School of Music

Music at DePauw: An Historical Timeline of the School of Music

Founded in 1884, the School of Music of DePauw University is one of the oldest private institutions for post-secondary music instruction in the USA. Its origins date back to 1881, when five students enrolled in pianoforte and organ lessons with DePauw (then known as Indiana Asbury) graduate Minnie C. Langdon in the “Department for Musical Instruction.” Now, well into its second century, the School of Music has established itself as a leader among all-undergraduate institutions with a reputation for producing excellent music educators, performers, and scholars. Its unique size, approximately 150–175 undergraduates, makes possible a full complement of musical opportunities and degree programs, while maintaining an intimate, nurturing educational atmosphere. From its finely-tuned and progressive curriculum to its busy performance calendar, the vibrant School of Music of today is founded on a rich history populated with top-notch faculty—dedicated educators, performers, and scholars—and legendary visiting artists.

The information in this timeline was gathered by Brian Clark in the summer of 2007 as a project supported by a student-faculty research fund with Dr. Cleveland Johnson as the faculty advisor. A brochure on the history of the School of Music of DePauw University created by former DePauw professor Patience T. Berg in the 1980s in celebration of the university's sesquicentennial, as well as research in DePauw University's archives and interviews with active and Emeriti professors were the sources of this information.

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TIMELINE
(click on blue titles for more information)

1881—Formal music instruction offered for the first time.

1882—Julia Druly begins 52-year career as Professor of Piano. Resigns in 1934.

Adolph Schellschmidt, Professor of Orchestral Instruments, joins faculty. Stays at DePauw until 1911.

1884—School of Music founded; Indiana Asbury renamed DePauw University.

1885—Alpha Chi Omega sorority founded at DePauw University.

1892—Phi Mu Epsilon founded as a music honorary. In 1905, it becomes a chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, the national music honorary.

1894—Howe resigns from deanship. Belle A. Mansfield appointed dean of the School of Music. Resigns in 1911.

1911—Robert G. McCutchan becomes dean until 1937.

Van Denman Thompson appointed.

1913—Bowman organ, a three-manual organ in Meharry Hall, is built in memory of former president—later bishop—Bowman.

1917—World-famous pianist Leopold Godowsky performs at DePauw on January 17.

1921—Legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein gives a recital in Meharry Hall on March 17.

1925—DePauw chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) formed under the guidance of Van Denman Thompson.

1927—Music Hall moved from the northeastern to the southwest corner of Hanna Street and Locust Street to make room for the construction of Lucy Rowland Hall.

Contralto and cellist Edna T. Bowles appointed. Resigns in 1944.

1928—Virtuoso cellist Pablo Casals performs at DePauw on January 12.

1929—Henry Kolling, Professor of Piano, joins faculty. Resigns in 1966 as Professor Emeritus of Piano and Music Literature.

1932—School of Music integrated into the university.

1933—Programs leading to the degree of master of music established.

1934—Violinist Herman C. Berg joins faculty as Professor of Violin and Viola. Resigns in 1976 as Professor Emeritus of Violin and Viola.

School of Music receives accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music (N.A.S.M.).

1935—Leah Curnutt begins career at DePauw as Professor of Piano and Music Education. Resigns in 1970 as Professor Emerita of School Music Education and Piano.

1936—Honorary music society Pi Kappa Lambda established to recognize high academic and musical achievement.

1937—Robert McCutchan resigns from deanship as Dean Emeritus. Van Denman Thompson becomes director (dean) until 1956.

1944—Franz Bodfors appointed Professor of Piano. Possessing an extraordinary memory and technique, Professor Bodfors gave recitals of the complete keyboard works of Bach, and later Mozart and Beethoven. Resigns in 1972 as Professor Emeritus of Piano.

1946—Franklin P. Inglis begins career as Director of Bands and Professor of Woodwinds. Inglis’s career tragically ended in 1956 when he died of a heart attack during the intermission of a band concert.

Vocalist May Strong joins faculty. Resigns in 1964 as Professor Emeritus of Voice and Theory.

1947—Aeolian Trio founded.

Donald White, Professor of Theory and Composition, joins faculty. Becomes director in 1974.

1948—Marcel Dupré performs an organ recital with some of his own pieces on the program.

Pianist Glen Sherman appointed. Resigns 1974 as Professor Emeritus of Piano.

Cellist Cassel Grubb joins faculty. During his tenure as Professor of Cello and Theory, he was honored as the John C. and Lillian W. Siegesmund Professor of Music. Grubb becomes director in 1977. Resigns in 1988 as Professor Emeritus of Violoncello and Theory.

1950—Organist and DePauw graduate Arthur Carkeek joins faculty. Resigns in 1989 as Professor Emeritus of Organ.

Robert Grocock, Professor of Brass Instruments and Theory, appointed. Resigns in 1987 as Professor Emeritus of Brass Instruments and Theory.

1951—DePauw graduate Maureen Carkeek, part-time professor of organ, piano, and director of preparatory department, joins faculty. Carkeek holds the record for longest career in School of Music history, surpassing in 2004 Julia Druly’s 52-year tenure from 1882 to 1934.

Daniel Hanna, Director of Bands and Professor of Music Education, joins faculty. Resigns in 1988 as Professor Emeritus of School Music Education and Director Emeritus of University Bands.

1956—University Choir performs under the direction of George W. Gove in Scandinavian countries, England, and continental Europe during a 40-day tour.

DePauw graduate Milton S. Trusler appointed to succeed Thompson as director. Resigns 1974 as Professor Emeritus of Music. Under the Trusler administration, the music performance degree was created.

1958—Renowned choral conductor Joseph Flummerfelt graduates and goes on to have an extraordinary international career. In 1964, Flummerfelt joined the faculty as Director of Choirs and Choral Music and Repertoire until 1967.

1962—First Contemporary Music Festival held. Funded by the State Arts Commission, the festival was able to attract such renowned artists as Aaron Copland, Vincent Persichetti, and Howard Hanson.

1963—Thomas Fitzpatrick, Tenor, appointed Professor Voice and Director of Opera Theatre. Resigns as Professor Emeritus of Voice in 1991.

1963—Eunice Wilcox begins tenure at DePauw. Resigns in 1987 as Professor Emerita of School Music Education.

1971—Aaron Copland visits DePauw for three days during the first Winter Term as part of the Contemporary Music Festival. Copland directed the orchestra and held workshops during his visit.

James Beckel, composer and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra trombonist, joins faculty.

Anne Bither Reynolds, formerly a flutist in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, joins faculty.

1973—The progressive and innovative Music/Business major is created under leadership of Robert Grocock. As one of the first institutions in the nation to offer such a program, DePauw was featured in the Wall Street Journal, and Grocock was interviewed on the Today Show.

1974—Donald White becomes director until 1977. His administration oversaw the construction of and the move into the Performing Arts Center.

Claude Cymerman, later named the John C. and Lillian W. Siegesmund Professor of Music, appointed Professor of Piano.

Pianist Lorna Hester Griffitt appointed. Resigns in 1999.

Orcenith Gino Smith, Professor of Tuba and Director of the Orchestra, appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

Pamela Coburn graduates and becomes established as a soprano of the highest order.

1975—Stanley Irwin, bass-baritone, joins faculty as Professor of Voice and is appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1976—School of Music moves to the Performing Arts Center; Music Hall razed.

1977—Cassel Grubb becomes acting director during White’s sabbatical leave.

The DePauw Symphony Orchestra and the University Choirs perform and record Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in celebration of the inauguration of DePauw President Richard Rosser.

1978—University Choir performs in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s “Bach Series” under direction of ISO conductor John Nelson in 1978 and 1980.

1979—Randy Salman, Director of Jazz Studies and Professor of Clarinet and Saxophone, appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1980—Claude Cymerman appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1981—Vergene N. Miller appointed as a full-time Assistant Professor. Resigns in 2006 as Professor Emerita of Music.

1982—David Lee Ott, resident composer and Professor of Composition and Theory, and John C. and Lillian W. Siegesmund Professor of Music, joins faculty. Resigns in 1996.

Violinist Dan Rizner appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1983—The DePauw Chamber Symphony performs 11 concerts, including newly-composed works by Austrian composers, during a 13-day tour completely funded by Jeunesse Musicale, an arts agency of the Austrian government.

1984—A repeat performance of the first recital in School of Music history, a program of piano works performed by Dean Howe in 1884, is given by piano professors Glen Sherman, Claude Cymerman, and Lorna Griffitt in celebration of the School of Music’s centennial.

1985—Cleveland T. Johnson, Professor of Music History, is the first musicologist to receive appointment; he also is appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

Gregory Dugan, bassist in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, joins faculty.

1986—DePauw School of Music faculty members Stanley Irwin, bass-baritone, and Claude Cymerman, piano, perform Schubert song cycle Die schöne Müllerin in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

1987—John D. Vander Weg succeeds Grubb as director until 1991.

Concert performed in honor of the 150th anniversary of the university.

1988—Pianist John Browning, son of DePauw graduate John Sapp, performs on November 1.

Organist Carla Edward joins faculty and is appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

Cellist Eric Edberg joins faculty and is appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1989—Conductor Sir David Willcocks visits DePauw as guest conductor and lecturer. Under Willcocks’s direction the University Choirs and University Orchestra performed Haydn’s “Imperial” Mass in D minor and Vaughan Williams’s “Serenade to Music.”

Harpist Harriet Moore joins faculty.

1990—DePauw’s Century Singers perform at the White House.

Juilliard-trained pianist Patricia Collins Jones appointed dean. Stays at DePauw until 2001.

1991—Musicologist Matthew C. Balensuela joins staff. Dr. Balensuela has written on 14th-century music theory for the New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians.

1992—Craig T. Paré, Percussionist and Director of Bands, joins faculty.

1993—DePauw School of Music faculty members Stanley Irwin, bass-baritone, and Claude Cymerman, piano, perform the New York premiere of David Ott’s song cycle Renascence in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

C. Matthew Balensuela appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

Craig T. Paré appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

Caroline Bradley Smith, Soprano and Director of Vocal Area and Professor of Voice, joins faculty and is appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1996—Caroline Jetton appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

1999—Tafelmusik, the renowned baroque chamber orchestra, plays at DePauw.

2002—Pianist Frederic Chiu performs with the Budapest Strings at DePauw on November 7.

Percussionist Amy Lynn Barber appointed Dean and full-time tenure faculty member; the Percussion Plus Project moves from Vienna to DePauw as an ensemble-in-residence.

Trumpet professor Leonard Foy appointed full-time tenure faculty member.

2003—Virtuoso saxophonist Eugene Rousseau performs with The Percussion Plus Project in October 2003. Rousseau also taught a master class on woodwinds.

2005—DePauw graduate Pamela Coburn joins faculty.

2006—Amy Lynn Barber resigns from deanship. Dr. Cleveland Johnson appointed Interim Dean until summer of 2007.

2007—The DePauw Percussion Ensemble tours central Europe in January, performing in Croatia during the International Percussion Ensemble Week, and also in Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany.

Internationally-renowned pianist and scholar Charles Rosen gives a lecture and a recital in Thompson Recital Hall on April 15.

The School of Music moves into the Green Center for Performing Arts.

Professor of Music Education Caroline Jetton appointed Dean of the School of Music in July of 2007.