Where to begin? From the first moment I met Arlene in Music 40, as I believe it was known during my first year at Brown, I was immediately drawn in by her enchanting combination of humor, warmth, irreverence, and incredible musicianship. She had a way of inspiring you to work hard and become your best self that helped you feel both pushed out of your comfort zone and deeply confident in and excited by your potential. From that first week of my time at Brown, there was truly never a moment that I wasn’t studying under Arlene’s tutelage, either in those intro music theory courses, in advanced musicianship, or taking piano lessons with her through the Applied Music Program.
During my last year, Arlene asked if I wanted to do a senior recital, and I told her I was interested, but not sure if I wanted to perform classical piano or a selection of the musical theater pieces I’d written during my years at Brown, during which theater had become, in many ways, my main pursuit. ‘Do both,’ Arlene said instantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She helped me put on what may have been Brown’s first-ever recital featuring Beethoven, Rochberg and a college undergraduate’s original music and lyrics all in one program. But that was Arlene’s genius: she saw people for who they are in all their complex potential, she never made them fit into boxes, and she didn’t mind thinking creatively about how to help her students grow and express their true selves. She is a touchstone of my time at Brown, and I will forever be grateful to have been taught and—dare I say—befriended by such a brilliant woman.
