Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe's proposal to phase out the Ph.D. program in music composition has caused both students and faculty in the music department to erupt in a symphony of astonishment and alarm. "[When I learned of the proposal I reacted with] surprise, shock, dismay," Prof. David Rakowski (MUS) said. "I went through a long list of reasons why I thought it was a bad idea."

At the special faculty meeting held on Oct. 28, Jaffe outlined his curriculum proposal. In the presentation he said that there are "specific priorities that are unfunded," which include "competitive faculty salaries, competitive Ph.D. stipends, a permanent Office of the Arts and teaching graduate students how to teach."

In order to achieve these and other goals, Jaffe proposed several cuts that he said at the meeting are necessary because "we must accept that we are always going to be narrower [or] thinner within given areas than our larger, richer competitors."

Jaffe said that additions could not be made to the curriculum without also making cuts.

At the meeting, Jaffe listed his criteria for selecting the programs he would like to scale back.

His reasons include "enrollment, centrality to missions and relative balance to undergraduate [and] graduate commitment."

While Jaffe acknowledged at the meeting that, "we don't have a convenient stock of mediocre programs to cut" and that "many of the proposed losses are of activities that are 'excellent' in their sphere," Jaffe nevertheless views the music program as a prime candidate for reductions because of its small enrollment and shrinking faculty.

"It's expensive to teach the arts," Prof. Eric Chasalow (MUS) said. "Enrollments have to be smaller than in other disciplines."

Since enrollment is small, the number of faculty is small too. In composition, there are currently four professors, Rakowski, Chasalow, Yahudi Winer and Martin Boykan. Winer is on leave and, according to Chasalow, Boykan is likely to retire in the next few years.

These realities leave the composition program especially vulnerable because of its size.

"What troubles me about the process is that it comes back to not having enough mediocre programs [Jaffe] doesn't want to cut," Chasalow said.

The University's music department has gained prominence within the field since its inception.

According to the National Research Center, Brandeis' graduate music program ranks thirteenth nationwide, higher than the University's graduate programs in economics, physics, biology, psychology and computer science, among others.

"The magic of Brandeis for the students looking to come here is historic excellence and then the current excellence," Chasalow said.

One of the major problems the music department has with the administration is a perceived lack of understanding of the music program. The department has three sub-disciplines, musicology, which is the study of music, and performance, in addition to composition.

"Cutting composition in this matter is like taking away the leg of a table," Rakowski said.

If that leg is removed, Chasalow believes the department would suffer irreparable damage.

"You can't cut composition and have much left," he said. "It's a different way of thinking in music, not about music. Any university with strong graduate studies in music has both."

Graduate students seem also disturbed by Jaffe's proposal.

"Graduate students were really shocked by the news," Jeffrey Roberts (GRAD), a fourth-year music composition Ph.D. student said. "Graduate students in composition choose this school because it's one of the most prestigious in the country. It was such a shock because no one was contacted in the music department to discuss changes."

Roberts said the lack of communication was the biggest problem in this situation.

"We are part of the process, but [the administration] has never given us a concrete idea of how we are part of the process," he said. "We don't know if we have any rights. If we actually do come up with ideas, how are they going to be communicated? Usually students don't have a spot at participating in faculty meetings."

In order to deal with the problems of the present situation, the music department has begun to mobilize.

One of its strongest advocates is not a faculty member or even a graduate student, but a former undergraduate student. Rebecca Incledon '04 has spent the last two weeks sending e-mails to every alumni of the undergraduate music program, asking them to write to dean Jaffe in support of the program. She says that so far, at least 13 people have written to her or Jaffe to voice their support.

"I studied voice at Brandeis," Incledon said. "I'm not a composer. I didn't go out of my way to write music. I think I've learned about three times as much in interacting with people in the [music] program than if it weren't there. Some of my best professors have been in the music program."

Despite their anger and fear, the faculty of the music department is confident that the composition program will not be cut.

"It's unthinkable that they would actually do this," Chasalow said. "I've heard from other faculty in other departments who are just as incredulous as I."

Even if the department experiences no changes, Chaslow said damage has likely been done.

"When you threaten a program like this, it immediately does damage," Chasalow said. "When we accept people in our composition department, students come. Now, they may not."

Critics of the proposed cut to the music composition program said that it is at odds with the university's renewed commitment to the arts.

The President's Council of the Arts was recently created to evaluate the status of all arts programs at Brandeis after University President Jehuda Reinharz received a substantial monetary gift for that purpose.

According to Chasalow, the University has been at odds with itself on the arts issue for some time. He said that the campus master plan called for new music facilities next to Slosberg Recital Hall.

"They don't have a real vision for the quality of the arts at Brandies," Roberts said. "They're sending very much mixed messages. They want to find a budget that works by cutting things that are small. They're saying very contradictory things.