The Value of Music Beyond Mastery with Rose Whitcomb and Isaac Alter

Music director Isaac Alter and music educator Rose Whitcomb give insight to how the pandemic halted the theatre world and further stunted the existing struggle of student access to arts education. They discuss the varied ways our society can appreciate music and how citizen-artists can shape the next generation’s experience of the performing arts. Isaac is a freelance pianist and conductor in New York. He has performed for Frozen, Dear Evan Hansen, King Kong, Wicked, and Moulin Rouge on Broadway, and served on the development teams for Waitress, The Great Comet of 1812, and Frozen. He also has worked on many workshops and readings for new musicals. Since the pandemic began, he has worked as a research associate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Rose is a musician and educator in the greater Boston area. She has taught general music in Everett Public Schools for 3 years, currently working at two different schools for grades K-12. She also teaches enrichment piano classes at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School in Cambridge, MA. Rose graduated with a Master’s in Music Education from Boston University this spring. This podcast is presented in partnership with the Office for the Arts at Harvard and the Harvard Alumni Association. Learn more at 16artists.com This episode was co-edited by Jenny M Ng.