I graduated in the class of 2016, I was in the applied music program keyboard division for 5 years and Arlene Cole was my piano teacher for all of them.
Arlene was maybe the first teacher I’ve had who genuinely put expression, emotions and interpretation above technique. She was always pushing me to dig deeper in myself to be vulnerable when performing; she could see when I was hiding behind safe or robotic interpretations of the music. She cared about my personal life and often asked about what was going on in it, and encouraged me to channel that into the music. She always made me laugh, and she made the music department feel like a home and like family. She was constantly introducing me to new and interesting music, including that of the composer Messiaen, whose solo piano works I performed at several of my recitals with her supervision. She genuinely cared about my happiness and creative fulfillment and I will miss her very much.
Sincerely,
James Stomber
