Patrice Pastore took the stage in late March to share her musical talent for one of the final times as a faculty member at Ithaca College.
Molly Dubner, junior voice major, was there to witness her professor’s performance. Dubner auditioned with Pastore — IC has a rigorous admissions audition process for would-be music majors — and has worked with her since.
Dubner said a family friend told her to look out for Pastore because they had loved working with the professor. Pastore was Dubner’s adjudicator for the audition.
“I liked Patrice so much and everything there that I decided to come here and study voice,” said Dubner.
Pastore’s March 25 recital, “Reflections on a Life,” came as she was planning to retire next year. Pastore said that sharing her journey through this recital is a “watershed moment” for both her and her students, as it honors their time together.
Career transitions
Pastore has worked with hundreds of students at Ithaca College since 1982 — teaching courses ranging from diction to vocal improvisation.
Each voice professor in the music performance program leads their own studio, which is a group of assigned students they mentor and teach individually.
She has one year left at Ithaca College and teaches 15 students in the program, most of whom are upperclassmen that will soon graduate. Pastore said these students have been asking for the opportunity to see their professor perform for years now.
‘I believe in myself’
Students in the music performance program have mandatory repertoire classes where they practice and perform for their professor and classmates.
Jaya Badhe, a senior music performance major in voice who is in Pastore’s studio, has worked with Pastore week-to-week in these classes and emphasizes how the professor guides both compliments and critiques to students.
Badhe said Pastore’s approach to running the class is unique. Students who are performing for the class state their name, their song and introduce the pianist.
Then, Badhe said, the studio says in unison “We believe in you,” and the performer replies, “I believe in myself as well.”
The process is beneficial for the student performers, Badhe said.
“When you are up there, and people tell you they believe in you . . . it is such an amazing thing to hear and it’s so helpful,” she added.
Collaborations
Dubner spoke about Pastore’s support, as well.
She recalled feeling unsure as a first-year student, because she had an interest in musical theater that contrasted the voice program’s classical training focus.
Dubner said it is through her conversations with Pastore that she ultimately felt comfortable in her decision to stay in the voice program.
Voice professor Rachel Schutz said although she has never co-taught with Pastore, she has had the opportunity to see Pastore teach during “Voice Intensive” week, which happens once a semester. In this week, traditional voice lessons are cancelled, but other programming of performances and classes with different teachers are scheduled.
“She has a unique ability to be vulnerable,” Schutz said. “She has this courage to put herself out there and try things herself and encourage that in students, which I think is really valuable in singing because it is such a vulnerable activity — both the performance aspect, but also learning and putting your body on the line . . . trying out different sounds.”
“She demonstrates that constantly,” Schutz added.
‘Reflections on a Life’
Each act of the recital was categorized into emotions: love, betrayal, loss, recovery and hope.
Pastore performed 11 songs, ranging from Leonard Bernstein to Mary Poppins. She also read poems, most of which were self-written, that matched these emotions.
Including the lessons she’s learned in her life to her students in the faculty recital felt incredibly important to Pastore, she said, aptly naming the recital “Reflections on a Life” as she goes through her own life story.
“You all have already gone through many of these things or will go through many of these things. I have a message for you in each of these places, which is where my poems come in,” Pastore said.
“There are poems that have been written . . . that I have written specifically for my students, which is to say how much I believe in them and how great I think they are,” she added.
For Pastore’s students, “Reflections on a Life,” was the very first time they’ve been able to hear Pastore sing — outside of a couple of bars while warming up in the classroom.
Dubner said she went in having no knowledge of what the recital would look like, and was surprised by how personal it was in comparison to other faculty recitals.
Dubner said as a performer she prioritizes vulnerability, and it was inspiring to see how Pastore showcased it as well.
“What was really cool was getting to see her go through the different phases,” Dubner added, “because I think sometimes, we forget that our teachers are human beings and have these real emotions and experiences.”
“Getting to see her pour her heart out like that, while also being silly and making a joke out of herself in some things, was really beautiful to watch,” Dubner said.
Saying goodbye
Dubner and Badhe said the studio feels smaller as they progress to upper-level grades because there are fewer new students coming in. For Badhe, who is graduating this year, it is daunting to think about.
Pastore’s retirement has offered an opportunity for the students and professor to share a common perspective.
“She’s in that position of there’s going to be a new chapter in her life and I think that because she knows what that’s going to be like she’s even better at helping us find a way to accept the change,” said Badhe.
As Pastore and her students near the end of their time at Ithaca College, the faculty recital was imperative, Pastore said.
“It’s putting a little bow on that rather than just walking out the door on the last day of school,” Pastore said.
