Andréa Banke performed as the principal oboe with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and worked as a professor of oboe at Wichita State University, until 2019 when she had an accident and suffered a career-ending injury.
A mild stroke left her with nerve damage to the left side of her face. This led Banke to take on the position of program director of the Master of Arts in Arts Leadership and Management degree, a role that still allows her to interact with students without actually playing the oboe.
“I learned both adaptability and resilience — these are the two biggest factors in being successful in any field but especially music and leadership,” Banke said. “It was pretty messy; I had to embrace my grief and keep working daily on the little things that I could do at first.
“When we have these sort of catastrophic life changes, nobody’s prepared for them, especially sort of at the height of their career,” Banke said. “My accident resulted in some nerve damage, which made it impossible (to play). I lost some left channel hearing, and perhaps more importantly the ability of some of my nerves to function on the left side of my face, such that I could not, certainly at a professional level, play oboe anymore.”
Banke made several trips to neurologists and the Mayo Clinic to try to see what could be done about her injury, but the adjustment to her new life was difficult.
“It was life without the oboe, life without performing, life without me being an artist on the stage,” Banke said. “It’s a shock to the system. I had to trust my mind to carry on when my body really wanted to quit.”
Banke said that, like many professional artists, the oboe was inseparable from her identity.
Changing directions
Banke said that she is so grateful and thankful to the school of music and college of fine arts on campus, that they gave her a new opportunity.
“They told me by their actions, that my diminished capacity as an oboist did not mean diminished value to the College of Fine Arts or to students,” Banke said. “They showed me that they were willing to navigate the really difficult path forward with me.”
In her new position, Banke feels as though she’s able to empower her students more effectively and that she’s developed more patience and empathy.
“I think I’m able to train better artists and entrepreneurs after my accident,” Banke said.
Max Truong, a senior who worked closely with Banke for graduate school applications, said that class with Banke was transformative.
As a transfer student from Vietnam, Troung said that Banke would take the time to explain pop culture references to him.
“It makes me feel really seen and heard as an international (student), coming into a new country, getting used to the environment,” Troung said.
Truong reflected on how supportive Banke is, especially for students who are less interactive in her class.
“She really has a way to connect with students individually,” Troung said. “It’s so beautiful to see that a college professor is putting that much time and effort into the growth of individual students.”
Enrich Patdu, a sophomore studying vocal music education, took three classes with Banke and said that Banke was one of the most understanding professors she has had.
“She isn’t lenient, but she does give opportunities for help if you ask,” Patdu said. “She was really easy to work with and like one of the sweetest people I know.”
Throughout the classes, Patdu said that she felt like Banke understood her both as a student and a person.
“She supported me through the whole way, and even would take me aside and be like, ‘I’m really proud of what you’ve done,’” Patdu said.
Bailey Jensen, a sophomore studying music education, took a class with Banke, and she said Banke understands teaching in general.
“Love that woman, I miss her (class) every day,” Jense said. “She has so much office hour availability; she wants to help every single person she can. She reaches out to people who don’t participate much in class and asks them how they’re doing.”
When the school of music made catalog changes and several students missed out on a required class, Jensen said that Banke reorganized her curriculum to help those students.
“She went back and re-taught all of that material just to make sure that they would have that understanding,” Jensen said. “She changed her lesson plans and curriculum for several weeks to be able to actually make sure they understood.
Banke said that this is something that she has always practiced, meeting students where they are.
“It’s not ‘missed material’ or ‘failure’ at all; we start where you are,” Banke said. “It’s revisiting content in a new year, reflecting and reevaluating, and then chatting about how we can best get it to stick this time. For me, this involves curiosity, play, humor, evaluation, and peer assessment.”
To Banke, a career change does not mean the same thing as career death.
“If we lament over the limitations, we really don’t focus on what we can do now and set those new goals,” Banke said. “When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and pivot and explore the possibility that our lives can and will change, I think we become more creative and better leaders.”
