Elizabeth Valle, director of the Conservatory Academy at UMKC, joins Maurice Waston on “The Pinnacle Pod.” From a young age, Elizabeth’s passion for music, ignited by the beauty of the harp, propelled her towards a career dedicated to nurturing aspiring musicians. Elizabeth’s commitment to providing access to music education through programs like Conservatory Bridges is not only transforming the lives of students but also opening doors to fulfilling development and careers in the arts. Tune in for a conversation about the power of music to inspire, uplift, and reshape individuals and communities alike.

Transcript

Maurice Watson:

I am Maurice Watson, and this is “The Pinnacle Pod”, a monthly podcast where we dive into the stories behind Kansas City’s most dynamic emerging leaders. Each episode celebrates the spirit of The Pinnacle Prize, an award that recognizes young visionaries sparking positive change in our community, from subtle ripples to citywide movements. Join us to listen, learn, and be inspired.

Today our guest is Elizabeth Valle, the director of the Conservatory Academy of Music at the University of Kansas City, Missouri. Elizabeth holds a BA with an emphasis in Harp pedagogy from MidAmerica Nazarene University and a Master of Arts degree from the UMKC Conservatory. During graduate school, she was the principal harpist for the UMKC orchestra, as well as the featured harpist for the Midwest Chamber Ensemble. Elizabeth has been performing and teaching music to students in the Kansas City area for 14 years and is active in many of the local music associations. Elizabeth has held the position of director of the UMKC Conservatory Academy since 2016. In her role, she coordinates the Conservatory’s non-credit lessons and classes, festivals, workshops, summer camps, and Conservatory Bridges. The Conservatory Bridges program provides exceptional young performing arts students with intensive one-on-one instruction and performance experience necessary to prepare them for auditions into selective university programs.

While quality performing arts education can take place through ensemble instruction at the pre-collegiate level, the ability to reach the highest levels of artistry and music almost always depends on individual nurturing. Through one-on-one lessons beginning at an early age by focusing on underrepresented populations, Conservatory Bridges aims to give students with great artistic potential the opportunity to succeed in the performing arts.

Slightly divergent from other guests on The Pinnacle Pod. We’re excited to have Elizabeth here and to dive into the humanities and how they can inspire people and impact the communities in which we live. Thank you for joining us, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Valle:

Thank you for having me.

Maurice Watson:

Elizabeth, tell us a little bit about your story. You didn’t just become director of the Conservatory Academy of Music at UMKC. What’s your origin story?

Elizabeth Valle:

My origin story, well, going back, I’ve actually lived in Kansas City since I was four, so pretty rooted <laugh> in the community. Like you said in my bio, I went to Mid-American Nazarene, which is right over in Olathe. And then I went to the Conservatory here in Kansas City and I got the position of the director of the Conservatory’s Academy right after finishing my graduate classes. It was really one of those situations of being in the right place at the right time. They were actually considering closing all the programs down and I got hired in as a temp to just answer the phones. And then we got a new dean who decided to revamp the whole program. So, I got to be involved in kind of just re-envisioning everything over there from the, from the beginning.

Maurice Watson:

Elizabeth, there aren’t many harpists. Tell us how you began as a harpist. How’d you choose that as your instrument of choice?

Elizabeth Valle:

Yeah. When I was, I think nine years old, I was in a local children’s choir and we were rehearsing at a church and during the rehearsal this young woman wheeled up this gorgeous pedal harp with like hand carved roses on it. And as she was setting up, I, in the middle of singing, walked off stage, walked over to my mom and said, I don’t wanna sing, I wanna do that. And it took like a year, because it was the mid-nineties to find <laugh>, a harp teacher. Because there weren’t any in the yellow pages at the time. But eventually we found one and the rest is history. Here I am <laugh>.

Maurice Watson:

Tell us a little bit about your experience at the Conservatory. You started there in graduate school,

Elizabeth Valle:

Correct? Yes. So, I did my graduate work there 2013, 2014, 2015 and then 2016 got this position over at the Conservatory Academy. So, at this point I’ve been, if you count my school plus work, I’ve been over there for 10 years.

Maurice Watson:

So, in your role at the Conservatory, what do your responsibilities include?

Elizabeth Valle:

So, the Conservatory Academy is just kind of like our umbrella term for our continuing education department. So, we host all programs for the Conservatory that are one non-credit. So that includes all of those private lessons and group classes that are mainly for community members that want to study for fun at the university. We also host the continuing ed credit, which is like special courses in the summer for local music directors to kind of keep getting areas of specialty. And then we also run all of the events or any programs that really involve having children on campus or involved with children. And then we host a lot of just events in general. Like if a symposium is being hosted at the Conservatory or a conference is being hosted, we often help with that. And I am the director of all that. So, I manage the staff and the teachers and all of the volunteers.

Maurice Watson:

How many community members do you currently serve?

Elizabeth Valle:

We have two programs that go all year round. So, the private lessons and classes, and that’s close to 300 people, mostly kids. And then the Bridges program is around 80 people, so that’s all-year round. But if you count all of the events that we do all year, then we start going into the low thousands.

Maurice Watson:

Wonderful. So, this was the 27th anniversary of Crescendo, UMKC’s annual fundraiser. Talk to us about that event and the impact it has on your program.

Elizabeth Valle:

So Crescendo, first of all, if you’ve never been – absolutely should go. It is amazing. Back when I was a student, it was the highlight of the year getting to perform at Kauffman <laugh> for this huge showpiece of the entire Conservatory. And now working there, it’s probably also one of the highlights of the year, getting to watch it. But Crescendo is basically just a, a giant showcase where all the areas of the Conservatory get to perform, completely featuring students. So, if you go, you really get a snapshot of what we do every day and how incredibly talented our students and faculty are. And what the concert does is it raises funds that are then used as scholarship money to help support those students during their academic career.

Maurice Watson:

Focusing on underrepresented groups within our community, Conservatory Bridges aims to give students with musical potential the opportunity to succeed in the performing arts. Who does this program support and how does it affect students lives and futures in the industry?

Elizabeth Valle:

So, Bridges, like you said, it’s, it’s aimed to help the kids in the underrepresented population. So, for the most part, we work with the public schools that are in the Kansas City area specifically. And the students who go to those schools are nominated by their ensemble director or dance teacher or theater teacher. And we have 60 spots for private lessons every year that the kids audition for. And once they get in, they get to stay in until they graduate high school. So, it is helping the kids that are in some of these schools that don’t have the resources to provide those things. And families who do not have the resources to provide, you know, extensive professional level training, hiring a professional pianist, we cover all their music, we help make sure that they get an instrument if they don’t already have one from school. And the whole point is that we’re trying to bridge the gap between these students that have the drive, have the passion, but don’t have the means to reach those goals on their own. And we get them linked with our teachers who are amazing artists in all of Kansas City. And over the next four to six years, we give them every advantage they could possibly get so that when they go to college and audition, they can compete with those kids that went to those schools with all of the resources, with the families, with all the resources, and try to even out that playing field. And when our kids do go off to college, they’ve been very, very competitive. We have several students currently at the Conservatory. We had one student go on to Julliard, we had a student go on to Columbia and New York City. I mean the kids, it’s working, the kids are <laugh>, they’re getting that level of training that they need to not just get into these schools, but be competitive at those schools.

Maurice Watson:

Wow, that’s exciting. So, how do you feel music inspires or even transforms a community and what role does it play in the Kansas City community in particular?

Elizabeth Valle:

Well, I think as a general rule, music and the arts have historically just been a way for people to express themselves, their emotions, their feelings, what’s happened in their lives. And it, it gives a lot of people a way to voice their inner selves that maybe they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. And personally, I feel like that each generation then making sure that each generation has access to the arts and being able to express themselves in that way. Really not only, you know, helps those kids individually, but I feel like it helps bring the community together in a way that isn’t possible in a lot of other mediums. <laugh>.

Maurice Watson:

So, Elizabeth, what’s next for you?

Elizabeth Valle:

You know, pretty boring. Just a lot of the same old, same old. I have no intention of leaving this job anytime soon. I am super fortunate. I know a lot of people can say this, but I really genuinely love my job. <laugh>. I think the biggest things is that we have a new dean, new-ish dean that started last year and he’s got some really exciting, great energy, particularly excited and pushing for us to be more immersed in the community; more programs, more outreach. And so, he’s added a lot of incentives and different things to the academy sphere, part of the Conservatory, and in the best way possible. Very exciting projects I think will be coming in the next couple of years.

Maurice Watson:

So, Elizabeth, how can people find out more about your program?

Elizabeth Valle:

Pretty simple. If they just wanna go to the Conservatory’s website, which is conservatory.umkc.edu, there’s a tab in the menu for community programs and everything under there are the programs that we run over at the academy, including the Bridges program.

Maurice Watson:

Great. Thank you. Thanks for listening. And be sure to sign up for our newsletter@pinnacleprizekc.org to continue to listen, learn and be inspired by dynamic emerging leaders in our community.

Hosted By Maurice Watson

Maurice is a recognized community leader and has more than thirty years of experience working in law, social and public policy and board governance as a lawyer, advisor, and board member. He is the co-founder and principal of Credo Philanthropy Advisors.