We were the first class of the conservatory (now in the top ten worldwide, by some rankings), so there were some difficulties. I stayed out of the fray, and just worked on soaking up as much of the work as I could. The higher elements, mainly the classical elements (and listening to those concerts and rehearsals were a small part of that), have leavened the other things over the intervening times. Conservatory is about planting seeds for the coming years. Mix in a few redwoods. Cedars. Eastern pine. The parts of it that have fallen away in the course of the years were lesser things from the beginning. There were one or two very passionate but craven teachers, feminist politics, all the right PC ideas, etc. Those teachings won't even endure, let alone prevail. The more careful work of the art lasts.
