Though the recession that has rocked America is on the decline, some SMU students are feeling lingering effects that may alter the future of their education. Recently, some music majors were notified that they would no longer be receiving aid in paying for their accompanists, something they have enjoyed for several years.

The Meadows School of the Arts cut down on its budget by no longer paying for some of its students’ accompanists. However, not all music majors were affected. Those that are music performance majors can continue to work with their accompanists without paying for them. The rest, the music education and music therapy majors, no longer get that luxury.

Junior Jenny Tressa, a music therapy major, is one of those affected.

According to Tressa, music performance majors get to keep their accompanists because they are still required to do juries and perform recitals. Juries and recitals were once required for all music majors, but because of the budget cuts, they are no longer required.

However, some students, like Tressa, are still doing recitals and juries for the practice and experience. But, that experience will now come at a price.

“A typical accompanist’s fee depends on the situation, but it’s generally about $20 to $30 an hour,” said Tressa. “Last semester, I had a planned practice with an accompanist once a week for 30 minutes. But now that we have to pay for our accompanists, I can’t have as many hours.”

Now, music education and therapy majors have to make a decision about their practices with accompanists. Some, like Jenny, will cut down on the number of practices they have, sacrificing practice time in order to save money. Others, in order to get the maximum amount of practice in, will have to shell out even more money than previously. Either situation is a lose-lose for those students.

Still, Tressa is not too upset about the divide between performance majors and the rest. She wishes an alternative method could have been reached, such as equally cutting down everyone’s hours a little but knows she can do little to change it.

“I think the change is fair because we don’t have to do a jury,” she said. “My case is different because I’m choosing to do a recital. However, because they’re required to do so much extra, I believe it is fair. But, it’s still very frustrating.”