Guadalupe Ramirez’s Experience with the Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra

I was surprised to receive an acceptance email from Equity Arc this past winter, congratulating me on my acceptance into the Pathways Orchestra. This was my third year auditioning, proving that my hard work and growth finally paid off.

I was mostly excited but slightly nervous to attend the Equity Arc Festival and Convening, as I knew this opportunity meant a big deal. This organization trains successful professional musicians, collaborates with well-renowned faculty, and highlights values that I firmly believe in.

As I prepared for the festival, I expected to be rehearsing most of the time, as this convening was very important, while also participating in typical collaborative peer activities to foster better participant collaboration. However, I gained so much more out of this experience than I expected, and well-beyond just the instrument.

First of all, I cannot reflect on the wonderful experience I had without thanking the CMPI team. Their effective communication, financial support, and personal accommodations further elevated my festival experience.

Additionally, The Equity Arc team did a fantastic job in making every participant, staff member, faculty member, and chaperone feel truly seen, which aligns with the organization’s core value of equity. This was shown from providing comfortable upscale hotel accommodations and food services, to having the team remember everybody’s name. In my personal experience of participating in other music festivals, I never felt seen as an individual; I was just seen as a part of the program or ensemble.

The most memorable experience I had during the festival further affirmed my belonging, not only in this space, but in other spaces to be seen as an individual. This occurred during the faculty discussion panel in which we got to hear the personal experiences of the faculty during their careers while providing us with advice. The interactions between the faculty and the answers provided by this panel were truly authentic and genuine. A considerable amount of the advice went beyond just music-making; it included the need of interpersonal skills in order to be successful in the field, how to set goals in different aspects of our lives, and how to grow through setbacks, challenges, and burnout. This experience was significant to me because in my current musical journey, I’m in this ‘in-between’ of continuing to study and progress at the instrument while beginning to branch out to professional opportunities.

Also, the answers and advice from the harp faculty member, Yolanda Kondonassis, stood out to me for various reasons. Her personal experiences and various life changes were very similar to what I’m currently experiencing. Yolanda touched on topics regarding losing passion and how to navigate that challenge, becoming a well-rounded academic and individual who is not just a musician, and the importance in finding meaning in various aspects of our lives. Her story was so profound that I went up to her afterwards, thanked her for the insight she provided, and shared what I was going through. She affirmed to me that feeling seen as a human/young individual is often glossed over in this rigorous field, emphasizing that progress is not linear, and validated that losing motivation or passion is real.

Throughout my time during the festival, I learned how to better interact with students of various age ranges, unique backgrounds, and different cultures. This was important to me because at my predominately white institution (especially the music school), students are similar in age to me or older, and the majority of those relationships are professional or cordial. The only time I get to work with younger musicians is through my job, but there’s a concrete dynamic between teacher and student roles. The current CMPI fellows are some of the most  talented, passionate, and intelligent young musicians I got the privilege to not only work with, but to create personal connections with. It can’t go unsaid that I also got a clearer and closer look into CMPI’s current operation from when I was in the program.

This experience ignited a clearer spark in the arts administration career I plan on pursuing after I finish my education. I hope to continue maintaining and building a closer connection with Equity Arc and CMPI to help make this dream possible for me.