July 1, 2010

To the President and Trustees of Longy School of Music:

I am writing to you about the recent changes to the Longy faculty.  I have been a private student of Lois Shapiro’s for over two years now.  I had applied for admission to Longy’s MM program in piano performance this fall but withdrew my application when she was asked to leave.  I was quite disappointed when she was let go.  I wish to explain why in the hope that you might reconsider this decision.

I was attracted to Longy for its integrative approach to music education.  My BA is in music and philosophy, and I am in the process of completing an MA in philosophy (both from Boston College).  Since 2007 I have been teaching several students from elementary to high-school age, and my goal is to perform and teach piano at a more advanced level.  I was particularly drawn to Longy’s inclusion of the Dalcroze method.  At the prompting of Ms. Shapiro, I participated in the week-long Dalcroze summer seminar last year and was intrigued by what seemed like an incredibly well-rounded approach to music education.  I felt that an education at Longy would prepare me to teach as well as to perform.  

It was with the intention of continuing my studies with Ms. Shapiro that I had applied to Longy.  In fact, I was so confident that she was the only teacher for me that I had not applied to any other schools.  I am now preparing applications to several other schools for the academic year 2011-2012, but Longy would still be my dream school if I could study with Ms. Shapiro there.  She has been in large part my inspiration for seeking this career path.  She has taught me more than I could have thought possible, and continues to amaze me at every one of our lessons.  As a teacher she is patient, caring, encouraging, and inspiring.  She approaches music with so much intelligence—I am constantly in awe of her breadth of knowledge and insight.  She is also an extraordinary pianist.  Her performances always leave me in awe of her expressivity, imagination, and colorful touch.  She continually introduces me to new possibilities of expression at the piano. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have found this rare combination: a wonderful performer who is equally gifted as a teacher.

I write this in the hope that you might consider taking her back on the faculty if at all possible. I am sure that I am not the only student on whom she has had such an effect. In fact, another student of hers, Noriko Sho, was only kept from writing a similar letter due to a language barrier. She asked me if she could sign this one and joins me in all of my praises of Ms. Shapiro’s teaching and playing.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.  I hope you’ll reconsider and would be happy to do anything that might help further this cause.

Yours,

Tina DiMonda                                                                        Noriko Sho