Private music lessons for students have been suspended for fall 2025. Instructors received news of the suspension in July, and students were notified in August. The main reason provided was that the position of director of applied music — responsible for overseeing and organizing the lessons — was left vacant.
The initial announcement came in an Aug. 15 email by Kwasi Ampene, chair of the music department, stating that the reason for the cancellation stemmed from the administration’s withdrawal of funding for the director position. The email was recalled later the same day and replaced with an update citing a “continued staffing vacancy” as the reason for the suspension.
“It remains a mystery why, after very frequent dialogue over the summer with the Music Department Chair, faculty and staff who expressed to the Senior Director of Administration’s office that we needed timely permission to search for a professional musician and administrator to take on the components of the [director of applied music] position … the result was: nothing,” Music Professor John McDonald wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to Bárbara Brizuela, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.
While details about implementing the program’s return have not yet been released, both the music department and the administration stated that they remain committed to resuming private lessons in the spring. Ampene confirmed that a search committee is now being formed to fill the director role.
Students expressed frustration at the abrupt change.
“I was definitely blindsided by it,” sophomore Sara Levenson, a double major in music and clinical psychology, said. “It was very short notice, especially when I’ve spent this whole summer preparing pieces to play with my teacher and get feedback on.”
The timing also left instructors scrambling to make up for lost income this fall.
“Teaching at Tufts is my primary source of income. It has been for many years,” Jerry Bussiere, a guitar and ukulele instructor, said. “I’m suddenly placed in the position of, until I can start earning again … how am I going to pay rent and other living expenses, which are quite expensive for me?”
While students can pursue lessons independently, off-campus instruction presents challenges. Campus facilities cannot be used due to liability concerns, creating obstacles with transportation and practice space. Out of roughly 25 students he typically teaches, Bussiere has been contacted by only three to continue lessons privately. Of these three, only one has managed to navigate the logistical challenges and attend a lesson at Bussiere’s home.
“Most students who want course credit are probably not going to take lessons if they can’t get credit,” Bussiere added.
The department has struggled to cover the duties of the director role since the abrupt retirement last year of Edith Auner, who had served as director of applied music and director of outreach activities. While the department managed temporarily last spring, the arrangement quickly proved unsustainable.
“The burden fell on the department administrator, who we just hired in November.” Ampene said. “He had to step up way over and above his duty, and the staff assistant had to step up over and above his duty to cover all the job descriptions.”
According to Department Administrator Christopher Stetson Wilson, he and the staff assistant faced challenges last spring when taking on the coordinator’s duties while maintaining their own.
“The position touches literally hundreds of individuals and families, and all those people need attention and help,” Wilson said. “My role and the staff assistant’s role are already busy enough supporting a mid-size academic department. We simply don’t have extra time to commit to an extra job.”
In his letter to Brizuela, MacDonald criticized the suspension of private lessons for the semester.
“What our private teachers do here is interconnected with our research goals and ultimately cannot be separated from the overall educational dynamic that characterizes our departmental contributions to the vibrancy of university life,” MacDonald wrote. “In my three and a half decades here, I have not seen a problem that compromised our departmental mission to both the university and its host communities as detrimentally as this decision.”
