On Nov. 21, students enrolled in music lessons at Le Moyne College received an email from Greg Giovanini, administrative manager for the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, regarding lesson registration for the spring 2026 semester.
“I regret to announce that the College has reduced the number of students we can enroll in MUS 396 for the spring semester,” Giovanini stated in the email. He then explained how the enrollment process would work: that students would be notified if they were cleared to register or were wait-listed.
Students have the option to take private, individualized lessons with music faculty. Lessons are available for vocals and select instruments, depending on the student’s focus. Private lessons count as a one credit course.
Travis Newton, dean of the Carroll College of Arts and Sciences, explained that when he was chair of the Visual Performing Arts department, music faculty determined a cap on the number of students, as a guideline for lessons. The number of students who have taken lessons, the students in each section, which studios are available and how faculty are impacted were all factored in to determine the amount of students that could enroll.
Due to the one-on-one nature of the lessons, there is a big difference in cost to the college compared to other academic meetings and classes. That is why the cap is being reduced.
While there have not been any students kicked out of music lessons, the decrease in available spots means that students who are new to the music program have less of a chance at getting into lessons.
The notification of this enrollment deduction upset some music students and faculty alike. Jackson Wolcott, a senior political science major, currently takes voice lessons on top of participating in the Jazz Ensemble and Jazzuits, Le Moyne College’s jazz vocal ensemble.
“When I first heard about the cuts, I was livid because I just took a music minor, and I finalized it because I was graduating, so I could not change it. That sent me into a panic,” he said.
Wolcott was worried that he may not meet the requirements to graduate as all music minors at Le Moyne are required to take three credits of music lessons. Luckily, he was able to continue with lessons to fulfill his minor requirements.
Other music students chose not to continue with lessons due to the enrollment deduction. Abbie Riggins, a senior human resource management major, is a member of the Jazzuits and the Salt City Voices, a vocal jazz quartet. She participated in vocal lessons during the spring 2025 and fall 2025 semesters, but ultimately dropped them for spring 2026.
“I was debating doing it again ‘cause I really enjoyed them. My voice has transformed because of Carol [Jacobe],” Riggins said, speaking of Carol Jacobe, a vocal lesson teacher and director of the Jazzuits.
“But when I heard that there were only six spots, I wanted to allow other people who either needed it for their minor or who hadn’t done lessons before, I wanted to give them a chance to join since I already had two semesters,” Riggins said.
“So that was kind of my decision to not do it again this year, even though I wanted to,” she said.
Grace Adjei, a freshman biology major participating in the direct entry physician assistant program, had been taking both vocal lessons and violin lessons. Due to the enrollment deduction, she had to choose between the two and ultimately dropped violin lessons.
“It was kind of depressing ‘cause I do love my violin, I do love voice, and in an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to pick between the two,” she said.
Some students even had to switch which professor they were taking lessons from, like D’Aleczandria Johnson, a freshman Theatre Arts and French dual major, and the Visual and Performing Arts Representative for the Student Government Association. Johnson is also involved with the Dolphin Steppers, Chamber Singers, and numerous theatrical productions at Le Moyne.
She said that she started taking voice lessons for the first time because she wanted to bolster her singing skills as an actress. When the enrollment reduction came, she was switched from one voice teacher to another, which she felt inhibited the progress she had made.
“Even though this is only my first time doing lessons, I’d already worked with Carol for a whole semester, so she already had a pretty good idea of what my skills were. And then working with someone new, it’s just like starting all over,” Johnson said.
For many students taking music lessons at Le Moyne, this is not the first time they have experienced restraints to the accessibility of music education during their schooling. Several students stated that their fine arts programs during their secondary education faced cuts due to financial constraints and lower enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it’s really unfortunate. I feel like art in any form is the last thing you want to cut, ‘cause for a lot of people, that’s their outlet. It’s how we connect with one another. You’re taking someone’s chance to learn away,” said Riggins.
When asked about the history of music lesson enrollment at Le Moyne, Giovanini stated that typically around 40 to 80 students are enrolled in a given semester, and the number of students enrolled usually goes up during the spring semester.
“Due to recent financial constraints of the college, when I had asked about numbers for the spring, we were then told that we had to reduce the number of students instead of maintain or increase for the spring semester,” he said.
Giovanini stated that out of the fifty enrolled students for fall 2025, they had to limit that number to forty. Music faculty were made aware of this change in November.
Ed Ruchalski, the director of music at Le Moyne who teaches the Rock Ensemble, added: “The board of trustees had a new budget, the college had to meet it, and that’s basically what we were told.”
“I think we were able to get anyone returning from last semester into lessons this semester, which was nice that we didn’t have to turn away someone that’s been taking lessons. But there are also a number of students interested in taking lessons in the spring that were not able to because of that,” Giovanini said. Enrollment preference was given to returning students, then to new students based on seniority.
Budget alone was not the sole factor in the reductions. Giovanini detailed that a change in the way lessons were structured also impacted the number of students able to take lessons. In the past, Le Moyne had two lesson courses, MUS 396 and MUS 397, which were both one credit and corresponded to half-hour and hour-long lessons respectively.
“We were not meeting New York State Board of Education’s criteria for minimum number of contact hours for a one-credit course. We were coming up a little bit short, so what we ultimately decided to do in order to hit that number was to increase the length of lessons to 50 minutes,” Giovanini said.
The number of lessons students received went up from eleven to twelve. Coupled with the recital serving as a final exam, this contributed to the raise in the number of contact hours.
“The students were paying 85% of that, and the college paying 15%. When we restructured, it was decided that students would pay 50% and the college would pay 50%. So the cost that the college was contributing for lessons also went up,” Giovanini said.
“At the time, it felt supportive to have the college offer to cover 50% of the lessons given the nature of the course. You can compare it to art or science courses that have a lab fee for materials. It’s a significant amount of money that the college has to cover, and I think at the time we were not quite aware of the budget reductions that were coming.”
“It’s unfortunate because we naturally want to keep expanding the reach of students on campus with the music program and within our department. It’s harder to do so when we can only accommodate so many students. It’s tough because ultimately it comes down to money and budgets. Knowing that we switched to the college covering 50% of the lesson and then having this turnaround is a little frustrating. But we’re working on ways to try to get back to our normal number for the fall,” Giovanini said.
He stated that while the department had different ideas of how to return to their normal numbers, there were no official decisions he could share yet.
“I wanna make it clear that the administration has always been extremely supportive of the music program,” Ruchalski stated. According to him, the Dean’s Office in the past has often allowed student enrollment past the initial cap.
“So they’ve been great. This is the first year they didn’t implement it in the fall. And this was the first time we had to turn away some students,” he said. “It hurts. It’s not great, but I’m hoping we can get out of this quickly.”
“Just as we do with every course type in the catalogue… we will continue to communicate with the department and with Ed [Ruchalski] and Greg [Giovanini] about how it’s going. If we need to reassess we will,” said Newton.
Many of the students that take music lessons at Le Moyne say that their choice to do so was due to the scholarship opportunities for those studies. Giovanini and Ruchalski work together to manage these scholarships, with Giovanini covering the managerial half and Ruchalski reading the applications and choosing the awardees.
“Every semester, a student will say: ‘I really wanna take lessons, but I don’t know if I can afford the extra fee.’ And the extra fee is $480 a semester. So then I say: ‘Please consider doing this because we have scholarship money and it’s a very simple application,’” Ruchalski said.
Giovanini elaborated, saying, “There have been some semesters where we have money left over for the semester and other semesters where everything’s gone to students. Some receive full and some receive partial just because of the number of students applying.”
Newton emphasized that the administration is dedicated to supporting the arts. “If one were to say there’s sort of a divesting from the arts, no, we’re actually investing in them…we all love and appreciate and champion the creativity that comes out of the department.”
The motto of the Visual and Performing Arts department is “Arts For All.” The students and faculty who are passionate about keeping music lessons accessible focused on the benefits of doing so. Many students stated that one major factor in choosing to attend Le Moyne was to continue pursuing music while studying for their degree of choice.
“I feel like one of the things that is central to what we do as a college is to help students find their voice…that voice takes on a variety of forms including artistic expression.” Newton said.
He described “Arts For All” as “an invitation to create.”
“Le Moyne is unique with its music program, in that it’s actually quite large and accessible to students where there isn’t a music major. Students that have gone through high school loving music can still do that while picking up a different major,” Giovanini said.
Ruchalski also emphasized the link between the arts and a student’s general education:
“Playing an instrument helps you. There’s proof that it helps you do better in other fields. Whatever courses you’re taking, it plays a role because to play one note on the instrument requires so many motor movements and neuron connections, that it’s really valuable.”
Carol Jacobe, the music professor at Le Moyne who teaches the Jazzuits, the Salt City Voices and voice lessons, shared this sentiment. “If you can become confident in yourself through music, then that’s going to fall over into everything else you do. And everybody should have that opportunity. If you want to sing, there should be some place in a school’s curriculum where any student can go and sing.”
Many music students said that taking lessons and participating in music ensembles act as a creative outlet for them. “What kept me around was that certain programs that Le Moyne offers, like jazz band or Jazzuits, offer a challenge that I wasn’t used to and it actually forced me to grow with my instrument and become a better player,” Wolcott said.
Riggins echoed this idea, stating, “It allows people to step out of their comfort zones.”
Jacobe also emphasized the importance of student growth. “My favorite part is getting to know students one-on-one. I like analyzing students’ voices, trying to figure out what’s not working right and help them out. The reward for me is seeing students progress and how they feel about themselves.”
When asked about the importance of making music education accessible, Adjei, the student who dropped violin, stated, “I would say giving everybody the opportunity to experience the arts. As long as you make art accessible, then that’s Arts for All.”