Early this summer, Professor Stephanie Jenkins, known for both her kindness as a person and her passion as a teacher, retired after 13 years at KSC.
Jenkins was a clarinet professor at Keene State, teaching lessons to many students throughout the years she worked. Jenkins was also the director of the clarinet ensemble and the woodwind ensemble. She also performed every year in the faculty performance series, as well as the woodwind faculty recital, according to Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova, chair of the music department.
“I’ve played personally with her several times, and she was always a wonderful colleague to work with,” Wright-Ivanova said. “She’s deeply musical and she has a lot of ideas about the music and how to realize the score, the manuscript.”
Going into his seventh year, Dr. John Hart, an associate professor of music and the coordinator of instrumental music education, said he had known Jenkins since his first year of teaching. He said he knew her to be a phenomenal instructor and someone who had a hand in everything that involved the clarinet at KSC.
“She was a very talented clarinet player; you couldn’t ask for a better teacher, a better instructor,” Hart said. “She could take any student from rank beginner to seasoned veteran and move them forward in their musical path.”
Senior Korben Robinson, who primarily plays the clarinet, said hearing the abrupt news of her retirement made him lose his motivation to continue playing over the summer.
“She made it a new space where it’s possible to still have fun while being directed and all that,” Robinson said. “She just wanted to help everyone be the best they can be, and took that very seriously and tried very, very hard to make everyone feel welcome.”
Despite this, he said he regained his motivation by meeting the new clarinet professor, Alexander Kollias, who Robinson said is great to work with.
Wright-Ivanova said she is happy Kollias is bringing a lot of experience in different styles and genres of music to campus.
Jenkins, along with being an experienced clarinet player, was also known for her personality and spirit she brought to the department.
“She was such a kind human being, and that kindness extended to literally everyone,” Hart said. “[It] didn’t matter whether it was a student or colleague, she had this way of just sort of seeing the best in other people. That was just sort of her default mode, and that made her a really wonderful colleague to work for the past six years.”
Wright-Ivanova said that Jenkins’ love of music and care for her students were deeply impactful on the department.
“All of the clarinet students over the past several decades know [Jenkins] as a teacher who cares very much, who was really in every sense of the word ‘mentor,’” Wright-Ivanova said. “She was so generous with her time, and so thoughtful and patient as a person.”
Robinson said Jenkins was someone who was always determined to help everyone be the best they could be and learned about how to work with each of her students.
Hart spoke to Jenkins’s strength as a faculty member at the college.
“Any students you see perform on stage, there’s always a wonderful faculty member behind them, cheering them on, helping them become the fully realized versions of themselves, and that’s what Professor Jenkins did extremely well,” Hart said.
“She’s a very special human, both as a musician, a teacher, a mentor and a person, so we wish her the very best for her retirement, and we’re deeply grateful for all her years of service,” Wright-Ivanova said.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hayley@kscequinox.com
