Sinclair360

There are those who have tasted what the Sinclair Community College Department of Music has to offer and have found themselves coming back for more. They’re not just the students who major in Music and fill the classrooms every day, but also individuals in the community who are looking for a creative outlet for their talent. The department offers 14 different musical ensembles; several comprise just community members who don’t pay tuition, but see Sinclair as a big part of their lives.

It’s this constituency that Dr. Robert Ruckman sees as a vital part of Sinclair’s identity and success. “If we didn’t have that aspect to our existence, then our college’s life would be totally different,” said Ruckman, chair of the Department of Music. “We would simply be serving ourselves. Instead, we are dependent on the community for just about everything.”

Ruckman will celebrate his 30th year with the college in 2011, and he can name several community members who have been coming to the Department of Music to take lessons or participate in various ensembles since the day he started. The college meets a critical need by offering residents the opportunity to be a part of groups such as the Concert Band, Handbell Choir and Wind Symphony.

Still, strong community involvement is just a small part of what Sinclair offers to those in the Miami Valley. The students who enter the music program are getting a lot more than most starting off at community colleges. Of the 1,300 community colleges across the nation, only about two dozen are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

Sinclair is one of them, which means that it offers classes and instruction at the same level found at most four-year institutions. Perhaps that is why it is so easy for most students to leave Sinclair and finish their last two years at very strong colleges. “We like to think we are absolutely no different than the first two years that anyone would experience at any other university in this region,” Ruckman said.

Ruckman, one of five full-time professors in the department, is a hard man to catch in the spring, as he helps students wind down for the year. More than a dozen graduating students will hold their solo recitals, not to mention other performances that will take place as the quarter comes to an end. The department will start back up in the fall much as usual, but with some new twists, including the expansion of its ever-growing online classes.

By Julie Thompson

Julie Thompson is a freelance writer in Dayton, Ohio. She can be reached at thompsonwriting@att.net.