like, well, do I do it by soundtrack? Or do I do it by movie?
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 18:25
Right.
Melissa Milner 18:25
Thank you for talking to me, Dr. Robyn L. Bell.
Dr. Robyn L. Bell 18:28
Thanks for having me. I enjoyed it.
Melissa Milner 18:30
If you enjoyed this episode, and have not done so already, please hit the subscribe button for The Teacher As... podcast so you can get future episodes. I would love for you to leave a review and a rating, as well, if you have time. For my blog, transcripts of this episode and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner. And I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates.
I am sending a special thanks to Linda and Lester Fleishman, my mom and dad, for being so supportive. They are the voices you hear in the Zooming In soundbite. And my dad composed and performed the background music you are listening to right now. My intro music was "Upbeat Party" by Scott Holmes.
So what are you zooming in on? I would love to hear from you. My hope is that we all share what we are doing in the classroom in order to teach, remind, affirm and inspire each other. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap!