The Centennial Celebrations, 1996-97 > From the Chair of the Centennial Committee
Jack Beeson delivering the Music Centennial Luncheon Address
Photograph by Damon Winter, October 19, 1996
Columbia University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
The range of Centennial-related activities during 1996-97 demonstrated the vitality and diversity of Columbia's Department of Music as it enters its second century. A kick-off to the Centennial was provided by a reception for the Centennial Advisory Committee at the elegant New York home of one of its members, Joan Peyser (M.A. '56), in May 1996. The major cluster of events occurred during the weekend of 18-19 October 1996, and included:
Music After 2000: a symposium about music in the next century, featuring speakers prominent in the field as scholars, composers, administrators, performers, and executives.
Gala Concert at the Miller Theatre by the Columbia University Orchestra, conducted by George Rothman, with piano soloist Russell Sherman (CC. '49), featuring works by Beethoven and Columbia composers.
Music at Columbia Today: a live exhibit of thought, performances, and compositions by undergraduate and graduate students, followed by a reception at Philosophy Hall.
The Centennial Exhibition, Music at Columbia: The First 100 Years, in the Low Library Rotunda, with a Gallery Talk by Mary Monroe (Ph.D. '94), the Centennial Exhibition curator.
Centennial Luncheon, held 19 October in the Faculty Room of Low Library, with Professor Emeritus Jack Beeson as guest speaker, at which the Department of Music announced the newly established Herbert L. Hutner Fellowship in Music. Mr. Hutner (CC '28, Law '31), now living in Los Angeles, was a guest at the luncheon, as was the first recipient of the fellowship, Martin Scherzinger, a Ph.D. candidate in theory.
Among the other Centennial events were:
Recital by French pianist Florence Delaage on 30 October 1996 at the Sulzberger Parlor, Barnard College, cosponsored by the Maison Française.
Concert of music by faculty composers at Columbia, past and present, by Speculum Musicae, on 1 April 1997 at Miller Theatre.
Concert entitled "Opera at Columbia: A Celebration," on 6 April 1997 at Miller Theatre, produced by James Stepleton and the Friends and Enemies of New Music, honoring Columbia's contribution to American opera in the 1940s and 1950s.
With these events, attention was drawn to the achievements of the Department of Music and the University in the area of music, and to the exciting prospects for the future.
Walter Frisch, 1996
Chair of the Department of Music Centennial Committee