Introduction to the School of Music
Brief History
On March 13, 1948 during the intermission of the Utah Symphony's penultimate performance of its inaugural season under Maurice Abravanel, University of Utah President A. Ray Olpin announced from the stage: "The University of Utah invites the Utah Symphony to make its home on our campus and join with the University in enriching the cultural life of our state." With this stunning and, to the orchestra and gathered audience, welcome announcement, the course of music in the community as well as music study at the University of Utah was set and a collaboration that continues to this day was established.
It was a singular point in the history of the performing arts in Salt Lake City when, from 1947 through the next decade, the coming together of influential leaders and artists in music, theatre and ballet would put Salt Lake City on the road to becoming one of the most culturally endowed cities in the nation. President Olpin, who had been appointed in 1946 and is generally credited with changing the University from essentially a liberal arts college to full university status, had been planning for a College of Fine Arts, and "had sensed the wide popular support for attracting and attaching Abravanel and the Utah Symphony to the campus.
With the presence of the Utah Symphony on the campus music students who previously had to travel to either coast for expert instruction were now able to study with professional performers who played in the Symphony and had adjunct faculty appointments at the University. The arrangement thus established continues today even though, with maturity, the Symphony has become independent of the University. The School still enjoys the relationship with musicians of the Symphony providing the majority of orchestral instrument instruction.
Olpin was also successful in bringing Leroy Robertson, then Utah's most famous composer, and the years of his tenure as chair saw the coming of the "modern era" of the Department of Music. It was Robertson who, in 1952, secured the accreditation of the Department by the National Association of Schools of Music.
The Department was housed in barracks-style buildings inherited form World War II days until 1955. When the Olpin Student Union replaced the original Union Building the latter became the home of the Department of Music along with Ballet and KUED, the new campus public television station. Eventually only KUED remained as the only co-tenant with music.
In 1997, following the 1995 relocation of KUED to the Eccles Broadcast Center, the old Union was totally renovated and a concert hall addition attached to house the Department of Music. Dedicated in April of 2000, the acquisition of this facility, renamed David Gardner Hall in honor of the University's tenth president, is destined to be the catalyst for the next significant moment in the history of the University of Utah School of Music.
Today
Situated at the prestigious location on the northwest corner of Presidents Circle, David Gardner Hall is among the finest educational music facilities in the world. Libby Gardner Concert Hall, a 700-seat state-of-the-art venue, has been acclaimed for its superior acoustics and beautiful ambiance. World-renowned performers appear regularly as part of the School's Virtuoso Series and in performances sponsored by the Salt Lake Chamber Music Society. Libby Gardner Concert Hall also is home to the University's large musical ensembles: University of Utah Singers, A Capella Choir, Utah Philharmonia, University Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensembles, and Lyric Opera Ensemble.
The Emma Ray Riggs McKay Music Library houses the School's music listening and technology facilities as well as the College of Fine Arts Media Lab. The McKay Music Library is a center of activity in the day-to-day lives of students and faculty. Also housed in the McKay Music Library is the Mariska Aldrich Memorial Archive which consists of over 60,000 recordings ranging in type from wax cylinder to piano rolls to compact disc and includes valuable music-related documents and memorabilia. The hallmark of the McKay Music Library is the Maurice Abravanel Studio. This room is a replication of the late maestro's home studio and contains his personal scores, books, recordings, and photographs with many great musical and political personalities of the 20th century.
Also housed in David Gardner Hall, the Katherine W. and Ezekiel R. Dumke Foundation Recital Hall is among the finest small recital halls in the United States. All student recitals and convocations are presented here. The other hall used for performances is the Chamber Music Room. Replicated in historic European Baroque décor, this flexible space is used for a variety of different concerts as well as receptions and lectures. Through the generosity of a $1.5 million gift from Bruce Bastian, the School of Music enjoys the designation of being an All-Steinway School and is one of only a handful of institutions with this distinction.
Mission Statement
The School of Music affirms a four-fold mission to:
- Educate professionally-oriented students in composition, conducting, instrumental performance, jazz studies, music education, musicology, music theory, pedagogy, and vocal performance. Through rigorous musical and academic experiences, students achieve excellence.
- Serve the art of music and further the reputation of the School through performance, composition, research and publication, and the participation of its students and faculty in festivals, conferences, competitions, and recordings.
- Provide a core of general and diverse music courses and experiences to enhance University students’ appreciation and knowledge of music as a distinct art form, and as it relates to history, society, culture, and the other arts.
- Function as the State’s flagship institution serving as a center for intellectual, educational, and cultural musical activities within the university, community, region, and nation.