It deeply touches me — and I’m sure many, many of Arlene’s other students — to see the outpouring of memory after her passing. Her kindness, insight, and devotion to her students was immense. I know I carry many of her lessons with me as part of who I am — everything from candid, technical discussions of how she was teaching us musicianship skills, to the way her presence and compassion could transfigure dry, demanding, sometimes embarrassing work into a gift, to regularly alerting her classes to the wonders (and ridiculousness) of the Karl-Birger Blomdahl space opera Aniara. I miss her; but I miss her precisely because, in a hundred unexpected places, I can still find the parts of myself that she shaped.
Yours,
Devon Carter
Class of 2019