School of music

School Notes: School of Music
March/April 2016

José García-Léon | http://music.yale.edu

Director of Norfolk Festival to retire

The Yale Summer School of Music/Norfolk Chamber Music Festival will undergo a major leadership transition this year. Paul Hawkshaw, who has served as the festival’s director since 2004, will retire after the 2016 season. Under Hawkshaw’s leadership the program has flourished, with strong ticket sales, ambitious restoration projects, and closer relationships between the festival and the surrounding community. “Paul Hawkshaw has been a visionary leader for the Norfolk program,” noted Dean Robert Blocker. Melvin Chen ’91, deputy dean of YSM, has been appointed as Hawkshaw’s successor.

Yale Philharmonia gets new conductor

Peter Oundjian has been named the principal conductor of the Yale Philharmonia, continuing his nearly 35-year affiliation with the school. Oundjian will conduct three concerts every year with the Philharmonia and will help shape the artistic identity of the orchestra, including close involvement with the selection of guest conductors and repertoire. He will also contribute to the orchestral conducting program at the school, joining colleagues in the admissions process and collaborating to provide a comprehensive curriculum for the conducting program.

Arts council honors YSM professor

In December, the New Haven Arts Council awarded Willie Ruff ’54MusM the C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement in and Contribution to the Arts. A member of the YSM faculty since 1971, Ruff is the founding director of the Duke Ellington Fellowship at Yale. The award announcement noted: “In addition to sharing the concert stage with some of the most iconic names in jazz, . . . Willie Ruff has served music and our community as an educator, an explorer, a writer, and an ambassador, inspiring audiences and connecting new generations of performers to history and possibility.”

YSM’s first massive open online course

The Yale School of Music has launched its first massive open online course (MOOC), Music and Social Action. Taught by MacArthur Fellow Sebastian Ruth, the course asks vital questions about musicians’ responses to the condition of the world. The free course includes engaging lectures plus multimedia material such as historical photos and audio clips.

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