‘You make music not for yourself, but for others’

Griffin Temple ’24 watched with wonder when their father played the guitar.

“He didn’t really talk about it, and he didn’t always play in front of us,” recalls Temple, a music major. “It was this mysterious thing. I’d marvel, ‘How’s my dad doing that?’”

Professor Ashley L’Esperance ’13 also discovered a love for music watching her dad, who played in bands throughout her childhood.

“I always thought it would be cool to be a musician, and I knew from very early on that you could make money doing it,” she says.

For Manny Torto ’27, music was inevitable. He grew up singing in the church choir, where he found that music was transformative and cultivated community-building, which he finds more important than individual stardom.

“In a religious setting, you have that intrinsic motivation to make music, not for yourself, but for others and for something higher than yourself,” says the music major.

The three Clarkies are linked by musical passion — and a course. L’Esperance teaches Beginning a Music Career, where the alumna guides students, including Temple and Torto, who are navigating their entry into the music industry.

L’Esperance, Temple, and Torto represent cross-generational Clark talent. Temple has spent the last four years amassing musical prowess and technical know-how. Though Torto is just starting college, he has already released more than 40 songs on Spotify to an audience surpassing 5,000 monthly listeners. A decade into her career as a singer-songwriter, L’Esperance imparts wisdom on managing a hectic touring schedule, slowing down to prioritize quality over quantity, and learning that fame is not the definition of success.

“I want to open them up to the possibility that having a career in the arts can be a lot more like my experience: full of left turns.”

-Professor Ashley L’Esperance ’13

“You can be unknown but still live the life you want to live,” she says. To help set students on their desired path, L’Esperance asks students in her class to first consider their end goal. They are then asked to inch toward that target by writing a bio and making a website — simple but necessary steps to launch a music career.

“I want them to set up sustainable and vision-focused careers,” she says. “I’ve asked students what they want their lives to look like in 10 years, and how they can tailor their career to contribute to that vision.

“I’m really trying to get to know my students as individuals and help them get to know themselves, as opposed to setting goals following some prescriptive career path,” she continues. “When you say you want to be a musician, everyone says, ‘Go on “American Idol”’ or try to get discovered. Instead, I want to open them up to the possibility that having a career in the arts can be a lot more like my experience: full of left turns.”

L’Esperance began performing live shows at 14, and one of her earliest gigs was opening for singer-songwriter Katie Herzig, who wrote music for the ABC series “Grey’s Anatomy.” She recalls being filled with nerves as all the attention in the room was directed toward her. “With more practice and experience, she became more comfortable center stage. L’Esperance began touring with her husband, Eric, after graduating from Clark. The duo performs as “Ash and Eric.”

Recently, she and Eric played a show with singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor, who gave them a piece of advice that changed their outlook on performance.

 “It’s not about you, it’s about your audience, and if they don’t feel connected and spiritually lifted after a show, then you have failed them,” L’Esperance says of Taylor’s advice. “It was your job to take care of them and make them feel seen. If you didn’t do that, it’s considered a bad show, regardless of how you played. Our shows and our career have exponentially improved since adopting that mindset.”

Temple was inspired to pick up the guitar after a close friend and skilled guitarist, Jacob Matthews, died.

 “For a long time, I didn’t believe in my ability,” Temple says. “His death made me want to put my feelings into something, partially trying to process his death but also wanting to carry on his legacy.”

Temple is now a guitarist for the band My Neighbor George, whose slinky-smooth, jazzy, punk-infused sound incorporates the members’ distinct styles. The group is made up of fellow Clarkies, singers Liliana Colon ’24, Kaya Middleton-Grant ’23, MSC ’24, and Georgia Parsons ’23; bassist Joshua Oduro ’24, guitarist Max Sormanti-Bloom ’25, and drummer Will Verde ’23. They perform frequently at Clark, setting up DIY shows in backyards, the Grind, and the Clark Thrift Store. They also perform elsewhere in New England, such as Temple’s hometown of Keene, New Hampshire.

With plans to move to Philadelphia after graduation, Temple is eager to discover new musical opportunities.

Torto has performed at Clark multiple times and has capitalized on connections he’s made with other creatives on campus as well as access to state-of-the-art recording equipment in the Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design.

Torto uses the stage name Glowmanny, born of his philosophy to “Let your glow be a representation of your spirit.”

“You can tell when somebody’s spirits are up, or low,” he says.

As Torto learns more about Afro-Latin and Black history, he wants to use music as a vessel to speak out against systemic racism. “I want to unravel it to educate others, and hopefully they can find the sense of family that I found in these cultures.”

The music industry can be harsh, and when L’Esperance began teaching at 23, she felt pressure to bring that same kind of hard-edged energy into the classroom.

“Now I’m interested in creating healthy classroom environments to reach my students, putting humanity at the core,” she says. “I can set high expectations for them, and they’re more willing to meet those expectations because they know that I care about them.”

Torto is eager to set ambitious goals as technological advances make music careers more accessible. “It’s getting so easy for people to make music, but I hope everyone pushes boundaries with this technology,” he says.

Lofty expectations are more attainable with a solid plan and foundation — the purpose behind L’Esperance’s course.

“Everybody’s looking for that golden ticket — that someone’s going to come sign them or that they have a hit single that blows up. The reality is, if that happens and you’re not prepared to capitalize on it and build a career from that momentum, then the effort is for nothing,” Temple says.

“I’m just trying to set myself up so that when that momentum comes, I’ll be ready.”

Major in music