Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

New director named for school of music and dance

Cutietta plans to improve student participation

Robert Cutietta picked up the accordion in third grade and has been playing music ever since. In sixth grade it was the bass guitar, by seventh he was playing school dances, and high school was consumed with choir and bands.

"I started out in rock bands, and all through high school I was so involved in choir and bands that when I graduated I had spent so much time with music that it just seemed like a natural career path," he said. "The question was whether I could make a living at it."

Decades after fumbling with that accordion, Cutietta finds himself heading one of the largest schools of music and dance in the nation.

Two weeks ago, Cutietta was appointed as the permanent director of the University of Arizona School of Music and Dance. He was a professor of music with the UA for three years, then served as assistant director for two years, and has been the acting director for the past year while a nationwide search for a new director was conducted.

Cutietta said he is looking forward to raising the bar for students applying to the college and challenging students already enrolled.

"My goals for the school revolve around attracting the best student musicians," he said. "Nobody knows the future, but the only thing I'm sure of is that people will always be making music. We need to put the school in a position where it will be a leader in the field of music."

Cutietta said he also wants to increase student awareness and participation with the music and dance departments.

"People should come and see us, even for cheap dates if nothing else. I wish people knew more about us. We have one of the largest schools in the nation. We do some spectacular things but the students just don't know about it," he said

Cutietta received the Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Arts and Architecture on April 7 at his alma mater, Pennsylvania State University. He lectured undergraduate and graduate students, gave a brief acceptance speech, and had a dinner honoring him and four other recipients of alumni awards from other colleges.

The award was in recognition of Cutietta's contributions in the field of music education. In addition to years of teaching, he has written numerous articles and authored several books, including Discovering Me, Encountering Music, and Raising Musical Kids, which will be released later this year.

Cutietta grew up in Ohio and went to Cleveland State for his undergraduate and graduate degrees, and Penn State for his doctorate. He taught middle and high school music classes and choir until 1978 when became a professor at Kent State University and later at Montana State University. He has been with UA since 1994.

Cutietta has been surrounded with music his whole life. His parents listened to bands like The Platters and crooners such as Frank Sinatra, but it was when the Beatles hit America that his interest shifted to playing rock.

The tradition has carried on with his own family. Cutietta's wife was a singer and dancer, his oldest son, 19, plays the banjo and drums, his 16-year-old daughter is involved in musical theater, and his 14-year-old daughter is on tour singing and dancing around the nation.

Cutietta tried to apply some of his experiences raising children to his recent books.

"I wrote Raising Musical Kids from three perspectives - as a teacher, a parent, and a researcher. If you are surrounded by music your whole life then plucking strings and pressing keys can come later," he said. "The key is to surround them with as much music as possible."

He also warns against using music to improve a child's ability to learn, which he says is based on unsubstantiated evidence.

"Any person who says, 'You should learn music because it will bring your math scores up' is an idiot," Cutietta said. "Whether music causes that is inconclusive. Just enjoy music for music."

He has played in a local country band called Raven for five years. He said the band isn't out for fame or recognition, but just because the members like to play. The band is comprised of four other members, including an employee with the UA Health Services and three IBM programmers.

Music professor Nicholas Zumbro said higher standards and more awareness of the programs put on by the school are essential in creating better departments.

"I'd like to see higher standards for admission, more student participation and appreciation for the level of talent here, more outreach into the community and faculty appreciation," he said.