The graduate Collaborative Piano program at the University of Maine will be cut, according to an article in the Maine Campus. The downsizing is part of a university-wide belt-tightening. Also on the chopping block are graduate programs in conducting and Women's Studies, as well as numerous undergraduate programs, subject to the approval of the University of Maine board of trustees.
What the article doesn't mention is that, after the current students in the collaborative piano program graduate, the music students left in the program may need to fork over a lot more money to pay for local freelance pianists to play for their lessons, rehearsals, recitals, and juries. Unfortunate indeed.
What's even more serious, not just for the collaborative piano students, but for all the students who will graduate from programs facing elimination, is the question of just what an eliminated degree will be worth in an already tight job market.
