SFCM students hit the ground running the first week of September, following a busy week of move-in, orientations, and placement auditions.

Following Orientation Week, students were faced with their first academic classes and placement auditions, with masterclasses, classes and jam sessions giving new and returning students a first look at some of the views and sounds that will define their time at SFCM.

Director of Ensemble Operations Abbey Springer said, "We had such a wonderful, successful orientation week! It was great to welcome many new students to campus as we get ready to start our new academic term. It is truly one of the best times of the year, with so much excitement about what the season will hold. So many of our instrumentalists are really thrilled about the upcoming orchestra and opera performances, with our highlights being The Turn of the Screw and Rite of Spring!"
 

SFCM President David Stull.

SFCM President David Stull opened his orientation remarks by asking how many students were coming to SFCM from another country, welcoming them by saying, "We want you here. You are welcome here. We're going to look after you. We're going to take care of you. This is your home. This is your family."

Staff and students perform at 2025 Orientation.

"Look left and right," Stull continued. "These are your friends and colleagues. This is your group you're going through this with. You rely on each other. We are here to push ourselves, here to achieve. And when we fail—and you will, we all do—you guys are going to pick each other up."

Stull encouraged students to "be gentle with yourselves." He continued, "This is hard work, but it's not worth your spirit or soul. Remember, you've got to back away from it sometimes, and say, 'Hey, I'm going to enjoy myself today and get restarted tomorrow. You get into that habit—keeping yourself happy while working this hard—and it's going to serve you the rest of your life.'" 

Closing his remarks, Stull added: "The most important thing we're going to teach you as musicians and people is to listen. You can only play or work as well as you can hear, as well as you can imagine. So the more you take into your artistic imagination, your consciousness, the better you're going to be. And that's just the truth: You're going to learn from people around you. You'll actually hear them, see them, and know them. And in doing that, you will be better."

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jonas Wright spoke next, explaining that coming to SFCM in 2012 "was a big leap for me" and revealing that after his first day, he came home and told his wife, "I don't think this is the right place for me."

"And she said, 'Okay, well, why don't we just give it a little bit of time and see what happens.' She convinced me to stick it out to see where things went, that surely just doing that wouldn't do any harm, and she was right—it didn't. I just kept on leaping and leaping, and somewhere along the way, I blinked and became Provost," he joked. "Stepping back when I first wanted to would have taken away what has become 12-plus life-changing years. And it was all because someone said to me, let's see it through and leap together."

RJAM students with RJAM trumpet faculty Anthony Hervey.

Wright continued, "The most important thing to do is to keep leaping. Keep pushing forward without fear of failure or mistake, because making what might seem like mistakes are likely not mistakes at all. They are nuanced opportunities to enable you to further evolve through the leaps that you have ahead of you and to lean on those around you during the moments that really matter."