Making Beautiful Music

Anne Glazer Cohen ’07 is the founding director of music at Washington Heights and Inwood Music Community Charter School. The music-based elementary school in New York City is founded on the principles of El Sistema, a free program in classical music for young children from lower-income backgrounds. For 13 years the Bucknell music major has worked in urban music education, teacher development and school leadership.

1. How did Bucknell shape your career?

I entered Bucknell with a fairly straightforward career path in mind: I wanted to be a band director. Bucknell not only trained me to be an effective music educator but gave me the toolkit that allowed my career to grow beyond the walls of a classroom.

2. What class opened your eyes the most?

Music Theory 3 and 4 with Professor Barry Hannigan changed the way I listen to music.

3. If you could go back to college, what would you do differently?

I would have reined in my impulse to join every club and extracurricular activity that sounded like fun (and there were many) and spent more time in the practice rooms.

4. What fun moment at Bucknell is the most memorable for you?

Traveling with the Bison Pep Band to the 2006 NCAA Tournament in Dallas. Turns out, it’s impossible to overdo it with orange and blue face paint.

5. What lesson did you learn at Bucknell that you still carry with you?

Seek out people who are smarter than you. Learn from them.