Future Singer: Anthony Baron

Anthony Baron is doing big things over at Westminster. Double Major in Piano and Voice Performance, Westminster SGA President, active member of the Westminster Academic Policy Committee—it’s a long, long list people. We’re just happy he took out some time to talk to us. 

What is the most rewarding part of being involved on campus? 
Being involved on the Westminster Campus allows for me to help raise student concerns and also help prevent future problems.  When I was in High School we had signs in our dormitories which often said “leave this place better than you found it” and that mantra is something I have tried to live since then.  Halfway through my freshmen year I decided to join the student government because I had friends who invited me to attend a senate meeting, before then I really had no interest in joining the Student Government, it was complete peer pressure! Who encourages me are the students who I work with and who I am trying to benefit, when we work hard at planning a program, go through all that legwork, and a student from the outside, who just is attending but didn’t organize the event comes up to me or someone else and says “I really enjoyed this”, it sounds silly but those little things motivate me a lot.
 
You are the creator of the Westminster President’s Ball. What does that mean to you? 
While I would say that I was a creator of the President’s Ball, I cannot say that I was THE creator.  Over the previous year many different students on our campus, Elizabeth Stuk, Paul Hughes, Derrick Goff, Ryan LaBoy, and others had many conversations about hopes and dreams for using the recently renovated Bristol Chapel for dances.  What was exciting was getting to work with all the different consticuencies who were hoping to create this social activity and also protect the sacredness of the chapel.  We were also looking to create a way to bring the whole community, Students, Faculty, and Staff together as a formal yet fun way to start the school year.  It really was a tour de force of so many different people working together, creating what in my mind (and from what I have heard many students say to me) was one of the most fun, exciting, and elegant dances ever on the Westminster Campus.
 
The role of the President of Student Government Association is a huge role. What would you say to someone who aspires to have that position in the future?
You have to be always ready.  My biggest piece of advice to anyone is to set goals.  The biggest thing I have tried to do as SGA President is change the conversation from an SGA which responds to student concerns to an SGA which anticipates how to best serve its students. The hardest part is to always try to craft proposals that can unify as opposed to divide the community.  A lot of the time that means putting aside your own personal agenda or feelings, not your principles.  In the past we have had students in SGA at Westminster so blinded by their own personal feelings and passions they were unable to gain the broad support they needed to let an initiative or goal come to fruition.  It’s not necessarily that the idea wasn’t a good one, it’s that they didn’t know how to get buy-in from more students with their own unique perspectives. I have never viewed this job as being CEO of a company who says, “This is exactly how we’re going to do something,” but rather a leader who comes in and says, here’s what we anticipate being a better way to do things, how can we make sure that whatever change we make is better for everyone than the status quo, instead of a few.  
 
You see yourself performing and eventually teaching music. How long has this been your goal?
I have been playing the piano since I was four years old.  When you have been doing something for so long in your life its nearly impossible to imagine doing anything else, and honestly I don’t remember a time I didn’t imagine music not being a part of my life.  For me, music is so vital to our civilization.  Its funny, on the surface music is unnecessary, yet since the cavemen music has been alive.  It has a way of grounding us, reminding us of the importance of an event, help us experience any number of emotions, recall a memory.  Sometimes we musicians wonder why we go into music and not something else, “I’m smart enough to be an accountant or an engineer” is a comment you’ll frequently hear on the campus, but performing music isn’t monotonous.  At various points I had considered other paths such as becoming a lawyer, studying political science, or journalism, but ultimately I haven’t been able to shake the passion for music that I have.  I think that all music performers are music educators in a way.  Many of them end up teaching at least at some point in their career, but beyond that, I think all of us as musicians like to keep discovering new aspects of music, and teaching and allowing yourself to be reacquainted with that newness by instilling the rules in others can be very inspiring. 
 
What qualities do you possess that you think will make you a good teacher?
In regards to teaching music, I think the qualities that are most necessary are an effective communicator, an ability to understand the tension between pushing a student and letting them feel like they can accomplish their goals, and a genuine hunger to see your students improve.
I have been so fortunate to have had so many incredible instructors especially here at Westminster such as Dr. Christian Carey, Ms. Nova Thomas, Ms. Ingrid Clarfield, and so many others I don’t wish to exclude.  If I could share instead the person who so inspired me when I was younger and still is one of my mentors today,  my piano teacher from elementary school through high school, Ms. Catherine Rollin.  She really exemplifies all three of the qualities I was referring to.  She was never mean, but persistent and knew exactly what a student needed to do to improve and would push them to achieve whatever the best of their abilities was.  Her dedication to each and every one of her students was something to admire.  And beyond all of this, there was no personal ego on her part, she was a completely selfless teacher giving as much knowledge as possible to her students and going way beyond what any standard job description or requirement would say a piano teacher should do.

You are involved in many different things on campus. Do you enjoy all of them equally or do you have one in particular that you have a special passion for?
There have been so many exciting things I got to be a part of at Westminster.  Some of my fondest memories will always be from the year and a half I spent in the Westminster Student Senate as a Senator.  Many of the people who were in Senate with me at that time have become my closest and dearest friends.  I also thoroughly enjoyed my time serving as an editorial writer for the Rider News, I think that the printed word is such a vital way to allow communication, the demise of newspapers is something that I worry about a lot, at best they allow for thoughts to be articulated in a way that television simply cannot replicate.  All that being said, nothing has been more fulfilling than having the opportunity to be the SGA President, the ability to make policy by being the leader of an organization is something you cannot do any other role I have had at Westminster as effectively.
 
What has been the most rewarding moment for you at Rider? 
I think that last spring at Westminster’s Convocation was a very validating experience for me.  I had the ability to be recognized for my work as a student leader, and also was announced as the first place recipient of the piano scholarship competition and second place recipient for the voice scholarship competition.  As silly as it sounds, it really validated to me that I was right in continuing to don so many different hats at Westminster.  Through my time here many people have asked me, “Why do you spend all your time working for SGA?” or “Why are you majoring in Piano and Voice it adds so much extra work?” By attending something where the faculty and administrative leaders of each of these separate entities were congratulating me for my work in each individual one it really validated that doing all this work was worth it, and that many different people in the Westminster community were recognizing both my student leadership and artistic potential.
 
What does success mean to you?
Success means, to me, the approach.  I think one of the biggest problems we have in our world is that we’re so attached to this concept of being “successful in life”.  I tend to view success more on a step by step process in the sense, being successful with whatever little things we do.  I also think its more important to be successful in approach than successful in outcome.  Just because you got something done does not mean you got it done because you did the work the right way, sometimes luck was on your side.  Conversely, sometimes that one particular, concrete thing (admission into a school, getting an A in your class) might not happen, but my question has always been, can you look at it and say, I did whatever I could to accomplish this goal and worked as diligently, appropriately, and passionately as possible to make this dream a reality?  If you can answer that question with a yes, my answer is that you have been successful.
 
Do you work to live or do you live to work?
I think I try to do both.  I live to work, and when I’m working hard on a particular project almost nothing can tear me away from it.  I also during the school year fill up my schedule grid with almost every single hour of the day being filled with classes, meetings, appointments, etc.  At the same time, I make sure that I take time off and spend time with loved ones.  Our relationships human to human in my mind are what are so much more important than writing a paper or giving a good recital.  As hard as I work during the school year, I really do relax in the summer, its not uncommon to see me outside by the lake with family for 8 hours a day during July or August.