PICKLE PAIRS | ETHAN AND RYAN MASH BACKSTAGE | B. AFENI MCNEELY COBHAM

B. Afeni McNeely Cobham, Ph.D., known as “Dr. MC,” began her tenure this past April as the first associate vice chancellor and vice provost for equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) at UNCSA, bringing decades of higher education experience and a heart for preparing inclusive artists.

Q: You’re making history as UNCSA’s first executive dedicated to EDIB. What drew you here?

This is a perfect opportunity to be part of an institution cultivating the next generation of artists, because entertainment, for better or worse, profoundly influences our society. It’s a wonderful marriage of my experience and expertise in dealing with race, identity and culture within the context of higher education, where we’re asking students to honor tradition and also step outside of themselves to be conscientious about how we are inclusive in the art we deliver and the role we play in the entertainment industry.

Q: You developed a course on hip-hop culture a decade ago. What does it mean to prioritize EDIB in the arts? There’s no greater platform than art to move forward and celebrate the countless ways human identity shows up. From LGBTQ and race to religious identity or neurodiversity, we enter into conversations with diverse lived experiences. Using hip-hop made it easier for students to unpack issues around their favorite artists and gain an appreciation, understanding, empathy and connection to others through art.

Q: The spotlight has been on social justice issues again in recent years. Has this renewed national attention affected how you approach your work?

For recent School of Music High School graduates Ethan and Ryan Mash, twins from Durham, North Carolina, playing the horn is just the beginning of their love for the instrument. Over the past several years, they have not only experimented with and developed their skills in repairing and modifying horns but have also designed and created mutes for horn players. Now, they are beginning undergraduate degrees in computer science and hope to pursue careers as horn makers and horn product designers.

While they had been exposed to music their whole lives by their horn-playing father — who plays for fun — their musical journey really started in the sixth grade when they chose to play the horn themselves. “We thought it would be really cool to play the same instrument as our dad,” explained Ethan. “Horn is one of the most complex instruments,” added Ryan. “It’s very rewarding because of how challenging it is to play.”

As soon as they started playing, they also became interested in horn repairs and would watch YouTube videos to learn the basics. By the eighth grade, when their middle school band director entrusted them with cleaning instruments, their interest only grew.

After transferring to UNCSA for their senior year of high school, the Mash brothers really hit their stride. With the encouragement of Associate Professor Maria Serkin, Ethan and Ryan dove even deeper into horn repair. “At UNCSA, there is a lot more creativity — our interest in repairs was really encouraged by Dr. Serkin,” Ryan said. There was also a greater need at UNCSA, where students own their instruments and are responsible for maintaining them.

The two have since grown their horn repair business to include over 300 tools in their workshop at their parents’ home in Durham. “We put every scrap of money we can on getting tools — once we have tools, we can do repairs and earn more money to buy more tools. It’s a cycle,” explained Ethan.

It was also at UNCSA that they embarked on their latest endeavor: designing and developing horn mutes. Mutes can be prohibitively expensive for students but are necessary for professional playing; when Serkin showed them a handmade wooden mute she’d purchased, Ethan and Ryan saw an opportunity. “At first, we thought, ‘We’ll take this design and make it plastic,’” recalled Ethan, “but the design was imperfect. We think we can do better and make it mathematically perfect.”

The brothers then threw themselves into hundreds of hours of research and development. “I taught myself how to code in Python (a high-level programming language) and figured out how to take these equations and put them into a set of points can input into my 3D printer software,” Ryan explained. After nearly 100 test prints, they were finally happy with their product. They are now selling them to horn players across the continent and at the International Horn Symposium in Montreal.

Looking forward, Ethan and Ryan plan to continue their horn repair and mute-making business while simultaneously pursuing their college degrees in the fall. Ethan will attend Yale University for computer science and Ryan will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for computer science and music.

Being apart will be both a challenge and an opportunity because, as Ryan explains: “We have different strengths and they work together extremely well. … If we hadn’t had each other, we would not be anywhere near where we are today.”

The current conversation is not new. It seems to have a 20-year cycle. In a society where we bill ourselves as the greatest in the world, why do we still have a shortfall in these areas? James Baldwin said, “The artist’s role is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.” That quote is the bedrock of my work as a partner, doing my best to make people conscious.

Q: What are your goals for your first 365 days as a Pickle?

A listening tour will help me understand what’s been done thus far and how my knowledge and expertise can help bring momentum or shift some things in a different direction. I plan to enter conversations as a colleague, administrator and member of the Pickle community. look at this role as an educator offering recommendations on advancing equity. All of this is tied to my upbringing. I grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, in an era when it was a pretty tough urban experience. It made me a better student, educator and person. When we have this equity conversation, the objective is to complement who you are so that you have the capacity, stamina, empathy and heart to engage whomever you meet.