Here's - VanderCook College of Music

If anyone could be credited with influencing Rhodes’
teaching style, it surely was Zajec (Rhodes, in fact,
was his very first college-level clarinet student). “He
pushed. He acted rough and gruff, but only because he
wanted the best out of you, and he wasn’t going to baby
you. ‘Because you’re going to grow up and you’re going
to learn to handle it,’ that kind of attitude. I always
referred to him as my second father.” The similarities to
Rhodes’ own teaching style are not lost on her.
“I’m not going to water it down or pussyfoot around
– I’m not going to treat anyone with kid gloves just
because.” Eventually, she recognized a parallel between
teaching students and raising her own children. “I realized
that you don’t have to use intimidation to get your
point across, that you can be stern and firm, and still
convey disappointment.” The importance of choices
and their consequences remain hallmarks of her teaching
style to this day.
It may surprise many who know Rhodes to learn that
she never thought she was good enough to be a performer.
“My whole persona was that I don’t want to be
in the limelight. It’s just not me. I was too afraid of solo
performance to play a recital. And yet I’ve performed
more after I graduated from VanderCook than most
of the performance major friends I had.” In spite of
her early stage fright, Rhodes has played with the
Northwest Indiana Symphony for over 30 years, and
performed for several seasons with the Hinsdale Opera
Theater, the Northside Symphony, and the Southwest
Symphony. She has also performed with the Lyric
Opera, and led her own chamber ensemble as part of
the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series broadcast
on WFMT.
Still, Rhodes is as fervent about teaching as she ever
was. “What I like best about teaching our students who
are going to become band directors or music teachers is
teaching them how to fix the problems. Because that’s
what you spend your whole day doing. VanderCook,
H.E., and Vic Zajec – I really credit them with everything
I learned, as far as how to teach.” Having a career
arc come full circle – returning to VanderCook, which
featured so prominently in her musical beginnings – fits
Rhodes like a glove.
“In the back of my head that was always my dream, to
teach at VanderCook. Always. Just because I believe in
the place. I really believe in the place.”
Above: Rhodes works the
crowd at Toot ‘N’ Doodle
(see the outreach pages
for details).
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