School of Music, Theatre and Dance

School of Music, Theatre and Dance

The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey Copyright © 2015 by the Regents of the University of Michigan

The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey was first published beginning in 1942. For its 2017 Bicentennial, the University undertook the most significant updating of the Encyclopedia since the original, focusing on academic units. Entries from all versions are compiled in the Bicentennial digital and print-on-demand edition. Contents

1. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 1 Charles A. Sink, Kenneth G. Hance, and Marion E. McArtor

2. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 41 Theodore Heger,

3. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 54 Steven M. Whiting

[1]

School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942)

Charles A. Sink, Kenneth G. Hance, and Marion E. McArtor

THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY AND THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

EARLY history. — The history of the University Musical Society is so interwoven with the development of music in the University, and with the affairs of its subdivisions, the School of Music and the Choral Union, that in order to record the history of any one of these, it is necessary to consider it in relationship to the others. The first official mention of music by the University was in reference to bells. On January 14, 1845, Regent Kearsley reported that the committee on finance to whom had been referred the matter of the bell and hangings belonging to the Central Railroad, which at that time were being used by the University, “believing said bell to be too small for the permanent purpose of the University,” considered its purchase inexpedient. They “borrowed” it, however, promising to return it “on demand.” 2 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

On June 28, 1864, almost twenty years later, “the Executive Committee was authorized to procure a bell for the University, not exceeding six hundred pounds in weight.” The matter evidently was of a controversial nature for the resolution was considered and tabled. Apparently, the University finally purchased a bell, for on March 28, 1865, appears the following item: “For the Bell … $526.09.” Five years later, on June 27, 1870, it was ordered, “that the Steward be instructed to procure a new bell, of the same weight as the old one, exchanging the old one and paying the difference from the general fund” (R.P., 1870-76, p. 47). Thus, for a period of twenty-five years, the question of purchasing a bell for the University was under consideration. What final disposition was made of the bell is not known, but Horace G. Pretty-man of the class of 1885, related that during the seventies there was a bell, perhaps a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, on the north wing of University Hall. It was rung mornings and on other occasions. Students in the upper classes, objecting to being awakened by the same bell which woke the freshmen, on one occasion wrapped up the clapper so that it could not ring. Another time they turned the bell upside down and filled it with water so that the clapper was frozen in ice. Finally, they stole the bell and threw it into the old “cat-hole.” Thirteen years later at a meeting of the Board of Regents on January 3, 1883, in reference to the installation of the Library chimes, which were used for more than half a century, Professor C. K. Adams reported:

In the contract for the peal of bells ordered for the Library Building, it was agreed that Mr. Meneely should take the old bell with its hangings at full price in case the University should desire to dispose of them. I expect to put the new bells in their place in the tower without any cost to the University whatever; but, in case the fund in my hands should be insufficient to pay for the mounting, I should be glad to be authorized to supplement it from a part of the proceeds from the sale of the old bell. The balance (and perhaps the whole,) will, of course, be turned into the University Treasury, in case the Regents authorize the sale. I make the suggestion with the understanding that the old bell is not to be taken down till the new ones are in working order.

In June, 1883, Adams also stated: School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 3

In the spring of 1882 President White of Cornell University volunteered to be one of three of four persons to place a peal of bells in one of the towers of the new Library Building. “Find two or three persons to join me in the matter,” said he, “and we will put four or five bells in place without cost to the University.” This suggestion was acted upon… The requisite money was put at my command; and I received direction to make a selection of bells. ….. Of all musical instruments, a group of bells is probably the most difficult to select. The sound of a bell consists of not less than six individual tones, more or less distinct to an acute and cultivated ear; and the quality of the note emitted depends upon the harmonic adjustment of these several tones. No science can prescribe the exact conditions by which this adjustment can invariably be secured; and no art seems able to correct a defective adjustment when once a bell has been cast. A perfect peal would consist of a group of bells in which all these harmonic conditions were perfect in every bell, and in which all the bells were in perfect musical accord with one another. These conditions are so difficult of fulfillment that there is probably not a peal in the world in which they are perfectly realized. A close approximation of these conditions is what gives the especial charm to some of the famous bells of Europe. After a somewhat extended correspondence with founders in Europe and America, it was decided to give the order to the Clinton H. Meneely Bell Company at Troy, New York. Two visits to the founders were made, one in company with Mr. Battell, and one in company with Professor C. B. Cady, of our School of Music. In the visit for final inspection we examined the chime in Albany, cast by the Clinton H. Meneely Company, as well as the chimes in Buffalo, one of which is the largest and probably the most satisfactory in America. Professor Cady is of the opinion that the bells cast for this University, though not quite perfect when judged from a standard of ideal excellence, are more nearly in tune than were the bells of any of the chimes we visited. The acquaintances of Professor Cady need not be reminded that he is not accustomed to find musical perfection. The bells are tuned respectively to G, F, E, B, and E, — a succession which provides for the striking of the so-called Cambridge quarters besides the strike of the hour on the large bell. The bells range in weight from 210 to 3,071 lbs. On the large bell are two inscriptions. That on the east side is the following: universitati michiganensium / ab / iacobo i. hagerman / edvino c. hegeler / andrea d. white / donata / mdccclxxxiii./ On the opposite side is inscribed: bonarum artium / rerumque / humanarum ac divinarum / studiosos / convocamus. 4 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

….. In fulfillment of instructions from the donors and in their behalf, I now present these bells to the University. Through the years to come may they speak out their own words: — call together those who are studious of all good things both human and divine. (R.P., 1881-86, pp. 340-42.)

At the same meeting the President was requested to thank the Messrs. J. J. Hagerman, E. C. Hegeler, and President Andrew D. White, for the present of the bells for the “new Library Building.” These chimes remained in the tower of the old Library Building until it was demolished in 1918, to make place for the present Library Building, when they were transferred to the tower of the Engineering Building. The subject of bells apparently did not arise again until President Burton developed the postwar University building program. Dr. Burton had frequently expressed the hope that sometime the University might have a campus tower with a carillon. Those who knew him realized that only the necessity for buildings to meet the immediate needs of an increasing student enrollment restrained him from giving more attention to the project of a bell tower. It was natural, therefore, upon Dr. Burton’s death in 1925, that his interest in a carillon and tower should have been remembered. The Ann Arbor Alumni Club, by investigation and enthusiasm, did much to forward the plan of the carillon and tower. Had it not been for the depression of 1929, it is likely that the efforts of this group would have been successful at that time. In 1935 Charles Baird (’95, LL.B. ’95, A.M. hon. ’40) generously gave the University $50,000 “for the purchase of a carillon, to be known as the Charles Baird Carillon.” Later gifts by Mr. Baird for additional bells and for the Tower brought his total contribution “for the carillon, clock, and tower to the sum of $77,500” (R.P., 1932-36, pp. 597, 776). Efforts were begun to provide additional funds in the amount of approximately $200,000 for the construction of a tower to be known as the Marion LeRoy Burton Memorial Tower, to house School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 5 the Charles Baird Carillon. Trust funds held by the University were supplemented by gifts. Work was begun on the construction of the Tower in 1936. In the meantime a carillon of fifty-three bells had been ordered from the J. H. Taylor Bell Foundry, of Loughborough, England. Earl V. Moore, Musical Director of the University, visited the foundry for the purpose of inspecting and approving the bells before they were shipped. The largest, or Bourdon bell, weighs more than twelve tons and has the pitch of E-flat below middle C. The smallest bell weighs twelve pounds and sounds the note of G-sharp, four and one-half octaves above the Bourdon. In August, 1936, Wilmot F. Pratt, of New York City, a graduate of the Carillon School, Malines, Belgium, was appointed University Carillonneur. Dedicatory exercises were held December 4, 1936, in the formal presentation of the Charles Baird Carillon. Mr. Frank Cecil Godfrey acted on behalf of the bell founders, and Mr. Charles Baird made the presentation to President Ruthven, who accepted on behalf of the University. The Charles Baird Carillon and the Marion LeRoy Burton Memorial Tower serve as memorials to a loyal alumnus and an able President. As space in the School of Music Building is limited, the several floors in the Tower, as well as Harris Hall and Lane Hall, are used for practice and teaching studios. On the outer wall of the Burton Memorial Tower is a large stone plaque, bearing the following inscriptions:

The / Burton Memorial / Tower / Erected to the Memory of / Marion LeRoy Burton / President of / the University of Michigan / 1920.25 The / Charles Baird / Carillon / Presented to / the University of Michigan / by / Charles Baird / Class of 1895

During the quarter century from 1845 to 1870, the single reference to music by the Regents, other than that relating to bells, is found in a report of November 3, 1869: “Regent Johnson moved that the President be authorized to procure one hundred copies of a music book for use in the Chapel exercises.” Seven years later, on July 12, 1877, it was resolved “that in view of the increase of the diploma fee the University shall hereafter 6 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

furnish the music on Commencement occasions, which has heretofore been paid for by the graduating classes.” In the late seventies and in the beginning of the eighties great interest developed in music, both in the community and in the University. In the spring of 1879 a Messiah Club was formed by singers from several of the church choirs. “In the autumn the organization was perfected, under the name of the ‘Ann Arbor Choral Union’ … Its membership embraced without discrimination, persons connected with the University and persons not so connected” (Winchell, “Our Musical Interests”). It undertook the program of the Messiah Club to give concerts in the local churches. Almost before this movement had crystallized the University Musical Society was organized in order to “bridge the music of the community with that of the University.” The Ann Arbor School of Music was in its infancy and in the deliberations which followed, frequent references were made to the Amphion Club, to the Chequamegon Orchestra, which not only played for parties but also “did better things,” and to the University Glee Club. At a meeting of the Regents, March 24, 1880, the following communication from the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, advocating instruction in music, was read:

1. Music as a science is closely allied to our existing scientific course, and, properly taught, would be no less useful as a disciplinary study. 2. As an art it comes in contact with life and society more universally than any other of the aesthetic arts, while it is so inseparable from many of the duties as well as the pleasures of life, that it may justly be reckoned also among the useful arts. 3. As a profession scarcely any is more in demand at the present moment than that of music-teaching, and on scarcely any is more money expended by all classes of people — rich and poor. 4. Music was one of the seven liberal arts originally embraced in the attainments necessary to the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and though it is now omitted from the prerequisites to a degree in Arts, no University can be found, or scarcely any, of the rank of the University of Michigan, in which provision is not made for the teaching and cultivation of music. At the same time, music in its present state of development, emphatically a modern art, is far more worthy of a place in liberal studies than in those times when it was one of the conditions of a degree. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 7

….. 8. We believe that for all these reasons this University should no longer be left without some provision for teaching the science and art of Music. 9. The objects to be accomplished are two: First, the establishment of theoretic and scientific courses in music, such as can be given by class instruction, and placed, as lately, in some other institutions, among the elective studies. Second, the encouragement and culture of music in the University at large, by means of classes, for the practice of choral and instrumental music, open to all students of the University possessing the requisite qualifications. The work of the Professor of Music should be such as can be performed in the way of class instruction; consisting of lectures on the history of music, and instructions in the principles of the science of music, and of practical teaching or drill of such students as are sufficiently advanced to participate in exercises in choral and instrumental music. As no provision can be made by the University for the teaching of individual pupils, consistently with the principle of free tuition, established by the State Constitution, it should be understood that the Professor of Music shall be at liberty to organize and direct, outside of his University work, a school of music, providing for instruction on the organ, piano, and other instruments, as well as for individual or class instruction in vocal music, and to derive a part of his support from the tuitions of such school; the same to have no officialelation r to the University. 10. We believe that in case these views meet with favorable consideration of the Honorable Board, a gentleman of superior musical education and experience can at this time be secured to take charge of organizing and conducting such a work in the University. (R.P., 1876-81, pp. 472-73.)

On June 30, it was reported:

Your Committee is of the opinion that the time has arrived when this University should do something for the encouragement and cultivation of aesthetic Art. We recognize the fact that there is a widespread demand for musical culture and instruction throughout the State, and our duty as the State University, to meet that demand. Moreover, we believe that so favorable an opportunity has never before occurred, and is not likely to again occur, for inaugurating this department of instruction, inasmuch as we have now the certainty of securing a teacher to assume the charge of the instruction, possessing eminent fitness; and it will 8 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

be directly under the fostering care of the Acting President[Dr. Frieze], who has long desired the inauguration of this movement. We believe that the establishment of systematic and thorough musical instruction will meet a want long felt, and will constitute a positive attraction to a large class of students, and not only enlarge the scope of culture at the University, but draw new members to her classes. We do not consider it wise at this time to establish a Professorship of music, but think the appointment of an Instructor of music would secure the inauguration of a course, which, if successful and satisfactory, could be hereafter xtendede and enlarged. We therefore recommend that the prayer of the memorialists be effectuated by the adoption of the following resolution: Resolved that an Instructorship of Music be, and the same is hereby established in the University, and that Calvin B. Cady be, and is hereby appointed to said Instructorship, with a salary of $900 per annum, to commence with the next college year. (R.P., 1876-81, pp. 543-44.)

The report was adopted without dissenting vote. These records clearly indicate that while the Regents and the faculty were in sympathy with a progressive music policy, they were ultraconservative in their efforts to solve the problem of providing individual instruction in practical music. Their conservatism is further revealed by the adoption on September 15, 1880, of the following resolution which provided meagerly for the equipment of the music room: “The Committee on the Literary Department recommend, that an appropriation of thirty dollars be made to equip the music room with charts and works of instruction.” Five years later on June 24, 1885, Cady’s title was changed to Acting Professor of Music, and on June 27, 1887, a motion to increase his salary from $900 to $1,600 was amended and compromised with one dissenting vote fixing the salary at $1,200. Later, on the grounds that he had done extra work in preparing the music for the SemiCentennial Commencement week, an additional sum of $200 was allowed him. He resigned in July, 1888, and President Angell, in his annual report to the Regents, said:

Professor Cady, who has resigned after a connection of eight years with [the] University, has rendered a most valuable service to us and to this community by elevating the standard of musical taste School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 9

and by awakening an enthusiasm for the study of classical music. Upon him fell the somewhat difficult task of organizing the work of musical instruction in the University and of convincing men that such instruction was a proper and useful part of the work of the University. (R.P., 1886-91, p. 254.)

At the same meeting “Albert A. Stanley was appointed Professor of Music in the place of Professor Cady, resigned, at the salary of $1,200.” It was not until seventeen years later that the problem of providing instruction in applied music was partly solved, when on June 20, 1905, a resolution was adopted permitting students in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts to elect courses in practical music in the School of Music for which they were to receive credit toward the bachelor of arts degree. Almost a quarter of a century later, in 1929, the problem was completely solved when the School of Music became an integral unit of the University. The School of Music continued to be administered by the Board of Directors of the Musical Society, but matters of policy and principle were subject to the approval of the Regents. The title to the real estate owned by the Musical Society passed to the University, which, in return, made an annual appropriation to assist in payment of salaries and other expenses of the School of Music. In 1933 elections to the Board of Directors of the Musical Society also became subject to confirmation by the Regents. This action placed the School still more directly under University control. The early conservatism of the University with reference to provisions for the study of music as an art, by circumstance, served in large measure to bring about the affiliation. The School of Music, as a separate and independent institution, had been stimulated to extraordinary effort by the assurance that it was performing a service desired by the University but not in competition with it. Consequently, the directors of the School of Music had been encouraged to maximum effort in meeting the problems with which they had been confronted. As a result, at the time that the School was merged with the University in 1929, the curriculums were so comprehensive that only minor 10 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

adjustments were required to conform with the general educational standards of the University. Formation of the University Musical Society. — With the establishment in the University of an instructorship in music in 1880, the efforts of the several music groups in the community were rewarded by the organization and incorporation of the University Musical Society, which “was especially intended to serve as a means of bringing … [the Choral Union] into such relations with the University as would justify the appropriation of certain advantages which the University was able to afford.” After a preliminary meeting on February 4, 1880, the members of the Choral Union who were on the faculty of the University were called together on February 14 by President Frieze to consider the organization of a “University Musical Society.” Present in addition to Frieze were C. K. Adams, E. L. Walter, P. R. B. dePont, B. L. D’Ooge, B. C. Burt, W. W. Burt, John Ayers, and W. T. Whedon. Representatives of this new group held joint meetings with those members of the Choral Union and of the Orchestra who were associated with the University and explained to them the plans of the proposed new society. On February 21, 1880, the Choral Union formally adopted a constitution and elected the following officers: H. S. Frieze, P. R. B. dePont, D. E. Osborne, C. B. Cady, W. H. Dorrance, and F. A. Robinson. On February 24 the name “University Musical Society” was decided upon. The constitution was almost identical with that of the Choral Union except for a change of names. The two organizations, the Choral Union and the University Musical Society, were administered by the same officers and their affairs were conducted almost jointly. On May 4, 1880, a semipublic rehearsal and on June 28 a commencement concert were given under the auspices of the University Musical Society and the Choral Union. The University Musical Society did not propose in itself to become a performing body but to be an executive and administrative organization. Its purpose was to stimulate musical taste in the University and in the community. It planned to establish a school of music and to maintain a choral society and an orchestra, and to give “such concerts, lectures, and other School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 11 public entertainments as might seem practicable and desirable.” The simplicity, breadth of vision, and wisdom shown in the framing of its constitution were so comprehensive that the Society, since several times reincorporated, still operates, with slight amendments, under the original provisions. In 1880 Calvin B. Cady, a distinguished young musician from Oberlin, Ohio, who had studied at the Leipzig Konservatorium and who had been elected conductor of the Choral Union and of the University Musical Society, was appointed by the Regents to the newly established instructorship in music in the University. He desired to incorporate the Ann Arbor School of Music, which he had established as a private venture. This was considered, but it was finally decided that the School would be on a firmer basis by the incorporation of the University Musical Society. Under this charter all three divisions, the School of Music, the Choral Union, and the University Orchestra, enjoyed the benefits of corporate existence, and at the same time, each in large measure controlled its own affairs. After several meetings in April, 1881, the following Board of Directors for the University Musical Society was elected: H. S. Frieze, A. S. Winchell, C. K. Adams, T. P. Wilson, E. L. Walter, C. B. Cady, P. R. B. dePont, W. H. Dorrance, W. W. Beman, B. L. D’Ooge, F. A. Robinson, and D. E. Osborne. At this meeting the articles of incorporation were adopted and signed. On April 22 the first meeting of the Board of Directors was held, and the following officers were elected: President, H. L. Frieze; Vice President, A. S. Winchell; Secretary, W. W. Beman; and Treasurer, C. K. Adams. An ordinance providing for the administration of the Ann Arbor School of Music was also adopted, and the following Board of Trustees was elected to conduct the affairs of the School: B. M. Cutcheon, E. O. Grosvenor, P. B. Loomis, H. S. Frieze, A. S. Winchell, C. K. Adams, T. P. Wilson, W. J. Herdman, C. Mack, I. Hall, Rev. S. S. Harris, and Rev. J. H. Bayliss. These trustees elected the following officers for the School: H. S. Frieze, A. S. Winchell, W. J. Herdman, and C. K. Adams. In the organization and administration of the several interlocking organizations, because of the duplication of personnel, only a small group was concerned. As a result the 12 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

functions of the subordinate boards declined in importance, and the Board of Directors of the Musical Society became dominant. Because the same people in many cases served on both major and subsidiary boards, vacancies in the latter were seldom filled, and responsibility devolved more and more heavily upon the parent board. Thus, the orchestra soon lost its identity as a separate organization. The Choral Union Board continued for a longer period, more in name, however, than in reality. The Board of Trustees of the School continued with diminishing powers until 1892, when a second reorganization took place. At that time the ordinance creating its board was repealed, and the affairs of the chorus, the orchestra, and the School were placed under the direct control of the Board of Directors of the Musical Society. The Choral Union. — According to Paul R. B. dePont, first secretary, the Choral Union, organized in October, 1879, was “grafted on the old Messiah Club, founded in 1879 [early spring] under the direction of Professor Frieze, and which ultimately toward the end of the [school] year, was pledged to give 4 concerts for the benefit of the 4 churches then represented among its members” (“Choral Union Record,” 1879-86, p. 1). On October 21, 1879, a constitution was adopted and the following officers elected: President, H. S. Frieze; Secretary, P. R. B. dePont; Treasurer, D. E. Osborne; Librarian, B. L. D’Ooge; First Conductor, C. B. Cady; Second Conductor, B. C. Burt. A memorial prepared by Alexander Winchell in 1889 on the death of Henry Simmons Frieze gives something of the background of musical life in Ann Arbor as well as an account of the part he had played in the development of music in the University:

Dr. Frieze was endowed with a delicate perception of the charms of music. His soul thrilled in unison with all the tender or lofty themes which the muses inspire; but with a soul responsive to the charms of beauty under all its forms, music was from early life, his companion and his solace. When, in 1854, he became connected with the University of Michigan, he promptly established a reputation as an organist and pianist. For some years he consented to preside at the organ of St. Andrew’s Church, and at a more recent period, he rendered the same service for one of the other churches of the city. He was School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 13

an admirable conductor, and a helpful and invigorating teacher of music. Around him the musicians of the city gathered themselves, and he led and taught them with zeal and inspiration. It was he who first introduced the higher musical compositions to our people. He aggregated our choirs, and encouraged them to undertake the choruses from the oratorios. He trained them till they were competent to offer public performances of merit; and a large number of public concerts were given under his direction in the twenty years between 1860 and 1880. (“Musical Society Record,” Dec. 9, 1889, pp. 76-79.)

On May 4, 1880, the first semipublic rehearsal was held. On Sunday, June 27, the group sang the first chorus of “As the Hart Pants” at the baccalaureate service, and the next day gave a commencement concert. The following year a program consisting of three semipublic rehearsals, three recitals by the School of Music, and a final concert in June was outlined and evidently was successfully carried out. In the fall of 1881, arrangements were made for the presentation of Haydn’s Creation. That the chorus had its difficulties in the matter of attendance is indicated by a resolution passed by the Executive Board in 1882 instructing the secretary, Charles M. Gayley (’78, LL.D. ’04, Litt.D. Glasgow ’01), who was later to write “The Yellow and the Blue,”, “to invite all irregular members [of] the Union to be present at the next regular rehearsal, or forever after to eepk away.” In 1882 rehearsals were poorly attended, those present numbering not more than twenty to forty. The Misse Solennelle of Gounod was studied. In the autumn of 1883 the chorus studied Mendelssohn’s Saint Paul, and on November 21, with the choir of the Baptist Church, a concert was presented in honor of Saint Cecilia. In November the chorus voted to participate in the dedicatory exercises in connection with the new Library Building. The Ypsilanti Chorus under Professor H. Pease was invited to join in two performances of Saint Paul. It was arranged to present the work in April, 1884, in Ann Arbor and in Ypsilanti. Later in the spring rehearsals were begun on Samson. In October it was voted to invite the Ypsilanti Chorus again to join in giving some suitable oratorio, a project which seems not to have been successful. The chorus decided to study “The Dream” by Costa, 14 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

the “Rosebud” by Blumenthal, and the cantata Rebekah by Barnby. On February 25, 1885, a concert was given with sixty participating. Before the concert, which was a great success, William H. Dorrance, on behalf of the chorus, presented Conductor Cady with a new baton and announced that a new platform and a desk had been provided. Melusina, by Hoffman, was given in June, 1885, with eighty- two participants. According to the secretary, the performance was evidently something of an anticlimax: “Small house, cold audience, spiritless performance, small proceeds.” Two concerts were given during the next year, apparently with only moderate success, including the Messiah, in May. Orrin* B. Cady, accompanist, offered his resignation, which apparently was not accepted, for records indicate that he continued in this capacity for several years thereafter. By 1888 the efforts of the Choral Union seem to have reached a low ebb. In March of that year the secretary recorded:

Small attendance. Efforts made to revive a fit of enthusiasm in order to get through the proposed concert. Task almost hopeless; no one has time to do it; no one seems to care to do it. The Society has dwindled down to a very small size; it is like the last glimmer of a dying fire. The Board tried to meet but could get no quorum. (“Choral Union Record,” 1879-86, p. 25.)

In 1888 Calvin Cady, apparently discouraged, resigned, for in the “Record” of the Choral Union, Albert A. Stanley is mentioned for the first time as conductor. A communication was received in April, 1889, by the Choral Union from the directors of the University Musical Society stating “that the Choral Union [is] advised to take such measures as shall give new life to that organization, — making such changes in their by-laws as seem necessary; changing the name of the society if desirable; and taking such other steps as shall perfect the plan …,” such action to be submitted to the Board of Directors of the University Musical Society (“Choral Union Record,” 1886-91, pp. 54-55). As a result of this recommendation the Choral Union, while retaining its name, simplified its administration and brought its activities more directly under School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 15 the control of the University Musical Society. Apparently, interest was slow in reviving, for on November 12, 1889, “Prof. Stanley scolded a good deal tonight, but the attendance was good. Sopranos 28, altos 15, tenors 10, bassos 22.” The Society sponsored a concert by the Philharmonic Club and the St. Cecilia Quartet, of Detroit, in October, 1889, and, deciding on a bold stroke, voted to engage the Boston Symphony Orchestra “at as low a figure as possible” for a concert to be given in University Hall, on May 16, 1890. The concert was so successful that for three succeeding years the orchestra was re-engaged. In December, 1889, a chorus of eighty-five sang selections from Gallia, including “Lovely Appear” and “Hail Bright Abode,” at a concert in which vocal solos were offered by Ida Winchell, piano numbers were played by Julius L. Seyler, and orchestral selections were given by the Chequamegon Orchestra. On June 25, 1890, a chorus of ninety and an orchestra of thirty participated in a special commencement concert, at which The Light of Asia by Dudley Buck was given. The soloists were Ida B. Winchell, Jules Jordan, and F. Campbell. A performance by the New York Philharmonic Club was scheduled in 1890. A choral concert was given in November, and it was reported that “never before in its history has the Choral Union and its work been so popular.” A program was also given in behalf of the Student Christian Association. In March, 1891, the chorus gave a successful performance of Rhineberger’s Christopherus with an orchestra of thirty, and in May the chorus sang at exercises commemorating the death of its president, Dr. Alexander Winchell. In the early nineties the Choral Union, under Stanley’s leadership, seemed to have entered upon an era of great achievement. The ann arbor school of music. — The Ann Arbor School of Music was formally opened on September 28, 1881. Classes were conducted in a building at the corner of State and Huron streets. Its early faculty included Calvin B. Cady, Director, theory; Orrin B. Cady, piano; Marion Smith, piano; and Ada Le Van, organ. For the most part rehearsals took place in the University Chapel in University Hall. When it became a division of the incorporated Musical 16 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Society later in 1881, its instruction and concerts were carried on in co-operation with the Choral Union, and at times it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. According to the “Record” of the University Musical Society, the first faculty included Calvin B. Cady, Jeannice May, Anna Nichols, S. F. Schultz, Orrin B. Cady, Anna E. Warden, and Marion Smith. In October, 1882, it was proposed to give four popular concerts, for which an admission fee of ten cents was to be charged, and four chamber music concerts. The progress of the School lagged, and in 1888 upon the resignation of Calvin Cady, Albert A. Stanley (grad. Leipzig Konservatorium ’75, A.M. hon. Michigan ’90, D. Mus. Northwestern ’16, D. Mus. Michigan ’30) was chosen his successor. Stanley, a young musician from Providence, Rhode Island, came to the University after extensive study abroad and had already won distinction as teacher, organist, conductor, and composer. The outlook in Ann Arbor was not promising. Many students were unable to pay the relatively high fees required for individual lessons, and consequently, because of insufficient resources, it became difficult to maintain a good faculty. The situation in the Choral Union was comparable. Attendance grew irregular and the membership fell off. This precluded adequate public performance; as a result enthusiasm waned, and concerts were poorly attended. In August, 1889, Stanley also tendered his resignation, but it was not accepted, and the Board of Directors appointed a committee to help adjust the affairs of the School. In May, 1890, Levi D. Wines reported that a piano belonging to the School had been sold for $200 to help settle indebtedness. A special committee was appointed, probably as a result of this report, to consider plans for the rehabilitation of the School. Stanley, in 1891, proposed definite plans for a second reorganization. After a special committee of the Board of Directors conferred with representative Ann Arbor business men, Professor William H. Pettee reported in December, 1891: “The University Musical Society has all the power it needs to proceed to the establishment of a School of Music.” The old ordinance providing for the administration of the School through a separate Board of Trustees was repealed, and it was resolved “that the University Musical Society, in accordance School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 17 with the powers granted by its charter, proceed to the organization of a School of Music, … as soon as the necessary financial support is secured.” It was proposed that $6,500 to cover expenses, payable over a period of three years, should be guaranteed by subscription. It was further resolved that four members of the present Board of Directors should resign to make room for four new directors, two of whom were President Angell and J. H. Wade. The other two, recommended by the contributing business men, were A. L. Noble and Ottmar Eberbach. In January, 1892, the committee reported that one hundred subscriptions of sixty-five dollars each had been secured, whereupon the Board of Directors passed a resolution establishing the “University School of Music.” The board instructed Stanley to go to Chicago for the purpose of engaging teachers for the new school. Comprehensive rules of administration were adopted, and in October, 1892, the University School of Music opened for instruction in rooms rented in Newberry Hall. According to the “Record” of the University Musical Society, the faculty of the reorganized School consisted of: Albert A. Stanley, Musical Director; J. Erich Schmaal, piano; Silas R. Mills, voice; Frederic Mills, violin; Frederic L. Abel, violoncello; Frederic McOmber, flute; Gerald W. Collins, brass instruments; and Miss Grace A. Povey, piano. Special lecturers were John Dewey, psychology; Henry S. Carhart, physical basis of music; Fred N. Scott, aesthetics; Victor C. Vaughan, hygiene; William H. Howell, physiology of the voice; Isaac N. Demmon, songs of the Elizabethan age; Martin L. D’Ooge, music of the ancient Greeks. The rented rooms were inadequate, and it was proposed that the University School of Music should be moved to Main Street. This proposal was not favorably received, and a special committee was appointed to study the problem of securing a suitable site and providing ways and means for the construction of a building especially designed to meet the needs of a music school. It was decided to send a communication to all subscribers to the $6,500 fund, setting forth the necessity of a new building. Approximately $15,000 was subscribed, and the School of Music Building Association was organized and incorporated. A 18 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

site was purchased, and the building constructed on Maynard Street was occupied in the fall of 1893. On October 31 the recital hall was dedicated in memory of Henry Simmons Frieze. The school of music and the choral union. — Although interest in music lagged during the nineties, Stanley finally succeeded in arousing new enthusiasm. In 1892 Levi D. Wines (’74e), who was a member of the Choral Union, and who had served as treasurer of the University Musical Society since 1884, was elected treasurer of the reorganized University School of Music. Upon the death of Professor Winchell in 1890, Professor Francis W. Kelsey, who had been vice-president, became president. Upon his death in 1927 he was succeeded by Charles A. Sink (’04, M.Ed. Michigan State Normal ’29, LL.D. Battle Creek ’30), who had been Executive Secretary since 1904. Thus it was that three men of vision and sound judgment became identified at about the same time with the University Musical Society. They contributed to the Society’s progress in music for many years. Dr. Kelsey served effectively as president until his death in 1927. Dr. Stanley resigned in 1921, but remained a member of the Board of Directors until his death in 1932. Wines served as treasurer of the Society until his death in 1938. During this period interest in music increased. The University acquired the Stearns Collection of musical instruments and the Frieze Memorial Organ. Well-known artists and organizations were engaged for concerts. In the fall of 1893 Stanley proposed that the series of concerts should end, not with a single choral program as had been the custom, but with a festival of three concerts, to be given on a Friday evening, a Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening. This plan was approved, and negotiations for the Boston Symphony Orchestra apparently having failed, the Boston Festival Orchestra of fifty players, with Emil Mollenhauer, conductor, was engaged. The first festival was a great success, and it was decided to establish the May Festival as a permanent annual event. In 1896, at the first commencement exercises of the School, a class of nine was graduated. Concerts given by members of the faculty and by the students improved. Series of historical lecture-recitals in piano, voice, and violin were added. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 19

Requirements for graduation were raised and courses were included in the history and theory of music, sight-singing, harmony, counterpoint, and public school music. In 1902 an annual summer session was inaugurated. A special normal course for music teachers was instituted. In 1913 the office of Dean of Women of the School was created. Byrl F. Bacher filled this position until the School was affiliated with the University in 1929, when she was appointed Assistant Dean of Women of the University. In 1926 the University Musical Society was empowered in its own right to grant degrees. Entrance and graduation requirements for the degrees of bachelor and master of music were set up. Because the School and the concerts were not endowed and derived no financial support except through the sale of tickets and the income from tuition fees, the directors were constantly confronted with financial problems. Recognizing the principle that the concert hall is the music students’ laboratory, the School of Music from the beginning arranged to give concerts. Faculty concerts were given at frequent intervals, and with the acquisition of the Frieze Memorial Organ vesper services and organ recitals were instituted. When the organ was remodeled and moved to Hill Auditorium in 1913, interest in organ music increased. Earl V. Moore (’12, hon.D.Mus. Rochester ’29) was appointed University Organist in 1915 and gave many recitals. In 1923 he was succeeded by Palmer Christian (hon. Mus.D. American Conservatory of Music, Chicago ’39), a distinguished concert organist, and the annual series of Twilight Organ Recitals was instituted. A policy of providing five concerts annually in the Choral Union series had been established in the early nineties, and the number of concerts in the Festival was increased first to four, and then to five, thus providing ten concerts each year. The Choral Union and May Festival series continued on a basis of ten concerts until 1909, when a sixth concert was added to the Festival. In 1913 the Choral Union was supplemented by a Young People’s Festival Chorus of 400 voices. This chorus, selected from the children of the Ann Arbor public schools, 20 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

has been heard at each Festival since that time. In 1919 a sixth concert was added to the Choral Union series, making a total of twelve concerts each year. The following year a supplementary series of five concerts, designated “The Extra Concert Series,” was instituted, which, in 1929, in commemoration of the semicentennial anniversary of the founding of the University Musical Society, was merged with the Choral Union series. This greater series consisted of ten concerts, and the May Festival continued with six. During the season of 1940-41 an annual Chamber Music Festival was instituted, consisting of three concerts by distinguished visiting ensemble groups. At the closing concert of the first May Festival on May 19, 1894, the Choral Union sang Verdi’s Manzoni Requiem, directed by Stanley, with the Boston Festival Orchestra, Emil Mollenhauer, concert-master; Emma Juch, soprano; Gertrude Stein, mezzo- soprano; Max Heinrich, baritone; and Edward C. Towne, tenor. In the sixty-first annual Choral Union concert series (1939-40) the artists and organizations presented by the University Musical Society included Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler, Alexander Kipnis, the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, John Barbirolli, conductor, Jussi Bjoërling, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky, conductor, Kirsten Flagstad, Robert Virovai, Bartlett and Robertson, and Artur Rubinstein. In December, 1939, the Society, in accordance with long- standing tradition, presented Handel’s Messiah for the twenty- first time, with Beal Hober, William Hain, Joan Peebles, Theodore Webb, Palmer Christian, the University Choral Union, and the University Symphony Orchestra, Thor Johnson, conductor. In the forty-seventh Annual May Festival in 1940 six concerts were given, and the artists and organizations participating included: Lily Pons, Dorothy Maynor, Rosa Tentoni, Enid Szantho, Giovanni Martinelli, Robert Weede, Norman Cordon, Alexander Kipnis, Richard Hale, Joseph Szigeti, Emanuel Feuermann, Artur Schnabel, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the University Choral Union, The Young People’s Chorus, Thor Johnson, choral conductor, Eugene Ormandy, Saul Caston, Harl McDonald, Thor Johnson, and Roxy Cowin. The principal School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 21 choral works were Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns, and the cantata The Inimitable Lovers by Vardell. Supplementary to the Choral Union and May Festival concerts in that year, twenty concerts were given in the Faculty and Organ Recital series. Fifty-eight formal concerts in addition to numerous informal programs were played by Professor Percival Price on the Charles Baird Carillon; and seventy-nine recitals were performed by students. Two musical directors have presided over the May Festivals to 1940: Albert A. Stanley, who conducted the first twenty-eight (1894-1921), and Earl V. Moore, who has conducted the festivals since 1922. Three orchestras have participated: the Boston Festival Orchestra (1894-1904), the Chicago Symphony (1905-1935), and since that time the Philadelphia Orchestra. An important contributing factor to the success of the Society has been the early recognition by the Board of Regents of the importance of centralizing and supporting a single, strong, concert-giving organization. In 1906 “it was voted that the University Musical Society shall have the exclusive use of University buildings for the purpose of giving musical entertainments, except such as are rendered by student organizations” (R.P., 1901-6, p. 691). The school of music of the university. — The inscription, “Ars longa vita brevis,” on the seal of the University Musical Society was undoubtedly suggested by the first President, Henry Simmons Frieze. Its truth has been proved by the musical heritage which has come down as a result of the vision, foresight, and sound policies of the early administrators of the School. Although students in other units of the University had taken courses in music for credit since 1905, when the School of Music was affiliated with the University in January, 1929, music degrees were conferred directly by the University. The School of Music profited because the recognition of its work as being on a par with that in other fields of education lent dignity to the profession and developed an appreciation for the basic values of music. Students in other units of the University were given greater opportunities to study music and to avail themselves of musical 22 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

facilities. The student body was made up of three principal types or groups: students matriculated in the School who carried full-time work and were candidates for graduation; students enrolled in other schools or colleges of the University who elected one or more subjects in the School of Music, receiving credit in their respective units; special students, not candidates for graduation, who desired to acquire a general knowledge of music, or to supplement their professional equipment by special study. To earn the degree of bachelor of music, four years of study, amounting to 120 hours of credit and 130 honor points were required. A student offered credits in his major field, in historical and theoretical music, and in nonmusic or regular academic subjects. A candidate for the degree of master of music was required to devote at least two years after receiving his bachelor’s degree to the study or practice of music. One year was spent in full-time residence study, while the other could be devoted to professional activity, a thesis of the work covered during the year of absentia study being required. The second group, made up of students enrolled in other schools or colleges, by reciprocal arrangement, was permitted to elect certain courses in music, receiving credit in the respective units. Thus, music credit could be earned by candidates who were working for the degrees of bachelor of arts, bachelor of education, master of arts, or doctor of philosophy. Combined curriculums were also established whereby students could earn both the degree of bachelor of music and that of bachelor of arts or of education in a minimum length of time. Special students were admitted without academic entrance requirements and were allowed to pursue such subjects as their musical abilities warranted. By 1929, 340 certificates, 431 diplomas, and seventy-five degrees had been granted, representing a total of 846 graduates. From 1929 through the 1940 summer session, 721 degrees had been conferred, a total of 1,567 graduates. In the regular session and in the summer session of 1939-40, 1,569 individuals received instruction in the School. A conservative estimate of the number of students enrolled from the founding of the School in 1880 through 1940 reaches 17,055. Many of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 23 students are filling important positions as concert artists, directors, conductors, composers, writers, publishers, supervisors, teachers, church singers, and choral directors. Commensurate with this growth in the student body has been an advancement in faculty personnel. From the first, teachers of recognized standing were secured. From the original small group of instructors, the faculty membership increased until by 1940-41, in addition to Dr. Earl V. Moore, Professor of Music and Director of the School, the staff included Wassily Besekirsky, Professor of Violin; Palmer Christian, Professor of Organ and University Organist; Arthur Hackett, Professor of Voice; David Mattern, Professor of Music Education; Hanns Pick, Professor of Violoncello; Percival Price, Professor of Composition and University Carillonneur; Otto Stahl, Professor of the Theory of Music; Joseph Brinkman, Associate Professor of Piano; William D. Revelli, Associate Professor of Wind Instruments and Conductor of the University Bands; and Mabel Ross Rhead, Associate Professor of Piano. There were also eight assistant professors and seventeen instructors. The faculty assisted in the organization of many musical groups such as the University Band, the Varsity Glee Club, and the Stanley Chorus of women students. These groups, which include students from all the schools and colleges of the University, received regular direction under members of the School of Music faculty. Productions such as the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, in addition to works for student performance, have contributed to the University’s cultural entertainment. Gifts, bequests, and scholarships. — Musical development in the University has been stimulated by the generous assistance of many individuals and groups. The Stearns Collection of musical instruments, assembled from all parts of the world over a period of many years, was presented to the University in 1899 by the late Frederick Stearns, of Detroit. In the following year, his son Frederick Kimball Stearns gave the University a valuable collection of music scores, sheet music, and books (R.P., 1899-1900, p. 13). In 1896, when the need for a suitable music hall and school building was urgent, Mr. Edward C. Hegeler, (A.M. hon. ’83), of LaGrange, Illinois, made an initial contribution of $1,000 for 24 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

this purpose. This gift was used to help in the construction of the Burton Memorial Tower. In 1893, upon the reorganization of the School of Music, a suitable home was provided, largely by the generous aid of local citizens. A building association was incorporated in which stock was issued in the amount of approximately $15,000, from which amount the building on Maynard Street was constructed. Eventually, the stock was presented by the subscribers to the University Musical Society, and upon the affiliation of the School of Music with the University in 1929, the title to this property, appraised at $106,393.04, passed to the Board of Regents. At the close of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the famous Columbian organ, purchased for $15,000 by the University Musical Society, was presented to the University and set up in old University Hall. It was dedicated December 14, 1894, to the memory of Henry Simmons Frieze. It represented the highest achievement of the organ builder’s art, and was one of the first great organs to be operated entirely by electricity. In 1906, at a time when the financial affairs of the May Festival were at a low ebb and it seemed that the event might have to be abandoned, a group of Ann Arbor citizens headed by Mr. Walter C. Mack, raised a fund of $1,000 in order that the three- day event not only might continue, but might become an even greater occasion, covering four days. This help aroused such interest that the Society overcame its financial distress. In 1910 Arthur Hill (’65e), for many years a member of the Board of Regents, bequeathed to the University the sum of $200,000 for the construction of an auditorium wherein music festivals and other University gatherings might be held. The completion in 1913 of the auditorium, which bears his name, contributed much to the development of the University’s musical activities. William H. Murphy, of Detroit, bequeathed to the University the sum of $50,000 in 1930 in these terms: “Although I do not intend to place any limitations on this gift, I hope the Regents of the University will find it possible to use the principal, or the income therefrom, either in the erection of a building devoted School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 25 to music, or the maintenance thereof, or in giving worthy students the benefit of a musical education.” In 1931 the School of Music received $100,000, known as the Oliver Ditson Endowment, from the late Charles H. Ditson, a distinguished music publisher of New York City who died in 1929. The income from this fund has been employed largely for scholarships. As mentioned previously, Charles Baird gave to the University more than $75,000 in 1935-36, for the purchase of a carillon and clock to be installed in the Tower to be erected to the memory of President Burton. Funds for the construction of the Tower to house the Charles Baird Carillon were provided through several sources. The Murphy and Hegeler music building funds were transferred to the Tower fund, and the Regents supplemented these by adding other available money. Citizens of Ann Arbor and alumni of the University contributed to an extent which has made possible the completion of the Tower at a total cost, including the Baird gift, of approximately $250,000. Among gifts especially designated for scholarships are the Elsa Gardner Stanley Fund, the Chamber Music Society Fund, the Albert Lockwood Fund, the Delta Omicron Sorority Fund, and the Albert A. Stanley Fund. In 1933 the Board of Directors of the University Musical Society placed on the walls of the main corridor in the School of Music Building bronze tablets in memory of three people who had contributed much to the School of Music. They read as follows:

Francis Willey Kelsey, Ph.D., LL.D. / 1858-1927 / President of the University Musical Society / and of the / University School of Music / 1891-1927 / Professor of the Latin Language and Literature / University of Michigan / 1889-1927 / Ars longa vita brevis Albert Augustus Stanley, A.M., Mus.D. / 1851-1932 / Professor of Music in the University of Michigan / and / Musical Director of the University Musical Society / 1888-1921 / Founder of the Ann Arbor May Festival 1894 / Ars longa vita brevis Albert Lockwood / 1871-1933 / Head of Pianoforte Department / University School of Music / 1900-1933 / Professor of Pianoforte / University of Michigan / 1929-1933 / Ars longa vita brevis 26 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

In 1940 these tablets were transferred to the walls of the Society’s offices inurton B Memorial Tower. By 1940 in the Choral Union and May Festival series, approximately 750 programs had been heard. With a conservative estimated average attendance of 2,000 at each concert during the period that they were given in University Hall up to 1913, and of 4,200 for those given after that time in Hill Auditorium, the total number of admissions approached 1,812,000. For the approximately 1,200 programs of the faculty and organ recitals series, 2,400,000 more admissions have been recorded. For the 800 or more student recitals, another 160,000 admissions are estimated; a grand total of 4,000,000 admissions. In the Choral Union and May Festival series approximately 380 larger works of a choral or symphonic nature by some 300 composers had been performed. These, with smaller compositions covering practically the entire field of music literature, brought the grand total of compositions performed in this series to approximately 3,000. In addition, in the Faculty, Organ, and Student series, approximately 12,000 compositions had been heard. Participating artists and organizations numbered more than 600. Included were practically all of the major orchestras, ensemble groups, and celebrated soloists, both vocal and instrumental. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra had been heard in 173 concerts, the Detroit Symphony in forty-one, the Boston Symphony in thirteen, the Philadelphia Orchestra in fourteen, and the Cleveland, the Cincinnati, the St. Louis, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Symphony, and Pittsburgh orchestras in one or more each. Leading string quartets, other chamber music groups, bands, concert opera companies, and many celebrated soloists were presented. More than 8,000 singers had served as members of the Choral Union Series chorus and had appeared in its performances by 1940. At the close of the 1940 summer session, the University Musical Society relinquished its rights and responsibilities in the control and maintenance of the School of Music to the University, but retained other privileges, particularly those having to do with the giving of concerts in University buildings. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 27

The Musical Society turned over to the University all property and equipment (valued in 1940 at $51,979.19) except what it required for its own activities. The University prepared the first floor and basement of the Burton Memorial Tower as administrative officesor f the use of the Musical Society. Since its organization in 1879, and its incorporation in 1881 as a nonprofit educational organization, the Board of Directors of the University Musical Society has included all presidents of the University as well as other executive and administrative officers and many distinguished citizens of Ann Arbor and its environs. The following persons have served as president of the Society: Henry Simmons Frieze, 1879-81, 1883-89; Alexander Winchell, 1881-83, 1889-91; Francis W. Kelsey, 1891-1927; and Charles A. Sink, 1927-. Conductors have included Calvin B. Cady, 1879-88; Albert A. Stanley, 1888-1921; Earl V. Moore, 1922-39; and Thor Johnson, 1939-. Through the years officers and directors have ever been mindful of the legend of its founding fathers: “Ars Longa Vita Brevis.”

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Announcement, School of Music, Univ. Mich., 1929-40. Choral Union, “Record Book,” MS, 1879-1940. dePont, P. R. B.”Secretary’s Report. Oct. 5, 1880.”In Alexander Winchell Papers. D’Ooge, B. L.”Librarian’s Report. Oct. 5, 1880.”In Alexander Winchell Papers.”How Old Is the Engineering Clock.” Mich. Technic, 47 ( Jan. 1885): 10.”Music Festival Was Three- Concert Affair.” Michigan Daily, April 21, 1950.Osborne, D. E.”Treasurer’s Report. Oct. 5, 1880.”In Alexander Winchell Papers. President’s Report, Univ. Mich., 1853-1909, 1920-40. Proceedings of the Board of Regents …, 1864-1940. “Program Notes.” Ann Arbor Choral Union, University Musical Society, and School of Music. In Alexander Winchell Papers. University Musical Society, “Record Book,” MS, 1880-1940. Winchell, Alexander. MS, “Our Musical Interests.”In Alexander Winchell Papers, Vol. XXVIII, Univ. Mich. 28 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Winchell, Alexander. Papers, MS, “Diary,”In Alexander Winchell Papers. Univ. Mich. Winchell, Alexander. “The University Musical Society.”The Chronicle, May 10, 1890.

THE DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH

THE University of Michigan is unique in the development of instruction in the field of speech. The first credit-bearing course in speech in any of the leading universities was given at Michigan, and the first separate speech department in any of the large universities was also established at this institution. And, carrying on the tradition of distinction, the University has at present one of the largest and most complete departments of speech in the United States. The organization of the Department of Speech and its early development were largely the result of the ability and inspiration of Thomas Clarkson Trueblood (A.M. Earlham ’86, Litt.D. ibid. ’21) and his three early associates: Richard D. T. Hollister, Ray K. Immel, and Louis M. Eich. Trueblood came to the University in 1884 to give a six-week course of lectures. For this innovation the University provided classrooms and other equipment, but the students were required to pay a tuition fee and to take the work without academic credit. Returning in 1885-86, Trueblood found even greater interest in the study of speech, an interest which culminated in the presentation to the dean of the Department of Law of a petition by most of the law students for free tuition and a longer term of instruction. When it was found that Trueblood could arrange his engagements in other universities accordingly, Angell presented the petition to the Regents and recommended the inauguration of a ten-week course, the instructor to be a member of the University faculty for that period at least. This request was granted, and the longer course was made available. Finally, upon the insistence of the students in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, a credit course for one semester was made available. The establishment of this course was a new educational venture, for at that time no college or School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 29 university in the United States offered credit for work in speech. In the second semester of 1887-88 Trueblood was given the title of Assistant Professor of Elocution and Oratory in the Department of English. This arrangement was continued for the next two years, Trueblood relinquishing some of his other lectureships and also combining his courses at Ohio Wesleyan into the first semester of each eary . In 1889, college work in speech was extended to the full year, and Trueblood devoted his entire time to the University of Michigan. So successful was the development of new courses to meet the demands of all classes of students in both the Law and the Literary Departments that in 1892 a Department of Elocution and Oratory was created and the chairman was granted a full professorship. By this step, the University of Michigan created the first separate department and also the first professorship in speech in any of the large universities in the United States. For the next eleven years, or until the end of 1903, the courses in elocution and oratory were handled entirely by Professor Trueblood. Soon, however, the enrollment became so heavy that assistance was needed, and in 1904 an instructor was added. In 1909, two more persons were added to the staff; others were added in 1914 and thereafter, until, at the time of Professor Trueblood’s retirement in 1926, the departmental personnel consisted of nine members. Since that time it has continued its rapid growth; at present there are fifteen full-time staff members and an equal number of teaching fellows and assistants. During the nearly fifty years of its existence (to 1940), the department has had several titles: Department of Elocution and Oratory, 1892-1908; Department of Oratory, 1908-19; Department of Public Speaking, 1919-27; Department of Speech, 1927-32; Department of Speech, Phonetics, and General Linguistics, 1932; Department of Speech and General Linguistics, 1932-39; and Department of Speech, since 1939. In the years since Professor Trueblood’s retirement the department has been under the chairmanship of three persons. Professor James Milton O’Neill (Dartmouth ’07), who came to Michigan from the chairmanship of the Department of Speech 30 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

at the University of Wisconsin, served from 1927 to 1932. Henry Arthur Sanders (’90, Ph.D. Munich ’97), for many years a member of the faculty and now Professor Emeritus of Latin, served from 1932 until his retirement in 1939. Since that time Professor Gail Ernest Densmore (’22, A.M. ’24), who joined the staff of the department in 1922, has been Chairman. In addition to the departmental chairmen, the following persons of University Senate rank have been appointed to the staff, in the order indicated: Richard Dennis Teall Hollister (’02, Ph.D. ’36); Ray Keeslar Immel (Albion ’10, Ph.D. Michigan ’31), now dean of the School of Speech at the University of Southern California; Louis Michael Eich (’12, Ph.D. ’23), also secretary of the Summer Session; Carl Gunard Brandt (’21l, LL.M. ’22), also Chairman of the Department of Engineering English in the College of Engineering and Director of Student-Alumni Relations; John Henry Muyskens (’13, Sc.D. ’25); Valentine Barthold Windt (Cornell ’21, A.M. Princeton ’22), also Director of Play Production; Henry Michael Moser (Ohio State ’24, Ph.D. Iowa ’37), also academic counselor in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Clarence Linton Meader (’91, Ph.D. ’00), now Professor Emeritus; Waldo Mack Abbot (’11, ’13l), also Director of the Broadcasting Service; Henry Harlan Bloomer (Illinois ’30, Ph.D. Michigan ’35), also manager of the Speech Clinic in the Institute for Human Adjustment; William Perdue Halstead (Indiana ’27, Ph.D. Michigan ’35); Kenneth Gordon Hance (Olivet ’24, Ph.D. Michigan ’37); David Owen (Leland Stanford ’23); and Ollie Lucy Backus (’29, Ph.D. Wisconsin ’33). During the years from 1892 to the present, the department has extensively broadened its curricular and extracurricular work from its original offerings in public speaking and interpretation. In particular, instruction has been added and developed in play production, speech science, and radio. From 1892 to 1915, the courses in Shakespearean reading and interpretative reading constituted the only work in both interpretation and dramatics. Occasionally plays would be presented informally in connection with these courses, but it was not until 1915 that a course entitled Play Production was organized. In 1916 the first public play under the auspices of the department was presented, thus beginning a long and successful School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 31 program in play production which has continued to the present time. This performance of Charles Rann Kennedy’s The Servant in the House was presented in University Hall before a set of curtains and without special lighting effects or stage equipment. The growth of interest in play production, however, was rapid. Courses were extended from a single course in 1915 to six courses in 1922, and to eight in 1926, with more than one hundred fifty students enrolled each semester. In 1927 the scenic aspects of production were expanded, and with the removal of the work in play production to the Mimes Theater in 1928 there was undertaken a more elaborate and finished mounting of plays with better staging and lighting facilities. Through successive directorships of play production, the program has been expanded, with improved facilities and an increasing number of students, until at present seven or eight plays are presented during each academic year and an equal number during the summer session. The former Mimes Theater, now called the Laboratory Theater, is used for some classes and the workshops; and the public performances are presented in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater. So great has been the public’s response to the offerings of the play production classes that from four to seven performances of each play are necessary. Work in speech science was first offered by the department in 1926, with courses in phonetics and biolinguistics.* Expanding from limited beginnings to more than twelve courses requiring the services of four members of the staff, this field developed rapidly to the point where, in 1937, a fully equipped and fully staffed speech clinic was opened. This clinic, which is operated in conjunction with the Institute for Human Adjustment, now includes a staff of fifteen persons and handles more than four hundred cases annually. Through the co-operation of the Institute for Human Adjustment, the Medical School, and the School of Dentistry, the department has been able to provide distinctive opportunities to students in speech science. Not only the traditional courses in phonetics, voice science, and speech correction, but also specialized courses in the anatomy and physiology of the organs of speech, courses in clinical methods, 32 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

and work in connection with the Department of Pediatrics and the University Hospital are available. Similarly, the work in the field of radio has developed rapidly under the direction of the Department of Speech. In 1934 a specialist in this field was added to the staff of the department, and facilities in Morris Hall were made available for classroom work and broadcasting. Shortly thereafter, arrangements were made with commercial broadcasting stations in Detroit and Pontiac for allotments of time; and the University has since been “on the air” each day of the academic year and the summer session. The course offerings in radio have increased from one in 1934 to seven at the present time, with a corresponding increase in the number of programs planned, directed, and produced under the auspices of the department. Each semester approximately one hundred and fifty students elect courses in this field, which prepares candidates for positions in commercial broadcasting as well as in educational radio. The developments in these fields of dramatics, speech science, and radio, as well as similar developments in the original fields of public speaking and interpretation, and the number of students enrolled, have necessitated a significant increase in the total number of staff members and the breadth of the work done. At present the more than thirty staff members offer approximately seventy courses leading to the bachelor of arts, the master of arts, and the doctor of philosophy degrees. The courses are designed to provide abundant opportunities for the development of personal proficiency in speech, as well as to convey a body of information useful not only to teachers but also to clinical practitioners. In addition, the department sponsors a wide array of extracurricular activities in various fields. Schedules in debating and oratory are developed in conjunction with the Western Conference Debate League and the Northern Oratorical League, and each year approximately thirty students represent the University in various forensic events. As previously mentioned, the extracurricular work in dramatics consists of a winter and a summer season presented by the classes in play production. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 33

The physical equipment of the department has evolved extensively from the one classroom used by Professor Trueblood for his classes in 1884. The present facilities include not only a number of classrooms in Angell Hall and Mason Hall but also the Laboratory Theater, a broadcasting studio with ample electrical and mechanical equipment, a phonetics laboratory, and a complete speech clinic. In addition, the Department of Speech has the use of the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater for all of its public dramatic performances. During its approximately fifty years the Speech Department has been instrumental in the establishment of a number of associations and leagues, many of which are active at the present time. In 1890 the Oratorical Association was organized for the purpose of co-operating with like organizations of other Midwestern universities to sponsor debate and oratorical contests. In the Northern Oratorical League, also organized at Michigan in 1890, were the universities of Chicago, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin, and later Oberlin College, the University of Illinois, and Western Reserve University; this association has continued with only slight changes in membership until the present day. Several debating leagues have also been organized by the Department of Speech. In 1893, an association including Michigan, Chicago, Northwestern, and Wisconsin was created. A few years later the Central Debating League was formed, and the Mid-West League was organized in 1915. Shortly thereafter the department, in co-operation with the Extension Division of the University, formed the Michigan High School Debating League, which is recognized as one of the outstanding organizations of its kind in the United States. For women debaters the Michigan-Ohio-Indiana League was created in 1922, and in December, 1923, there was secured for the University of Michigan an endowment of $8,000 from Mrs. Eleanor Clay Ford, to provide testimonials and gold medals annually for each of a selected number of Michigan women participating in intercollegiate debates. Probably the largest organization created through the co- operation of the Department of Speech is Delta Sigma Rho, a national honorary forensic society with seventy-one chapters 34 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

and more than ten thousand members at the present time. Not only was the University of Michigan one of the eight leading universities of the country to be charter members, but Professor Trueblood was one of the founders of the society and served as the chairman of the organization meeting held at Chicago in 1906. Finally, the Oratorical Association Lecture Course, which had been functioning as a Student Lecture Association for several years, was placed under the sponsorship of the department in 1911. Professor Trueblood was chairman of the committee until the time of his retirement in 1926, and since that time a member of the Department of Speech has served in a similar capacity. During its years of management, the Association has presented such famous persons in the field of public affairs as William Jennings Bryan, William Howard Taft, Newton D. Baker, Winston Churchill, William E. Borah, Ruth Bryan Owen, and Albert J. Beveridge. In the field of literature and the theater, such personalities as John Galsworthy, John Drinkwater, Irvin S. Cobb, Alexander Woollcott, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Gilbert K. Chesterton, William Butler Yeats, Thomas Mann, and Edna St. Vincent Millay have appeared. In the field of exploration and travel almost every famous explorer of recent years — including Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Donald MacMillan, Carl Akeley, Roald Amundsen, Richard E. Byrd, Fritdjof Nansen, William Beebe, and Martin and Osa Johnson — has also been scheduled. This Oratorical Association is one of the oldest institutions on the University of Michigan campus, is perhaps the oldest of such organizations in the country, and, throughout its long career, has been recognized as outstanding. The summer of 1940 witnessed the establishment by the Department of Speech of a campus organization which promises to contribute much to the entire University as well as to the one field. This is the annual speech conference, conducted each summer, which makes available to all departments in the institution demonstrations and lectures in public speaking, debating, interpretation, the drama, radio, and speech correction. Each year one or more nationally prominent persons in the field of speech are to be brought to the campus for the speech conference, and the lectures and demonstrations School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 35 conducted by these authorities will extend the usefulness of the department beyond the boundaries of its courses and of the contributions of its staff members. The first university department of speech in the United States has evolved greatly from the one-person staff in 1884 to the more than thirty person staff in 1940 and from the work in elocution to that in five widely diversified fields — that is, from an undergraduate curriculum in platform arts alone to one designed to develop both graduates and undergraduates in public speaking, interpretation, drama, radio, and speech science. Throughout these years, not only has it grown within the University of Michigan, but also it has maintained its place as one of the strong departments of speech in the leading universities of the United States.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Calendar, Univ. Mich., 1887-1914. Catalogue …, Univ. Mich., 1914-23. Catalogue and Register, Univ. Mich., 1923-27. General Register Issue, Univ. Mich., 1927-40. [News Notes.] Mich. Alum., 34 (1927): 199; 34 (1928): 671, 781; 35 (1929): 511, 561, 694, 746; 36 (1930): 553; 37 (1930): 205-6; 37 (1931): 334; 38 (1932): 590; 39 (1932): 63; 39 (1933): 399; 40 (1933): 96, 181; 40 (1934): 345; 41 (1934): 114, 148, 171; 41 (1935): 225, 272; 42 (1935): 91, 151; 42 (1936): 516; 43 (1937): 194; 44 (1937): 67; 44 (1938): 322, 505-6; 46 (1939): 107; 46 (1940): 328, 544. President’s Report, Univ. Mich., 1887-1940. Proceedings of the Board of Regents …, 1884-1940.

THE STEARNS COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

The Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments, which comprises some 1,500 pieces, is housed in the second-floor lobby of Hill Auditorium. Until new or different accommodations can be obtained the collection may be visited only during such times as the building is open for public functions. The main body of the collection was a gift from Frederick 36 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Stearns (1831-1907), a Detroit manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, whose philanthropy greatly benefited the University over a period of many years. The instruments were first offered to the University in October, 1898, and the gift was gratefully accepted by the Board of Regents at their January, 1899, meeting:

Resolved, That the thanks of this Board be returned to Frederick Stearns, Esq., of Detroit, for his gift to the University of his very valuable collection of musical instruments, which represent the musical art of several centuries and of many lands, and that we have pleasure in complying with his request to place the collection in a fire-proof room in the Museum. Resolved, That we also thank Mr. Stearns for the further gift of new cases in which to install the collection. (R.P. 1896-1901, p. 342.)

At that time, the exhibit numbered 904 pieces and was described as “one of the best classified collections in the possession of any institution or individual in any country” (Angell Papers, Vol. 24). Stearns estimated the value of his instruments to be at least $25,000. Since the collection was established, it has been enlarged by further gifts from Stearns and other individuals. The collection, first exhibited in the University Museum, was moved to Hill Auditorium in 1914. During the next several years Professor Albert A. Stanley (1851-1932) performed a monumental task in developing the present display, reclassifying the instruments, and publishing a catalogue of the collection. The exhibit has remained almost untouched since Stanley’s time. Although the group was once considered one of the world’s most important instrument collections, its reputation has diminished in recent years. Lack of upkeep, of use, and of important additions has contributed to this. The collection is often criticized for its failure to include “genuine” antiques and outstanding instruments of certain types. It should be noted that Stearns’s intention was to illustrate the evolution of musical instruments and to present the amazing varieties and forms that were created by peoples from the past. That Stearns was not primarily concerned with establishing a museum of priceless antiques is revealed in his School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 37 letter of presentation. He stated: “While none of the instruments is of especial interest historically … the collection very completely represents all classes, genera, and species” (Angell Papers, Vol. 24). Although Stearns succeeded admirably in his aim, some of the pieces which were accumulated are frankly freaks, curiosities, or hybrids, a fact which he himself recognized. Outstanding among the instruments is an early seventeenth- century Italian octavina (No. 1334), designated as “Spinetta. Eighteenth century.” Professor Stanley’s description says, “The instrument proper lifts out of the beautifully decorated case. An artistically cut rose ornaments the sounding board. Compass: three octaves and one note… This beautiful instrument was at one time erroneously attributed to the celebrated maker, Hans Rücker, of Antwerp.” This octavina was restored in 1950 by John Challis, a famous American harpsichord maker. At present, it is the only keyboard instrument in the collection in condition to be used for performance. A letter by Challis, included with the instrument on its return to the display, provides further description and documentation:

Like many old musical instruments, this one has been through many repairs done by often times unskilled or careless workmen. Fortunately, no serious damage was done to it and the results of bungling workmanship could be removed and carefully restored. The instrument is of Italian workmanship style and wood. It was constructed around 1600. The outer ornamental case is of recent construction (c. 1900). It [has been] carefully cleaned and covered with two coats of varnish to protect the painting and gilding. The sides and soundboard of the instrument itself are made of Italian cypress. Several replacements had to be made where earlier repairs were badly done. The keys of boxwood and walnut are mostly original some having been replaced by earlier workmen. The old jacks were so badly damaged that they were not usable. New ones had to be made. Certain compromises in the interest of future upkeep and stability in the American climate were considered advisable such as drilling the tuning pins, long hitch pins, and keying the fragile corner joints of the instrument. No name or date of the original maker could be found on either interior or exterior of the instrument. Craftsmen’s names in those days were considered of little interest or value. This instrument is a virginal or spinet and more accurately called 38 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

an octavina because it is to be tuned an octave higher than regular pitch. Modern pitch of A-440 fits its scaling and stringing. [Signed] John Challis 1 August, 1950

Catalogue descriptions of other instruments worthy of note include:

• 768. OLIPHANT. Carved ivory…..France The surface is covered with beautiful carvings, including medallion portraits of Francis I, Henry II, and Francis II. It has a cup mouthpiece. It is too large to have served as an actual hunting horn. • 1037. LIUTO…..Italy Pear-shaped body of fluted strips of edr wood. Flat sound-board, with ornamented rosette sound- hole. The neck — flat and inlaid with vi ory — bends at an acute angle. Nine pairs of fine wire strings. A type made familiar by the great Italian painters. • 1277. VIOLINO…..Italy This differs from the usual type in that the strings are tightened by a metal device. A similar device in use on other bowed instruments may have suggested its application, but whether by the maker whose name appears below, or by some other, is an open question. Signed — “Nicolaus Amatus, Cremonen. Hieronyme filius antonii nepos, fecit, 1670.” • 1296A. VIOLA D’AMORE…..Italy, or France This beautiful instrument, of the seventeenth century, exhibits the rare workmanship characteristic of early Italian and French makers, and is the choicest example of its type in the Collection. The top of the body — with C sound-holes — is purfled with vi ory and ebony inlay, and the back carries a representation of a shepherdess surrounded with scroll-work designs. The curved peg-box ends in a carving of a man’s head. Six bowed strings run over a finger-board of ebony, inlaid with boxwood in an artistic design, to a tail-piece of like material and decoration. Six sympathetic strings occupy their usual positions.

The most popular single piece, an automatic clarinet player (No. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1942) 39

644) from Germany, more logically belongs in a mechanical exhibition. This curiosity, once the property of J. P. Barnum, is one of the many mechanical music-makers created by nineteenth-century technicians. Stanley comments:

The original gay habiliments vanished in the fire which destroyed its home, Barnum’s Museum, New York, and, as the mechanism was wrecked, it is impossible to give any information as to its repertoire. The brass clarinet, in three sections, is 36 cm. long, and the diameter of the bell is 12.5 cm. The wind was furnished by a bellows run by clock work, which also governed the movement of the keys, of which two are in the bell section. Friedrich Kaufman, of Dresden (1785-1866), invented a number of such automatic players, and it is probable that this automaton was made by his son, Friedrich Theodor (1823-1872), who developed the Orchestrion — in 1851 — from an earlier instrument devised by his father.

The collection still successfully accomplishes its main objective: to exhibit musical instruments of all times and all peoples. In particular, the primitive types and the brass and woodwind groups are well represented. The recent growth of musicological studies has created an interest in the principal performance mediums of past ages and, in turn, in the collection itself. As a consequence certain weaknesses, such as the lack of viols and certain keyboard instruments, have become apparent. The chief needs are playable pieces of the following kinds: viols (all sizes), vielles, viola d’amore, clavichord, and a piano suitable for performance of late eighteenth-century music. The acquisition of these would aid in restoring the Stearns Collection to a position of importance and usefulness. Future plans call for the adoption of more modern methods of display and for the reconditioning of most of the instruments, at least of their visual features. When this is accomplished, special exhibits can be inaugurated so that this valuable resource will be more useful as an educational force in the University and in the community. [Marion E. McArtor died January 13, 1956.] 40 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

The James B. Angell Papers, MS, Vols. XV, XXII, and XXIV. Guide to the Michigan Historical Collections. 2 vols. Detroit, 1941-42. In Memoriam Frederick Stearns. [n.p., 1907?] MS, Letter from John Challis, dated August 1, 1950. Proceedings of the Board of Regents …, 1896-1901. Stanley, Albert A.Catalogue of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1918. Second edition in 1921. Stanley, Albert A.”The Value of a Collection of Musical Instruments in University Instruction,”Proceedings of the Music Teachers’ National Association, III (1908): 78-95. Stanley, Albert A. Papers. [2]

School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975)

Theodore Heger,

THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In 1940 the School of Music became an autonomous school in the University, upon the terms and conditions for the separation of the School of Music and the University Musical Society as approved by the Board of Regents on May 24, 1940. In December of that year the Regents adopted bylaws stating the purposes and governing principles of the School. Earl Moore was appointed Director. The enrollment at that time numbered 303 students, with 278 registering for the summer session. Twice as many students from other units of the University, especially from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, also elected courses in music. There were 40 faculty members and 17 assistants. Even though the staff and student body were comparatively small in relation to the current figures, 72 concerts were presented on campus that year in recitals and small ensembles. 42 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Faculty members giving private instruction in applied music (performance) were paid on a commission basis in addition to a salary. When the University assumed responsibility for the School in 1940, commissions were discontinued, and all members of the staff were appointed on salary. The first budget was set at $145,025, plus $47,510 to be collected from the fees for private lessons. At that time students enrolled in the School paid the standard University registration fee and an additional sum for private lessons. The additional fee was determined on a sliding scale. In May 1944, however, a uniform registration fee for all students was determined, regardless of the teacher with whom they might study. Dr. Moore’s appointment was changed from Director to Dean in 1946. When Dean Moore retired in 1960, there were 59 full- time teachers on the staff. Enrollment had reached over 500 with 50 registered in the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and more than 1,300 students in other units of the University electing courses offered by the School of Music faculty. By 1972-73 there were 106 members of the faculty and 112 teaching fellows to service an enrollment of 861; 112 of those were registered for graduate degrees in the Rackham School. On Dean Moore’s retirement, Assistant Dean James Wallace assumed the deanship of the School. On July 1, 1970, Dean Wallace resigned his duties as dean to resume his career as a teacher. Associate Dean Allen Britton was appointed Acting Dean during Dean Wallace’s leave of absence, and on February 1, 1971, he became Dean. His former duties asliaison between the Rackham Graduate School and the School of Music were taken over by Professor Robert A. Warner, who was appointed Associate Dean at that time. Two committees responsible for the educational policy and curriculums of the School are the Council of Departmental Representatives (CDR) and the Faculty Council of Doctoral Studies (FCDS). The CDR is concerned with such matters as the core curriculum, academic records and discipline, courses offered, extracurricular activities, and the Honors Program. The FCDS is concerned with degree programs in music authorized and administered by the Graduate School. The Committee on Scholarships and Awards is responsible for dispersing monies at School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 43 its disposal for scholarships and, with recommendations from the faculty, chooses the recipients of the many awards available each year. Degrees. — The Bachelor of Music degree had been offered by the University Musical Society from 1923 until 1929. From 1929 until 1940 both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees were conferred jointly by the Musical Society and the University. It was also possible to obtain a Master of Arts degree in music from the Graduate School under the supervision of the faculty of the School of Music. In May of 1945 the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Musicology and Music Education and the Doctor of Education in Music Education were authorized by the Regents and granted by the Rackham School. In November 1953, the Regents established a new degree — Doctor of Musical Arts — as a professional degree in the fields of composition and performance, again to be administered by the Graduate School. In April 1971 the Doctor of Philosophy in Theory was inaugurated. Another degree, Bachelor of Musical Arts was approved by the Regents and went into effect in the fall semester of 1973. Interlochen. — Not long after the School of Music became an independent unit, Joseph Maddy, founder and president of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, requested that a summer branch of the School of Music be established at the Camp to offer accredited University courses to undergraduates. Agreement with the School of Music and the Board of Regents was reached in October 1941. This agreement was renewed for a period of five years in December of 1944 with the liaison committee composed of the deans of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the School of Education, and the School of Music, and again in September of 1949 with the stipulation “that the Deans of the Schools and Colleges within which courses are authorized shall constitute an Advisory Committee on Relationship with the National Music Camp.” This agreement was renewed for another five years in 1954 and again in 1957, after which the College Division at National Music Camp became a permanent institution. In addition, the National Music Camp and the School of Music were associated in the formation of the All-State Program, a series of 44 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

concentrated two-week sessions for secondary school music students from the state of Michigan. Conferences. — These conferences held annually have drawn hundreds to the campus from all over the country. These are the Midwestern conference on School Vocal and Instrumental Music, inaugurated in 1945, the National Band Conductors and Wind-Percussion Teachers Conference, inaugurated in 1948, and the Conference on Organ Music which began in 1960. Physical Plant. — As the reputation of the School of Music grew, so did the student body. Before the new building was erected in 1964, the School was housed in thirteen buildings scattered throughout the main campus. These ranged from the old music building on Maynard Street, which was used for private teaching studios and practice rooms, along with a small recital hall, to Harris Hall (rented from St. Andrews Church) for the use of the Wind Instrument Department and the University bands and orchestra; Angell Hall, Burton Memorial Tower, Hill Auditorium, Lane Hall, the School of Education, the Frieze Building, and various church basements were used. Faculty recitals were presented in the Rackham Building, and larger productions, such as opera, band and orchestra concerts, and large choral groups used Lydia Mendelssohn Theater or Hill Auditorium. Dean Moore annually, in his Report to the President, stressed the need for a building which would bring all the scattered departments of the School under one roof with some semblance of unity. In 1952 the Regents recommended that Dean Moore and Eero Saarinen & Associates confer on the needs and plans for a building to be erected in the fine arts area of North Campus. A site was chosen and plans for the building were officially approved in May 1954, but the Legislature failed to vote any appropriation for its construction. It was not until the academic year 1961-62 that the Legislature voted sufficient funds to begin construction of the new building. The official groundbreaking was celebrated on September 7, 1962, and it was estimated that the building would be completed in December of 1963. But because of moving and installation of new equipment the new School of Music did not open its doors until the summer session of 1964. In its first year of operation, instructors School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 45 from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts came to North Campus to offer such basic courses to music students as freshman English, beginning languages, and psychology. This practice was abandoned when adequate bus transportation to and from the main campus was provided. Members of the music faculty continued to teach students in other schools on campus who had elected courses in music. Classes were taught in Burton Memorial Tower, Hill Auditorium, Angell Hall, and later in the new Modern Language Building. Frederick Stearns Building. — In the fall term of September 1973-74 the School of Music took over the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, some three blocks from the School, to alleviate its pressing space problems. With remodeling, this afforded 29 offices and rehearsal space for mediumsized musical groups and could likewise be used for intimate recitals. Above all it made possible space to store and exhibit the Stearns Collection of musical instruments, one of the largest collections of old and exotic instruments in the country. The original collection was the gift to the Music Department of the University by Frederick Stearns in 1898. The Collection was first housed in the old University Museum until Hill Auditorium was built in 1914, at which time it was moved to an area on the second floor of Hill. Professor Albert Stanley, the Director of the School of Music in 1918, published the first catalog, describing the instruments to the best of his knowledge. William Kendall was named the first curator of the Collection. With his resignation in 1949, Marion McArtor took over as acting curator, which position he held until his death in 1956. Dr. Robert A. Warner was officially appointed Curator in September 1959. He is responsible for adding many instruments to the original collection and putting many of the instruments in playable condition for study purposes. In 1972 the University received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to permit an extensive inventory and cataloging of the collection of some 1,800 instruments. William D. Revelli Band Hall. — For many years Harris Hall on campus served as the rehearsal hall for the University bands and for a time the orchestra as well. After the School moved to its new quarters on North Campus, Harris Hall was retained for 46 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

the Marching band and other bands. When Dr. Revelli retired in 1971, George Cavender, his successor, took over the problem of finding new quarters for the bands. Through his efforts and those of band alumni a new building became a reality in 1972, and was named the William D. Revelli Band Hall. There are offices for the band staff, storage areas for instruments and uniforms, a library and workroom, and a rehearsal hall. Electronic Music Studio. — Through a grant of $15,000 from the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the School of Music now has one of the five best electronic music studios in the western hemisphere. The studio is on the third floor of Hill Auditorium and is patterned after a studio in the famed Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Mario Davidowsky, associate director of the Columbia-Princeton Center, guided the planning and installation of equipment in the School studio. George Balch Wilson was appointed Director. School of Music Library. — The Library is situated on the third and fourth floors of the central section of the School. It has been a divisional unit of the University Libraries since 1940. It was first housed in two rooms on the third floor of Burton Tower, one large room containing a small collection of books, scores, and recordings and a small room doubling as an office and a workroom. The major part of the collection remained in the General Library with some items in storage in the Chemistry Library. With the move to North Campus, it was possible at last to house all the musical materials in a single area. There is now a trained library staff of 16. The inventory in 1973 included 51,050 volumes and 14,348 phonodiscs and phono-tapes. One of the most distinguished collections in the Library is the Stellfeld Music Library. The famous Stellfeld Collection consists of more than 10,000 books on music, scholarly publications, all the published complete works of composers, many sets of scores and parts ready for performance, and manuscripts of 17th- and 18th-century composers. The acquisition of this significant library was the life work of a distinguished Belgian jurist, P. A. Stellfeld (d. 1956), and was housed in his mansion in Antwerp. On September 14, 1946, the Regents accepted the gift of a rare collection of some 3,000 pieces of sheet music, music scores School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 47 and bound volumes of music composed and published in Europe from about 1764 to 1924. It is known as the Corning Music Collection and was the gift of Mr. Bly Corning of Flint, Michigan. Among the other important acquisitions is an interesting collection of manuscripts of all the works commissioned by the Stanley Quartet. In 1973 Dr. Eva Jessye presented the School with a gift of the Eva Jessye Afro-American collection. It contains original manuscripts, plays, opera scenes, Hirschfield caricatures of Black artists, recordings, books, photos, and various objects of art. The collection is housed in the Stearns Building. In 1972-73, 272 concerts were presented by faculty and students of the School, almost all of which were open to the public without charge. These included degree recitals by students, concerts by various ensembles, and faculty recitals. Stanley Quartet. — So named in honor of Albert Stanley, Director of the University School of Music from 1889 until 1922, the Stanley Quartet became the Quartet in Residence in May 1949. The original members were Gilbert Ross and Emil Raab, violin, Paul Doktor, viola, and Oliver Edel, cello. The Quartet gave numerous concerts on and off campus and made recordings as well. In 1958 they toured South America for six weeks under the auspices of the President’s Fund for International Cultural Exchange, sponsored by the State Department. They presented eighteen concerts in fifteen cities and at each concert a work by a representative American composer was played. Financed by the Oliver Ditson Endowment Fund, the Quartet commissioned new works from the pens of such distinguished composers as Walter Piston, Darius Milhaud, Heitor Villa-Lobos and many others. These works were premiered at their regular concerts on campus. Two other important faculty ensembles are the Woodwind Quintet and the Baroque Trio. Like the Stanley Quartet, these ensembles have made regular appearances at concerts on campus and throughout the state. University Bands. — From a single band in 1935 which served to function at athletic events and an occasional concert, the department now includes six bands: the Symphony Band, 48 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

whose personnel is composed almost exclusively of majors in music, the Concert Band, the Marching Band, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, the Varsity Band, made up largely of students outside the School of Music, and the Jazz Band. In the spring of 1961 the University Symphony Band, under its conductor Dr. William Revelli and his associate conductor, George Cavender, was invited, through the sponsorship of the United States State Department, to tour the Soviet Union and the Middle East. It was the first band ever to represent the United States as part of our Cultural Exchange Program. The Band also appeared in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Rumania, and Poland. In his last year before retirement Dr. Revelli made a tour of Western Europe with the Symphony Band in the spring of 1971. The Marching Band has won national fame not only for its performances on the gridiron at home but at other campuses visited, especially the Rose Bowl games in Pasadena and at its appearance at the Super Bowl game in Los Angeles, January 14, 1973, where it was viewed by millions on a national telecast. George Cavender, long associated with the success of the bands as associate conductor, succeeded Dr. Revelli in 1971. University Orchestras. — The University has always maintained a fine orchestra of symphonic proportions. When the School moved to its North Campus site and the enrollment increased, it was possible, especially through the expansion of the string department, to establish two orchestras, each with full symphonic instrumentation — the University Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia. The conductors in recent years have been Josef Blatt and Theo Alcantara. University Choirs. — In 1942 the University Choir was established as an independent ensemble in the School. Hardin Van Deursen was its first director. When Maynard Klein was appointed director in 1948, he proceeded with an ambitious program of choral literature that embraced, at its concerts, not only the large Choir itself but often the University Symphony as well. Two sub-organizations of the University Choir, the Michigan Singers and the Tudor Singers, were founded in 1949, largely on a volunteer, noncredit basis. The Michigan Singers was a choir of some thirty select voices which performed choral School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 49 works of a more intimate genre. The Tudor Singers, as its name implies, performed literature of the Renaissance period. Both were conducted by Professor Klein. Michigan Chamber Choir. — The Chamber Choir is a small ensemble and has, since its inauguration in 1965, been under the direction of Thomas Hilbish. Its repertoire includes masterworks for chorus more appropriate for a smaller ensemble than the University Choir. In the summer of 1969, the Chamber Choir of thirty-six voices participated in the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. It was the first American chorus in the twelve-year history of the Spoleto Festival to be in residence for the entire seventeen-day period. The following year, in the spring of 1970, the Choir was invited by the State Department to tour the Soviet Union. This tour, the “Cultural Presentations Program,” lasted seven weeks. University Men’s Glee Club. — Although this all-University organization is an autonomous unit, the conductors of the Men’s Glee Club have been drawn from the faculty of the School. For years it has made extensive tours in this and other countries. In the summer of 1959, on a European tour, the Club, under Dr. Philip Duey, won the highest honor obtainable at the International Choral Festival held in Wales — the Llangollen Choral Award. And again in 1964, under Dr. Duey, the Club won the award. On a world tour in 1967 the Glee Club presented programs in thirty different countries. When Dr. Duey retired in 1968, he was succeeded by Willis Patterson as director. During a European tour in 1971 the Glee Club returned for a third time to Wales, and for the third time it won the coveted Llangollen Choral Trophy. Collegium Musicum. — Organized in 1948 by Professor Louise Cuyler, Collegium Musicum was an ensemble of voices and instruments for the performance of old music. It was established largely to serve as a laboratory project for graduate students in musicology, but from its first concert it has attracted large audiences. Over the years the performances have become more elaborate, utilizing not only voices and instruments but dancing and costuming as well. Concerts are presented on campus and throughout the state. Professor Thomas Taylor is the director. 50 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. — In 1966 the School acquired a set of Javanese gamelin orchestral instruments as part of the program in ethnomusicology. Judith Becker, a specialist in the music of Thailand, developed the Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. Traditional and modern music of Indonesia is performed regularly by this group. Contemporary Music Festival. — Inaugurated in 1961, the Festival ranges from three to five concerts during the course of a week. Established ensembles in the School participate, as well as soloists and such small ensembles as the music may demand. At each Festival there is a distinguished guest composer who presents a lecture.

DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION AND THEATER

By 1940 the speech and theater program had been in existence at the University of Michigan for almost fifty years. Established in 1892 by Professor Thomas Trueblood, it was one of the first programs of its type in the country. In those beginning days the emphasis was on public speaking and oral reading, but as the years went by courses in other subjects were gradually added until in 1940 there were six well-defined areas of study in the department: rhetoric and public address, theater, oral interpretation, speech pathology, radio broadcasting, and speech pedagogy. The department maintained its activities through the period of World War II although on a somewhat restricted basis. With the end of the war in 1945, a new period of growth began. Courses in television were added to the radio broadcasting curriculum and the establishment of the TV center made new facilities available for advanced laboratory work by students. As the 1960s began some instruction in film techniques was made a part of certain TV courses and in 1965 the first of several courses dealing exclusively with film was added to the curriculum. The master’s program in radio-television-film offered professional training that qualified many students for positions in broadcasting and film organizations and the Ph.D. program prepared people for research and teaching in a field that was School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 51 expanding rapidly in educational institutions throughout the country. There were a number of significant developments in the theater field during this period. One was the expansion of faculty and courses in the area of technical theater, a trend that culminated in the early 1970s with the establishment of a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater design. Another development was the expansion of opportunities for students, particularly those in the Graduate School, to direct and design theater productions. The number of one-act plays produced each year was increased and the Showcase series of four full-length plays a year, directed and designed by students, was added to the schedule. The introduction of the Summer Repertory program in 1969 also increased the opportunities for student directors and designers. In 1961 theater at the University of Michigan received a significant boost when the Professional Theater Program was established. Though this program was primarily designed to bring outstanding professional theater to the Ann Arbor community, it was linked to the educational program in a number of ways. Its director became a member of the theater faculty; six fellowships were established for graduate students who were given experience in performing with professional companies; the theater artists who were visitors in Ann Arbor lectured to classes and met with students for informal conversations. In 1973, when the first PTP director retired, the professional and educational theater programs were organized under the same director to achieve better coordination. One result of this step was the establishment of the Guest Artist series which brought a professional actor, director, or designer to Ann Arbor to serve in his professional capacity in connection with the production of a play and to serve the department additionally as a teacher. In the 1970s the building of the Power Center for the Performing Arts made another theater available for student productions. The production in 1974 of Shakespeare’s Pericles made the theater area one of the few organizations in the country to have produced all of the thirty-seven plays included in the Shakespeare canon. 52 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

The speech sciences area of the department in 1940 included a strong speech pathology section which provided teaching and research in the field and a clinical service for University students and residents of the community. The clinic had operated since 1937 under the joint administration of the Speech Department and the Institute for Human Adjustment. In 1947 the audiology section of the program was strengthened through the addition of faculty members and courses and the provision of an audiology service at the Speech Clinic. The speech science area was also expanded with a faculty member in that field and new facilities, including an anechoic chamber. The speech science program separated from the department, however, in the early 1960s and eventually became part of the Department of Computer and Communication Science. In 1949 the speech pathology and audiology area was expanded when the Kresge Foundation presented the University with the grounds, buildings, and facilities of a summer camp that had been operated on a private basis for a number of years to provide therapy for boys who were stutterers. Under the area’s direction, the service was extended to girls and was expanded to include treatment of many other types of problems including hearing loss, aphasia, cerebral palsy, and cleft palate. About 100 boys and girls a year participate in this summer program and it provides resources for a number of research studies each summer. In the late 1950s a program for the treatment of adult aphasia was established. It brought victims of this disorder to the campus where they were residents during the treatment period. In 1969 the area, then housed in the Victor Vaughn Building in the medical complex of the University, petitioned to become part of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Medical School. The request was granted as of the fall of 1969 and the area continued to offer its undergraduate and graduate programs through the Speech Department. The area dealing with public address, group discussion, argumentation and related fields (which in the 1970s came to be known as the communications studies area) experienced a growing interest in the behavioral approach to the study of communication. One aspect of this development was that in School of Music, Theatre and Dance (1975) 53 such subjects as persuasion and group discussion, the emphasis on performance gave way to an emphasis on theory. New types of courses were introduced in the 1970s, among them courses in interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communication. In the middle 1960s a Ph.D. in the field of oral interpretation was added to those offered by the department. There was also an increased emphasis on the development of choral reading skills through the addition of courses in readers’ and chamber theater. [3]

School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016)

Steven M. Whiting

In the early 1950s, Dean Earl V. Moore lobbied for a new home for the University of Michigan’s School of Music—one that would gather its parts (then dispersed among 13 sites on central campus) under a single roof. Neither then, nor when that new home finally opened its doors in 1964, could Moore have foreseen how the School would expand to include a Department of Dance, a Department of Theatre & Drama, and programs in musical theatre, performing arts technology, and jazz, which in turn would become departments. These expansions have nearly doubled the enrollment foreseen for the new building in 1962.1 In 2015, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (as it has been called since July 2006) is dispersed among 16 sites, on three different campuses—North, Central, and South. On North Campus, the building named in

1. In fall 1962, as builders were clearing the site on North Campus, the enrollment of the School of Music reached 623, up 69 from the year preceding. (P.R., 1960–63, 944.) In fall 2015 it was 1100. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 55

1975 for Earl V. Moore is still the headquarters. It houses the administration, the studios of most music faculty, classrooms, practice rooms, the Music Library, two recital halls, a rehearsal hall, and a small theatre. Thanks to the generosity of Margaret Towsley, it was expanded in 1985 (the addition of Blanche Anderson Moore Hall and the McIntosh Theatre) and an even more sweeping expansion and renovation was conducted in 2014–15. The Frederick Stearns Building, purchased in September 1973 to house the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments, was converted to faculty offices for several departments, classrooms, practice rooms, an intimate recital/ lecture hall, and the Office of Development and External Relations. The Walgreen Drama Center, opened in 2006, has absorbed the Departments of Theatre & Drama and of Musical Theatre, providing modern facilities and performance spaces that the old Frieze Building (originally, the Ann Arbor High School and Carnegie Library) could not. Stamps Auditorium, adjoining the Walgreen Center, is a favored recital and lecture venue. The Duderstadt Center (opened in 1996) provides an audio studio, a video studio, and two electronic music studios that have become crucial for instruction and performance in performing arts technology, dance, and even conducting. On Central Campus, the performance spaces remain Hill Auditorium (which also houses organ practice rooms), the Power Center for the Performing Arts (which houses the shops needed for theatrical production on Central Campus), Rackham Auditorium, and Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. (All these spaces are shared with the University Musical Society, among others, but since 1984 they have operated under the authority of the School.) Burton Memorial Tower still houses the Charles Baird Carillon, classrooms, and faculty offices, although large- enrollment classes for students outside the School have spilled into lecture halls in the Modern Languages Building. The Dance Department has occupied a 1977 building tucked behind the Central Campus Recreation Building. A nearby building on Geddes Avenue provides office and classroom space, against the day when the Department of Dance can move to North Campus. On South Campus, close to Michigan Stadium and other arenas, the Michigan Marching Band has its own building. 56 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Revelli Hall, finished in 1973, houses a large rehearsal hall and offices for conductors and other staff. In short, the aspiration toward physical consolidation has been trumped by continuing growth. One may as well accept physical dispersion as the price of curricular expansion and, even more, of engagement with that broad range of students and audiences upon which the vitality of the School depends. The recent history of the School can be divided into the tenures of its three deans over the last 35 years: Paul C. Boylan (1979–2000), Karen L. Wolff (2000–2005), and Christopher W. Kendall (2005–15).

The Boylan Era: Years of Expansion

Before July 1, 1974, Dance was a program within the School of Education—specifically, its Department of Women’s Physical Education. The idea of transferring administrative responsibility to the School of Music seems to have been hatched by Elizabeth Bergmann (who had succeeded Betty Pease as coordinator of the program in 1971) and Paul Boylan (then an untenured assistant professor in music theory, serving on the Executive Committee). A crucial step toward institutionalizing dance as a performing art had already been taken, thanks to the October 1971 opening of the Power Center for the Performing Arts. Dancers at the University finally had a performance space that was not an aged gymnasium, and was larger than the stage of Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. The University Dance Company gave its first concert at Power in March 1972, launching what has been a nearly annual tradition ever since. By spring 1975 there was an official degree program, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) based on the curricular foundation laid by Pease in the 1950s. A Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) must have been approved at about the same time, for the first graduates in both programs are listed as having completed the degree by August 1976. The faculty gained critical mass when Dance provided tenure to Elizabeth Bergmann and Vera Embree in 1975 and to Gaye Delanghe in 1977. And in 1977 the Dance Department moved into its new space behind the CCRB.2

2. Boylan credited Bergmann with the idea of cantilevering the upper-level stu- School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 57

The program thrived under these new conditions, which fostered collaboration with other branches of the School in mounting performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina burana (1975, 1980), Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore (1979), and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (directed in 1982, the centennial of the composer’s birth, by filmmaker Robert Altman). Boylan increased the stature of the Dance faculty still further in 1984 when he hired Bill DeYoung, Jessica Fogel, and Peter Sparling—three performers based in New York, the last a principal dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company. The same year, Ann Arbor Dance Works formed as a collective of faculty choreographers and made its first tour to NYC. One distinctive feature of dance at Michigan was that, already in 1956, it had its own music director in the person of Quin Adamson. Adamson was succeeded in 1984 by David Gregory, who was also named chair. When Gregory was re- assigned to direct the Center for Performing Arts and Technology in 1987, Stephen Rush became music director. He was joined in 1998 by Christian Matijas (as second music director). In 1994, the Dance Department organized a Martha Graham Centenary Festival together with the University Musical Society. Other collaborations have taken the Department even further beyond the School: the co-sponsoring of Javanese artists-in-residence with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (1995–2007), its participation at the Center for World Performance Studies (founded in 2000 at the International Institute), and the hosting of a scholarly conference (together with the Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies) to honor the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and 100th birthday of George Balanchine in 2003. A kind of institutional benediction was achieved in 2006 with the conferral of accreditation for the BFA and MFA programs by the National Association of Schools of Dance. The chair appointed in 2007, Angela Kane, is a dance historian who sought to bolster

dios above a steam tunnel that unduly limited the footprint of the proposed addition. See Paul Boylan, “Dance Comes into Its Own: A Department Is Born,” in Dancing at 100: Celebrating a Century of Dance at the University of Michi- gan, 1909–2009 (Regents of the University of Michigan, 2009), 25–26. 58 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

the scholarly aspects of the curricula; she oversaw a thorough revision of the MFA program. In 2015, the Department had a faculty of 16, five of them full professors—and they were no longer able to fit into the space made for faculty in 1977. As newly-appointed dean of the School in 1979, Boylan presided over its centenary celebration. Before the year was out, he proposed the creation of a training program in musical theatre, and the Regents approved a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) curriculum in May 1980. Distinguished alumnus Robert Chapel launched the program as acting director in 1983, while a national search was held for a permanent director. Brent Wagner came in 1984 and has directed the program ever since. The next year saw the addition of a music director ( Jerry DePuit) and a choreographer (Tim Millett). The earliest productions were revues, which had the advantage of putting more students into the spotlight. But two unusual opportunities presented themselves: in 1985–86, the chance to premiere A Wonderful Life, a new musical by Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo based on Frank Capra’s film, “It’s a Wonderful Life;” and the following year, the chance to produce the first revival of Love Life, by Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner, since its original run in 1948. Both shows allowed students to work directly and intensively with major figures from Broadway. In 1995, Wagner began taking each year’s graduating class to present a showcase in New York before an audience of casting agents, directors, and alumni who have posted impressive success finding work after (or even before) graduation. In September 1996, the program became a full-fledged department in the School of Music. Through 1997 the program offered two productions a year; a third production was added in 1998, plus an annual production of spoken theatre that allows students to focus on their acting skills. Equal production time is given to the “classics” of musical theatre and to new work, some of which are “workshopped” shows created by Michigan students. Musical Theatre has become one of the most selective programs on campus, with more than 600 applicants each year for approximately 20 openings. The Musical Theatre Department now boasts two stage directors, two choreographers (one of whom stage directs School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 59 as well), three musical directors, and dance and ballet instructors partly shared with the Dance Department. In 2015 the School began searching for a new chair to replace Brent Wagner, who was retiring. Boylan’s next initiative was the transfer of the Department of Theatre & Drama from LSA to the School of Music. This department had had a distinguished but also complicated history at the University. Its institutional ancestor was the Department of Elocution and Oratory established by Thomas Trueblood in 1892, arguably the first such academic unit at any major American university. A for-credit course in play production was offered in 1915 (another first in American universities), whence the Department reckoned its 2015 centennial celebration. Trueblood retired in 1926 (although he remained another 10 years as the University’s first golf coach). He was succeeded by Valentine Windt and, in 1954, William P. Halstead. One signal achievement of “Doc” Halstead’s tenure was the distinction of being the first university theatre department to complete production of the entire canon of Shakespeare plays (1974). At the same time, the department has fostered the production of experimental theatre and African American theatre. Under a half-dozen different titles, theatre studies were pursued at Michigan under the aegis of the Department of Speech. Only in March 1979 did the Regents act upon a recommendation “to join the journalism department and the speech communication component of the department of speech communication and theatre, thereby creating the Department of Communication, and to establish a separate Department of Theatre and Drama” (P. R., 1978–81, 223). Shortly thereafter the department was authorized to award the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. By July 1983 it was evident to the Regents that “theatre has not enjoyed complete compatibility with its environment in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts over the years, therefore was not of the highest priority among the units in that school.” Rather than discontinue the program—which in the economically straitened times was a serious possibility—the College suggested relocation. Boylan argued forcefully for the benefits of gathering all the 60 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

performing arts at Michigan into one school, and of coordinating planning “for productions which might combine the presentations of the theatre department, opera, musical theatre, and dance.” University Productions would be created in 1985 to achieve just that, at which time Provost Frye transferred authority over the performance spaces to the School of Music. Boylan also argued that the emphasis of graduate study should be a performance-oriented M.F.A., not a Ph.D. The Regents agreed. The transfer became effective one year later, and Boylan hired the Shakespeare scholar John Russell Brown in 1985 to chair the department. Since then, the most durable curricular initiatives have been the B.F.A. degree programs approved in 1990—performance (concentrations in acting or directing), design and production, and (more recently) Interarts performance—as well as a Bachelor of Theatre Arts degree. Like the Bachelor of Musical Arts (B.M.A.), approved in 1974 (when Boylan was chair of the Council of Departmental Representatives), the B.T.A. provides a stronger share of liberal arts coursework for students perhaps not destined for major performing careers but who still want to pursue their artistic interests. These curricula are delivered by nearly thirty faculty. Not every curricular expansion proposed during Boylan’s tenure has been so successful. An innovative “Specialist in Music” degree was designed in March 1981 to provide a one- year, 30-hour alternative to doctoral study. It has proven most useful for students in music performance who need a year of extra polish before striking out on their own. (The academically oriented specialist programs have generated less interest.) A joint M.B.A./M.M. in Arts Administration was inaugurated in September 1982, with the collaboration of the Business School. The School is now developing more flexible ways to promote musical entrepreneurship than combining an entire M.M. degree with an entire M.B.A., especially since the program must appeal equally to students with backgrounds in dance or in theatre. A more fruitful initiative was born of a trip to Los Angeles, where Boylan visited the recording studio of an alumnus of the School. “A young synthesizer player was providing much of the back-up for the session,” Boylan would recall. “I found his School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 61 musicianship absolutely amazing. During a break, I asked him what music school he attended and learned, to my horror, that he had wanted to come to Michigan,” but had been turned down for deficient grades. Boylan was determined that the School create a curriculum that would serve the needs of such musicians. David Crawford (musicology) chaired a feasibility committee, and David Gregory (then chair of Dance) was tapped to direct the initiative because of his experience using computers to synthesize sound, video, and graphics for choreography. By July 1987, James Duderstadt, then U-M’s provost, could report to the Board of Regents that the School of Music would soon open a Center for the Performing Arts and Technology, with generous support from the Arthur Thurnau Charitable Trust. Duderstadt’s enthusiasm for the project is evident even in the Proceedings: “Considered one of the most significant events in the history of the School of Music, the Center will support creative, educational, and research endeavors using computers, video, sound-synthesizing equipment, and computer graphics for music, dance, and theater. Incorporated into the Center are a sound video synthesis laboratory, a micro-computer classroom, a computer dance lab, an electronic music studio, and a computer design laboratory in the Theatre Department.” Most of the goals have been realized, some as discrete initiatives within the several departments but most prominently in the creation of a Department of Performing Arts Technology. The growth of the Department was fostered by technological development—by affordable and powerful microcomputers that could perform the necessary tasks in real time. At about the same time, Mary H. Simoni was recruited to head the Department, and she was its tireless advocate from 1994 to 2011. The Department now offers two B.F.A. degrees, a B.M. degree, and a B.S. in sound engineering; together, these programs attract more than 60 majors. A smaller M.A. program in Media Arts permits more advanced multidisciplinary work in digital media. In the same year (1987), Boylan hired a flügelhorn player to the winds faculty, probably knowing that Ed Sarath would become the spearhead for a jazz program at Michigan. Previously, jazz had been a student-driven enterprise, relying 62 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

on the informal guidance of sympathetic faculty such as Carl Alexius (composition), James Dapogny (music theory), and Richard Crawford (musicology). With the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department, a student jazz ensemble had undertaken a tour of Latin America in 1965. Now jazz would have a less tenuous presence as a program, under the rubric Improvisation and Jazz Studies. By the end of 1990, Sarath had gained the School’s approval to launch a M.M. degree program in Improvisation. There being no departmental home for the degree, it was initially designed to integrate jazz, music technology, and multi-media collaboration, focusing on “spontaneous musical creativity” regardless of the musical style chosen. Sarath achieved tenure in 1993. In 1995 Boylan filled out the ranks—by hiring Gerald Cleaver, Ellen Rowe, and Donald Walden—of what would in September 1996 become a new Department of Jazz Studies. In 2015 there were seven tenure- stream faculty and seven lecturers. Three B.F.A. programs joined the original M.M., including an interdisciplinary degree in Jazz and Contemplative Studies, in which the coursework addresses “meditative practices and other areas related to creative development” (to quote from the School’s website). The history of the School in the 1980s and 1990s was not only the story of new initiatives and programs. As Richard Crawford observed in 1980 (before most of the expansions managed by Boylan), “an archaeological probe of the School’s past . . . would . . . reveal that the complexity of the present School of Music curriculum stems from adding new things and taking away very little.”3 For most music students, private instruction in performance continued to be the foundation, extended through performing experience in ensembles large and small, and/or in staged productions. Such experience was deepened and broadened through coursework in musicianship and analysis, composition and improvisation, history and repertory. Some students prepared for performance careers; most prepared for careers as teachers of music. Over the last two decades of the

3. Boylan credited Bergmann with the idea of cantilevering the upper-level stu- dios above a steam tunnel that unduly limited the footprint of the proposed addition. See Paul Boylan, “Dance Comes into Its Own: A Department Is Born,” in Dancing at 100: Celebrating a Century of Dance at the University of Michi- gan, 1909–2009 (Regents of the University of Michigan, 2009), 25–26. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 63

century, the balance in the latter began to shift from elementary and secondary school teacher education to the preparation of college and university teachers, as the graduate (especially doctoral) programs grew in stature and selectivity. Over the same period, the School sustained its eminence in music composition, thanks in part to the presence of William Albright and William Bolcom (and later Michael Daugherty and Bright Sheng) on the faculty. If anything, it increased the stature of its graduate programs in musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory. No less important than any curricular development or programmatic milestone, the School increased the diversity of its faculty. Willis Patterson (B.M., 1958; M.M., 1959) was appointed to the Voice faculty in 1968, conducted the men’s glee club from 1969 to 1974, and chaired the Voice Department from 1974 to 1979. According to the Proceedings of the Board of Regents, he was “the first—and for a while, only—African American member of the music faculty.”4 After Boylan made him an associate dean in 1979, Patterson enrolled at Wayne State University and took a Ph.D. in education administration in 1993. The memoir of his retirement in 1999 noted that “his sterling qualities and actions have stood for decades in friendly but powerful rebuke to any kind of racial hegemony in this institution, with dramatic results for all to behold.” Boylan advanced a diversity imperative consistently and aggressively, in line with the broader University effort to reflect the ethnic, cultural, and intellectual diversity of the society we claim to serve. By the time Boylan retired in June 2000, the full-time faculty had grown to 126, all but 13 of them hired by Boylan himself. He had imposed tough (and unaccustomed) standards of evaluation and promotion, the overall effect of which was to enhance the quality and stature of the faculty, thanks to which the School was able to attract a student body twice as numerous as it was in 1979. And in the face of steadily declining state allocations for the University, Boylan had assumed increasing responsibility for financial management and fund-raising; the endowment had been approximately $900,000 in 1979; by 2000, it was $50

4. The Dance Department hired its first African American faculty member, Vera Embree, in the same year, 1968. 64 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

million.5 From 1993 until his retirement, he also held the post of Vice-Provost for the Arts, a position created for him.

The Wolff Lustrum: Consolidation and Construction

During the second decade of Boylan’s deanship, two regental departments (Dance and Theatre & Drama) found their bearings in a new institutional environment, and two programs (Musical Theatre and Jazz) became official departments (both on the same day.) It remained for Karen Lias Wolff to consolidate and to sustain the expansions, physically as well as fiscally. Wolff had taken her graduate degrees in music education at Michigan, then had gone on to administrative positions at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the University of Minnesota, and Oberlin Conservatory. She had, ostensibly, retired, when she was lured from Arizona to serve as a consultant during the vice- Boylan search. She wound up being offered the job. She came, so she said, with facilities on her mind.6 It was clear that the Departments of Theatre & Drama and Musical Theatre could not thrive much longer in the aging Frieze Building, whatever one’s sentimental attachment to the Trueblood Theatre. What was not clear was whether the new Arthur Miller Theatre, proposed in 1997 by then-President Lee Bollinger, would have anything to do with the School of Music. Wolff’s impassioned and dogged advocacy succeeded in having both departments and the Miller Theatre moved to North Campus into a new building, the Walgreen Drama Center.7 Ground had been broken for the Center by the time Wolff stepped down, and the Center was

5. See Richard Crawford, “The Vision of Paul Boylan: An Appreciation Written on the Occasion of His Retirement,” Music @ Michigan 33/2 (Spring 2000): 4–8. 6. Betsy Goolian, “A Career in Review: Karen Wolff tepsS Down as Dean,” Music @ Michigan 38/2 (Spring 2005): 5. 7. In presenting the Walgreen project to the Board of Regents in June 2004, CFO Timothy Slottow noted, “this project had originally been approved in May 2000 on a site located just east of the Power Center. However, the design of that project was never completed, and it has been terminated. The scope of the Walgreen Drama Center has been transformed and the proposed location for this project has been changed to a site on North Campus. . . . [I]t will house the . . . Arthur Miller Theatre as well as the Department of Theatre and Drama of the School of Music. P. R. 2003–4, 326–27. The Frieze Building was demol- ished to make way for North Campus Commons, leaving the 120-stop Aeolian- Skinner “Frieze Memorial Organ” in Hill as the only remaining tribute on campus to the man responsible for creating the University Musical Society (in 1879) and the School of Music (in 1880). School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 65

finished in winter 2007. The Arthur Miller Theatre is a state-of- the-art performing space seating 280 spectators and permitting considerable flexibility of stage configurations (proscenium, thrust, arena). The Walgreen Center also includes costume, scene, and sound shops, two large studios for black-box performances and rehearsals (including rehearsals for shows to be staged in Power or Mendelssohn), and classrooms designed for the teaching of theatre crafts and acting. With one stroke, Wolff alleviated the perennial dispersion of the School’s departments and upgraded crucial performance and instructional spaces. Wolff pursued a further asset, adjacent to the Walgreen Center: Stamps Auditorium (2008), a lecture and recital hall seating 450 that soon became a favored site for chamber and choral concerts as well as recording sessions. No less significantly, the largest performance space on campus, Hill Auditorium (1913), underwent extensive renovations under Wolff’s watch, including installation of air conditioning and elevators; a lower-level lobby with concessions, a lecture area, and two display cases for the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments; and a recording studio (used to record all large SMTD ensemble performances in Hill as well as for special recording projects). The project could not quite garner the funds to include the areas back of stage, which (as Wolff wryly noted) “retained their historic charm.” Nonetheless, Hill reopened in January 2004, newly resplendent, and the following April was the site of a gala performance of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, settings of William Blake that required two of the School’s orchestras, three of its choirs (plus the Choral Union of the University Musical Society and the Michigan State University Children’s Choir)—some 450 performers in all—and figuratively embraced the full variety of musical styles cultivated at the School of Music.8 The result, as recorded by Naxos, garnered four Grammy Awards. To sustain the momentum of the Center for Performing Art and Technology, Wolff appointed Mary Simoni associate dean

8. See William Bolcom, “Recollections on the Twentieth Anniversary of Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” liner notes for Naxos 8.559216–18. Before his retirement in 2008, Bolcom was Ross Lee Finney Distinguished Professor of Composition. 66 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

for technology initiatives and internet publication. The Internet Publication Project joined the School of Music, the Duderstadt Center, and University Libraries with the goal of promoting “the vitality, multiplicity, and excellence of the University of Michigan through web-based publication of media-rich scholarly and creative research.” With Wolff’s support, Simoni created a “record label” for the university, Block M Records, and arranged for the dissemination of its music content via Apple iTunes. A defining moment in Wolff’s deanship took place under harrowing circumstances. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many academic units collaborated on symposia to come to grips with the aftermath. The School of Music held a concert and invited the town. On the stage of Hill Auditorium was an orchestra in which students sat beside faculty and volunteer musicians from the community. The first floor of the hall was half occupied by a chorus that likewise combined students, faculty, and community members—all facing backwards so as to see Theo Morrison conducting from the mezzanine, mirroring the beat of Kenneth Kiesler on stage. Thus did the two conductors coordinate the efforts of more than 500 musicians. The rest of Hill was filled by an audience that, presumably, needed something beyond explanation and discussion. The program began with Luigi Zaninelli’s pensive arrangement of the national anthem. It continued with Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, “How Lovely is Thy dwelling place” from Brahms’s Deutsches Requiem, the “Dona nobis pacem” from Bach’s B-Minor Mass, and the finale of Mahler’s Third Symphony. The concert was organized in three days, and it offered the campus a place to grieve. Wolff was an effective fund-raiser who could acknowledge when pruning was in order. In 2003, the graduate programs in theatre studies (M.A. and Ph.D.) were suspended, and have yet to be restored. By the same token, Wolff reinstated the Ph.D. in Music Education after necessary curricular improvements had been mapped out with Rackham. Wolff also represented the School well on the national front, serving at once as president of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) and as a member of the National Council on the Arts. The School was in School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 67

a strong position when she allowed herself to retire after a single term at the helm, with the 125th anniversary impending.

The Kendall Decade: Environment and Engagement

Christopher Kendall was the first leader of the School who had not taken at least one degree at Michigan and who had not served on its faculty. He had founded (and continued to direct) two prominent ensembles in Washington, D.C. (the Folger Consort in residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the 21st Century Consort in residence at the Smithsonian Institution), and he had served as associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony before assuming the direction of the music programs at Boston University and its Tanglewood Institute, then the University of Maryland. Like Paul Boylan before him, he oversaw the celebration of an important anniversary, the School’s 125th, during his first year of office. (Toward the end of that year, the School took the name of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.) And, like Karen Wolff, he arrived with facilities on his mind. Even with the expansion of 1985 (the Towsley Wing), the Earl V. Moore Building was showing its age. Kendall obtained significant refurbishments: new lighting and finishes in the corridors of the main floor and in the Music Library, new thermal-paned windows, new elevators, and new systems for heating, cooling, and humidity control. On Kendall’s watch most of the classrooms in Moore and Burton Tower became “smart.” These improvements markedly enhanced the environment for teaching and learning, an abiding theme of Kendall’s deanship. At the University of Maryland, Kendall had been involved in the creation of a major performing arts center. He now oversaw the completion of the Walgreen Drama Center, then of Stamps Auditorium. He worked tirelessly to bring the Dance Department to North Campus, and would have succeeded had not the Pfizer complex come up for sale and diverted University funds to that end. The culmination of Kendall’s efforts to improve the learning environment at the School was the renovation and expansion of the Moore Building, nearing its completion in fall 2015.9 The practice room wing and existing

9. Kendall, in line with the University’s current policy limiting deans to two terms 68 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

rehearsal and performance spaces were renovated, and the new facilities included a rehearsal hall for large ensembles, new faculty offices and studios, classrooms, a technology suite, and a central commons for students, faculty, and staff. Kendall led this project, as well as the funding. It may be the accomplishment for which he is best remembered. A second abiding theme of Kendall’s deanship has been the education of the artist-citizen who engages responsibly with the rest of the University and with society at large. With his decanal colleagues on North Campus, Kendall created ArtsEngine (originally called Arts on Earth) to foster collaborations between professional arts schools and the Colleges of Engineering and Architecture. These have included courses in the creative process, a living-learning community for first-year students (launched in fall 2010), and team-taught courses on a variety of topics. ArtsEngine gained a national presence via the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru), a partnership, led from Michigan, of more than thirty institutions of higher learning committed to supporting “interdisciplinary research, curricula, programs, and creative practice between the arts, science, and other disciplines” (quoting from its website). In collaboration with the Schools of Social Work and Education, the School launched a pilot program in El Sistema–style music education in fall 2013 at a public school in Ann Arbor, to the benefit of all parties concerned. In the prevailing culture of collaboration, students have made their own opportunities for engagement. Arts Enterprise, founded in 2006 with students at the Ross School of Business, became involved in everything from the American Orchestra Summit ( January 2010) to the creation of an academic minor in Performing Arts Management. Like Arts Engine, Arts Enterprise became the embryo for a national network. More globally, Kendall reinvigorated the practice of sending the School’s major ensembles on national and international tours. Thus, the University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, gave an acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall in February 2008 as the culmination of a tour through

of service, stepped down in July 2015. He has been succeeded by Aaron Dworkin. School of Music, Theatre and Dance (2016) 69 eastern states. The featured work was a song cycle by composition professor Evan Chambers titled The Old Burying Ground. In May 2011, the fiftieth anniversary of its storied tour under William D. Revelli to eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Near East, the Symphony Band, conducted by Michael Haithcock, embarked on a three-week tour of China that premiered new works by four composition faculty (William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, and Bright Sheng). During the preceding winter term, the 80 students participating in the tour took a 10-week course in Chinese culture, history, geography, and linguistic survival skills, coordinated with the assistance of the U-M Confucius Institute (directed by musicology professor Joseph Lam). The collaborative ripples spread in unexpected directions: three students and two faculty advisors from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts’ Department of Screen Arts and Cultures accompanied the band to produce a documentary film of the experience. A group of alumni from the 1961 tour even helped to launch a Global Tour Fund, which in turn made it possible to send the Chamber Choir on a three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand in summer 2014. In a campus climate favoring international initiatives, it became easier to develop exchange programs with arts schools abroad, and to support faculty teaching abroad during the summer, of which there are many examples, in all branches of the School. The School has enjoyed long-standing prominence in the field of American music studies, dating back through Richard Crawford and Wiley Hitchcock to Allen Britton, whose 1949 dissertation was devoted to American tunebooks. To capitalize on that prominence, and with a gift of $500,000 from the Katherine Tuck Foundation, Paul Boylan had founded the School’s American Music Institute in 1988. In the same year, Crawford had brought the editorial office of Music of the United States of America (MUSA) to Michigan, where in 2015 it had passed the halfway point in its goal of producing 40 volumes of representative American music in critical editions. Charles H. Garrett (musicology) has served as editor-in-chief of the New Grove Dictionary of American Music (2nd edition), completed in 2013. On the initiative of Christopher Kendall (and thanks to 70 School of Music, Theatre and Dance

his persistent negotiations and fundraising), the School entered into a long-range partnership with the Gershwin family that has resulted in its becoming the center for a critical edition of the works of George and Ira Gershwin, under the aegis of Mark Clague (musicology). The scholarly and educational opportunities for faculty and students will reach to nearly all departments in the School. In 2013 the University celebrated the centennial of Hill Auditorium. The School marked the occasion in two ways. It installed new display cases behind the second balcony for instruments from the Stearns Collection, in commemoration of the many years when the mezzanine of Hill had been the site of the collection. And it collaborated in April with the University Musical Society in a performance of Darius Milhaud’s L’Orestie d’Eschyle—the first in North America of the entire operatic trilogy—and then produced the first complete recording (again on Naxos), released ten years after the recording of Songs of Innocence and of Experience by Milhaud’s student William Bolcom. The highlights adduced here say little about the daily life of students and faculty at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. And they give pride of place to collaborations that demonstrate how a performing arts school can prosper in the setting of a research university. But interdisciplinary enterprise is baseless without disciplinary excellence, and this the School has in abundance, thanks to its stellar faculty in performance, pedagogy, musicology, and music theory. At last count, the School offered 57 degree programs in music (undergraduate and graduate), four degree programs in Theatre & Drama (undergraduate), and two degree programs (B.F.A. and M.F.A.) in Dance. Most students find employment in the fields for which they have trained, even though the environment for the arts in contemporary culture is challenging, to say the least. Those at the School share with their colleagues in the field of performing arts education, and indeed with much of the field at large, a sense of urgency about the health of the arts. And yet, the worlds of music, theatre, and dance remain large; their art, wondrous and demanding. Gratitude and openness in service to those arts are attitudes that must be nurtured in the twenty-first century.