I’m Shayna, and I was a music concentrator who graduated in 2020. I was heartbroken to see the recent post about Arlene’s passing and I wanted to add my experience to what I’m sure are a mountain of tributes and stories.
I took three of Arlene’s courses during my time at Brown – the keyboard component of 560 my freshmen spring, then the two-part Advanced Musicianship course, 1010 and 1011 over my sophomore year of 2017-2018. I remember this very fondly because it was easily one of my favorite classes at Brown. 1010 and 1011 were challenging courses, meeting three times a week for half a credit, but I always looked forward to them because I always had so much fun in them. We were consistently puzzled over atonality for a whole year, but that bewilderment soon became exciting because Arlene knew how to ensure that we were always learning from each other and laughing with each other. She was exceptionally gifted at building community, and some of the people from those classes are my best friends till this day.
She knew each of us deeply and well. She could always tell when we were doing well, or when we could be doing better. I remember sending her the ever-apologetic “I’m so sorry I can’t come to class today; I’ve been in tech for my show all week and have not slept and have fallen sick” email at least twice (definitely more than once), before submitting her assignments late. She always understood. She would then come to my shows to support me.
I didn’t think I was going to concentrate in Music when I came into Brown my freshmen fall. During the spring, I made a snap decision to see if I could place into a music class (having not taken the required course in the fall), and Arlene was one of the professors who had to evaluate me to see if it would work. I felt that she had championed me from the first day, and till now I believe that trying to place in this course and eventually taking up Music as a second concentration was one of the best decisions I had ever made. Due to her guidance, and the guidance of the rest of the professors I was lucky to have been taught by – Mark Steinbach, Dana Gooley, Wang Lu, Nancy Rosenberg, among them all – I have nothing but love and gratitude for the Brown University Music Department. The people there have shaped and uplifted me throughout my college years and far beyond.
Lastly, Arlene always made us take group photos of our classes which she always kept up on the corkboard outside her office. I have moved too many times in the past few years and regrettably misplaced it, but I know exactly what it looks like. If someone else has sent the photo in, I would truly love it if a copy could be forwarded to me – thank you in advance.
I’ll be watching the livestream of the Celebration at the end of this month. Please convey my best wishes to the whole department.
All my best,
Shayna Toh
Class of 2020