Photograph by Caleb Kenna
Bear Irwin
Our tenth anniversary is a time to reflect on the amazing community that has grown up around the yellow house at 6 Main Street. One of our very first faculty members was Bear Irwin, a multi-hyphenate instrumentalist and educator who has been a pillar of the Middlebury Community Music Center (MCMC) community from its early days.
Bear has been a music educator in Vermont since 1970, and is an accomplished jazz performer and band leader. Bear’s path in music education began as the only public school music educator serving seven schools in northern Vermont, teaching classroom, vocal, and instrument music in grades K through 12. He remembers the early days as a teacher when he “taught every instrument…. Every wind instrument and every percussion instrument, and early on, even all the string instruments.” He caught a lucky break early on, when the school board voted to hire two more music educators. This expansion allowed Bear to specialize in instrumental music instruction, which eventually led him to MCMC.
Reflecting on his path in music, Bear says that “it was by Sadie's invitation to join [MCMC], and that has made all the difference” in his career as an educator, and in the growth of MCMC. In those early days of the Center, most of the students were either taking piano lessons or voice lessons. Bear brought an expertise that expanded the range of offerings of the center not only to different instruments, but also to ensemble-focused classes, jazz, and improvisation.
For Bear, the goal of his teaching is to make a deeper impact in the lives of his students. He shares in the belief of MCMC that “our objective as music educators… is helping people to involve the arts in their lives as they become adults.”
An integral part of MCMC since the early days, Bear has seen the center change and grow in a number of exciting ways. He has witnessed the dramatic increase in staff and administrative support, all while prioritizing the student experience. “We have really wonderful faculty here now. And I think we provide great educational opportunities for students in every area of music, every aspect of music.”
These opportunities have proven to be life changing for some of Bear’s students. He has seen students accepted into conservatory programs and pursue a professional career in the arts. He believes that “all of the students who go through [MCMC] are very successful in finding a way to include music in their lives as they mature into adulthood.” However, he also has noticed how the presence of MCMC has changed not only individual lives, but the community as well. MCMC, for Bear, is engaged in a project of “extending the arts out into the community, expanding the opportunities that are available” for all members of the community to be transformed by the arts.
This collective transformation is inherent to the art of music, according to Bear. “Music and drama involve that collegiality… We like to make music with others and for others.” In this way, music is oriented differently than other types of artistic expression. And for Bear, the art and practice of performance is a way of making connections and giving back to the community.
With MCMC approaching a decade of serving the community, Bear can see the challenges that lie ahead for the organization. “We’re expanding our educational opportunities,” he says, and to meet that need MCMC will have to provide “the facilities [to] meet and match the curriculum, the faculty, and the participants.” One solution that MCMC has found to this has been to foster relationships with community partners that provide additional spaces for performance and programs.
However, Bear still finds something musical and exciting about hosting lessons in the original building, symbolized by the cacophony of sounds emanating from the house on Main Street during peak hours of lessons and events. “When you hear that sound of every room… engaged in the activity of music and music education, it’s a very real indicator of the success” and growing community.
Bear’s vision of the solution to this challenge reflects his journey from a solo music educator in Northern Vermont to his indispensable role in the MCMC community today. For Bear, everything comes back to the “ensemble.” Learning to listen to your environment and respond to the musical expressions of others with your own creative gesture is a practice that extends far beyond a lesson or afterschool group. MCMC’s ensemble cast of talented teachers and motivated students will see it through its many transitions for years to come.
In celebrating ten years of MCMC, Bear knows that there is “lots to be proud of there.” Bear credits the founding vision and leadership of Sadie Brightman as promoting the tight-knit relationship between the center and the surrounding community. This unique collegiality and sustained outreach builds relationships that have not only lasted a decade, but continue to deepen and expand out to new horizons.
Driving home after lessons, Bear takes a moment to reflect on the motivation of his students and the “joyous” environment that musical connection generates. MCMC and Bear know that motivation can be infectious, and that music builds and sustains community precisely through joy.
