Community benefits from FA’s music programs

Suppose you’re a young, aspiring musician living in Piscataquis County. Or a young musician whose family is relocating to Piscataquis County. What kind of music scene will you find there?

Or, imagine a mature, skilled instrumentalist who would very much like to live and work in rural Maine, wondering if there are enough people interested in music that she can supplement her income teaching, say, guitar lessons,

With those thoughts in mind, I searched online using “music,” “teacher,” and “Piscataquis” as keywords, thinking I might find some local music teachers to talk to. Instead, I found the music program blog for Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft. Foxcroft Academy — FA for short — is an independent day and boarding school serving approximately 460 students from both Maine and the world abroad.

“We have a really wide array of options for the kids,” FA music director Joshua Guthrie told me this week. I should say so! Jazz Band, Choir, Pep Band, Strings & Orchestra, Alumni Jazz Band, Guitar, and Rock Band are just some of the courses shown on the FA music blog. (https://foxcroftacademymusic.org)

”We’re lucky,” Guthrie said. “We have a really supportive Administration. Pretty much, if we have an idea, or kids have an interest, and I go [to Administration] and ask, ‘Can we do this?’ They always say, ‘Yeah. Do it.’ There’s just a tremendous amount of support within Foxcroft Academy for the arts.

“We are also the beneficiaries of a strong boarding program, which helps to fund all of these electives we offer. So, our day students — the students who live here in town, or in the area — get to have offerings we just couldn’t afford if we had to rely on State funding,” said Guthrie, noting, “this is the first year we’ve had two full-time music instructors.”

I find it encouraging that FA is very much involved with its neighbors. The Alumni Jazz Band is made up of former FA students and college professors. For other music courses, says Guthrie, “We’re lucky we have some local people who are willing to be adjunct faculty here, helping to promote the arts, and help kids get better.”

About 200 FA students take part in music programs. They are required to participate in arts courses, but not necessarily music. FA also offers film, theater, and visual arts.

And at FA, high school students are learning about the real modern world of professional music.

For example, “Kids ask me how they can be a record producer. I tell them [today]’s a different world. You can become a record producer for very little money. You can set up a recording system on a computer, and put out a recording that’s pretty good,” Guthrie said.

“[Music] distribution used to be the problem. You needed a record label to distribute your music and make sure people heard it. Nowadays, your distributor is YouTube and iTunes. Both of those are free,” Guthrie tells students.

“I’ve heard some people think FA is an uppity school,” Guthrie said in answer to my question. “It’s the farthest thing from it. There’s really no snobbery around here. Everybody’s here just to do their best for the kids.”

Mr. Guthrie is well aware of the role more jobs, broadband internet, and introducing local kids to music has on FA’s success. “The future of the music industry is changing and these kids are right at that perfect time to take advantage of that,” he said.

More on how Foxcroft Academy is accomplishing that in a future column.

Scott K. Fish has served as a communications staffer for Maine Senate and House Republican caucuses, and was communications director for Senate President Kevin Raye. He founded and edited AsMaineGoes.com and served as director of communications/public relations for Maine’s Department of Corrections until 2015. He is now using his communications skills to serve clients in the private sector.