Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Olly Wilson COMPOSER AND PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Interviews conducted by Caroline Crawford and Nadine Wilmot: in 2002-2003 Copyright © 2014 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Olly Wilson dated January 13, 2014. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Olly Wilson “COMPOSER AND PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY” conducted by Caroline Crawford and Nadine Wilmot 2014 Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2014. iii iv Olly Wilson v vi Table of Contents—Olly Wilson Interview History viii Interview 1: September 19, 2002 1 Early life in St. Louis and a Father’s influence and mandate to play the piano—First Baptist Church, St. Louis, a Diverse Congregation—World War II and the African American migration to northern urban centers—church music, spirituals, and gospel— Olly Wilson, Sr., working for the US Postal Service and buying a home—restrictive real estate practices in St. Louis and segregation in the schools—colonization and religion—a time of transition in St. Louis—remembering Alma Grace Peoples—family politics Interview 2: October 3, 2002 50 Remembering grandparents and family stories—music in St. Louis and the development of the blues and ragtime, military bands, music in the plantation houses, white and black minstrel music, riverboat bands, jazz and big bands, bebop—first gigs: early rhythm and blues in the 1950’s—segregated unions—Washington University, taking up the bass and performing with the St. Louis Philharmonic—confronting racism and the importance of fraternal organizations—choosing to compose, thoughts about academic music— University of Illinois master’s degree and a job at Florida A and M Interview 3: November 21, 2002 92 Marriage to Elouise and graduate studies at the University of Illinois, 1959—electronic music in 1960: Princeton and Columbia Universities—Robert Kelley and the MA program, 1960—Milton Babbitt and the Intellectual Approach to Composition vs. John Cage and the Music of Chance—the Sonorous Image and the Generation of Musical Ideas—remembering Dr. Wykes—traveling to Florida and first exposure to Jim Crow, 1960—the Black intellectual tradition at Florida A & M—Civil Rights involvements, Oberlin University and the Talented Tenth Interview 4: December 12, 2002 137 PhD dissertation at the University of Iowa: Three Movements for Orchestra, 1964— performance in Dallas, Gunther Schuller and Third Stream music—“Sometimes” for Tenor and Electronic Sound: Connecting with the Spiritual—teaching undergraduates and Philip Bezanson—a faculty position at Oberlin University, 1965-70, and African Americans in higher education—blatant racism in ROTC and the Civil Rights Movement—Serving as the first Black faculty member at Oberlin Conservatory, the Black Student Union and development of Black Studies—dealing with the Invisible Man Syndrome—creating the Electronic Music Studio and researching African American Music—first commission: Setting LeRoi Jones’ “Biography”—the births of Dawn and Kent Wilson, 1961 and 1964 vii Interview 5: January 30, 2003 176 Settling in Berkeley, 1970—thoughts about diversifying the UC Berkeley faculty— ideological factions: revolutionary nationalists vs. cultural nationalists—teaching African American music and expanding performance opportunities in the Music Department— Getting tenure, 1972—a first Guggenheim Grant, 1971, and working, researching and composing in Ghana—understanding the African Diaspora; Shango Memory; a reinterpretation of cultural memory Interview 6: February 13, 2003 210 Voices, A Tanglewood Commission, 1970, Sinfonia for the Boston Symphony, 1984, and the Elegy for Calvin Simmons and Olly Wilson, Sr.—Spirit Song, Harold Farberman and an Affinity with the Oakland Symphony—Sometime: reflections on the Black Baptist Church and Spirituals, Bill Brown and No More—Symphony 3: Hold On, 1998; the Chicago Symphony and orchestral programming—Echoes for Clarinet and Tape, and A City Called Heaven--the Endowed Music Chair at UC Berkeley and Lumina, 1989—a commission for the New York Philharmonic Centennial, Shango Memory, and orchestra costs—The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy in Rome, and a Second Guggenheim grant, 1978—UC Berkeley as an environment for composers; forming the Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players—the learning of music theory and defining African American music—considerations that drive art: the fundamentals of human behavior Interview 7: March 24, 2003 247 The issue of tenure and minority faculty; serving under Chancellor Michael Heyman as Faculty Assistant for Affirmative Action—the context for affirmative action and the University of California response: faculty career development programs—dealing with conservative university lawyers; the Professional Development Program for graduate students—the faculty review process and confidentiality—The Black Caucus, its development and significance, and the University response—Affirmative Action adversaries and advocates Interview 8: May 8, 2003 273 Call and Response: collaborating with painter Mary Lovelace O’Neal—Dark Days in the Abundant Blue Light of Paris; African Americans in Paris—mentoring Mary Lovelace O’Neal at UC and reflections on the old boy network—requisites for academic success: researching, teaching, community service—what he learned from serving as Faculty Assistant For Affirmative Action—the “guild,” and membership in the “guild”— Pathways and avenues of institutional change and responsiveness at UC Berkeley Interview 9: May 19, 2003 298 More on the position of Faculty Assistant for Affirmative Action--Affirmative Action and recent developments at UC: women and minorities on the faculty--Center for the viii Continuing Education of Women, 1972, and Margaret Wilkerson— supporting minorities and women faculty as Affirmative Action Assistant vs. serving the administration— Remembering African American Studies Professor Barbara Christian; the issue of changing departments; the African American Studies Program Interview 10: June 2, 2003 317 Affirmative Action and admission policies at UC—apartheid struggle on campus— involvement in Berkeley politics--strife in the department of Black Studies; the Third World College—Third World Marxism in the 1970s and its effect on music—Composers and politics: musical reflections on Vietnam, Civil Rights and 9/11—Jimi Hendrix and Sly and Family Stone and their differing sensibilities--reception theory and the music audience as shaper Interview 11: June 30, 2003 345 The spiritual and the African tradition within the Christian church--religion as a control mechanism for African American slaves—bringing the spiritual into the compositions— writing vocal music and finding the voices—Reflecting on the oral history process [End of Interview] ix Interview Description—Olly Wilson Professor Olly Wilson was interviewed as part of both the African American Faculty and Senior Staff Oral History Project and the American Composer series. The African American Faculty and Senior Staff Oral History Project explores the experiences of African American faculty and senior staff at UC Berkeley as part of the broader history of the University of California and its commitment to access and diversity. Professor Wilson joined UC Berkeley’s Department of Music in 1970. Born in 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri, Olly Wilson grew up playing jazz piano with local groups in St. Louis and double bass in several orchestras. Receiving his B.M. degree from Washington University