“Welcome back!” said President David Stull, welcoming students, faculty, and staff to a new school year at the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall on September 22, 2021. As the community enters a new academic year, he invited students to work hard and play well. He also challenged them to help build a better environment for all inside and outside the classroom, saying, “When we talk about inclusion, we are a global community. “Every one one of us has a story to tell, and our job first and foremost is to listen to that story.”

In helping create a better atmosphere for musicians to learn and grow in their craft, Stull gave students advice:, “As musicians, the better you are as a listener, the better you will be as a human being, and the better you are as an artist. You can only play as well as you can listen.”

SFCM also welcomed guest speaker Charles Chip Mc Neal -- a diversity specialist, civic leader and activist who focuses on arts educational equity, social justice, and cultural competency -- to speak at the convocation. 

Mc Neal commended students on how, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, racial unrest and climate change, they are here to get an education in music and begin their careers. “As you set your sights on these lofty goals, I want you to remember what it means to take care of ourselves, to be patient with ourselves, and to create a community that takes care of each other,” Mc Neal said. Mc Neal left the SFCM community with a special message of helping create a new world of music education. “We are at a place where we can reimagine what a nurturing, loving, rigorous, challenging, classical musical environment can be,” he said.

The program also included a special performance by a Roots, Jazz and American Music ensemble of talented students performing “How High The Moon” by Morgan Lewis with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton. 

Among the awards and scholarships given out, Dean and Chief Academic Officer Jonas Wright awarded Alaska Coombes ‘22 with the Presser Undergraduate Scholarship and President Stull presented Associate Director and Chair of Opera and Musical Theatre Heather Matthews with the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching.