Jenelle Magbutay

Assignment 1: Reflection

For this essay, I will write about Dr. Joseph Svendsen, who is the choral director of the

Concert Singers here at UNLV. He is personally my favorite choral director ever had the

pleasure of working under. I admire and appreciate his utter passion to his craft. You can tell by

the way he talks about music and how much detail he puts into interpreting it that he lives and

breathes music. He is also a very compassionate person. His ability to convey his dedication to

music in the way he conducts the ensembles here on campus are very admirable. I enjoy how he

is very historically-sensitive and strives to perform pieces not usually performed in order to teach

both the students and the audiences about how music evolved into how it is to day. He is very

detail-oriented, paying attention to every detail both musically and poetically, and that is

definitely something that I want to be able to convey and incorporate in my educational career.

He knows how to command the ensemble and instruct us not only how to do things correctly, but

supplying a concrete reason as to why doing it correctly will benefit us in the long run. He is

stern when he needs to be, but with the intent of making truly beautiful music that honors its

composer accurately.

Not only did he try his best to connect to the ensemble to him and to each other, he

connected with us on a personal level. He is very professional in his work, but he also is light-

hearted and a joy to be around. You can tell that he really cares about his students. I enjoy the

wholesome team-building activities he encourages and the chats I’ve had with him before and

after rehearsal. Many of them have made me reevaluate myself and take a hold of my life again.

One moment in particular stands out to me. During choir retreat (which is ideally held every
semester), Dr. Svendsen shared his methods of staying organized, which was holding a notebook

with him at all times and writing everything down. I have incorporated this into my every day

life and my organization skills have improved drastically. He is not only a director, but a mentor

in music education and generally sorting life out in college. When I think of myself as a music

educator, I definitely see myself as emulating him the most. I want to be able to teach my pupils

how to properly convey the music with intent, being historically, culturally sensitive to both the

piece and its composer, and I also want to help students realize how music can help guide them

through what many people consider is the most confusing time in their lives. I’ve always loved

giving advice to people, and I relate to Dr. Svendsen in a way that he is wise beyond his years.

He is notably very young in his career field (and the fact that he got his doctorate so soon is

amazing!), and I admire the diligence and hard work it must have taken to achieve that. I know

that at this age, I’m still figuring out what I would like to do, but the fact that he knew what he

wanted to do right away and he achieved it is very inspiring. It seems that special advantage of

him being younger is that he is much more in tune with the culture of today. I find that it is much

more easier to relate to him than my previous directors as well. I want to be able to relate as

much as possible not only with the students but make them realize how similar they are to each

other as well. The wonderful thing about music education is that music really is a universal

language, and just by knowing and being familiar with that language, you can surpass

communication through any language barrier just by creating. I want to be able to share that

knowledge with my students, and I will definitely be emulating Dr. Svendsen when I eventually

do that in my own classroom.