School of Music Prof. William Bolcom struggled through a cold yesterday afternoon as he spoke to nearly 200 people about the problems currently facing music.
Bolcom is this year's recipient of the Henry Russel Lectureship - the highest honor the University gives a senior faculty member. In addition to yesterday's lecture at Rackham Amphitheater, Bolcom will also receive a research stipend.
Bolcom said he was "thrilled" to give yesterday's lecture.
"This is a great honor," Bolcom said. "It was nice to see a lot of my friends (at the lecture)."
Bolcom mixed humor and intensity as he spoke about music's changing role in society since music composer and critic Virgil Thomson wrote a book about the current state of music in 1939.
"We still think as if things were as they were back then. It's changed and we're changing," Bolcom said. "Our organizations have simply not kept up to pace."
Bolcom discussed the drawbacks of composing music for the film industry and explained the difficulties "art music composers" have had earning a substantial living.
"Our music doesn't get the most money in America and that's the bottom line," Bolcom said. "We still don't make anything like novelists and painters."
Bolcom spoke about the closing of the Louisville Orchestra and the decline of other major orchestras. He pointed out that community orchestras are growing in strength because they receive support through their strong ties to the community.
Bolcom also discussed the need for stronger funding of the arts and music reform.
"The role of music is to join history together," Bolcom said. "We must begin to study what changes in the musical industry are necessary and push for them."
The University's Henry Russel Award - for the assistant or associate professor who shows promise and distinction in scholarship and excellence in teaching - was given to two instructors.
Kamal Sarabandi, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and Carla Sinopoli, associate professor of anthropology, were both honored before yesterday's lecture.
University President Lee Bollinger, who presented the awards, said he thought the lecture was "outstanding."
"Its theme was more troublesome than hopeful, but I admire greatly its candor," Bollinger said. "To me, that has always been one of Bill's most notable characteristics."
Rackham first-year student Francesco Accola said he has enjoyed Bolcom's music classes because the professor is full of wit, irony and knowledge.
"He has a great knowledge of not only music but the arts in general," Accola said. "He answers every question very deeply."
English Prof. Alice Fulton called Bolcom one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.
"What he said applies not only to music but all the arts in America," Fulton said.
Bolcom received a Pulitzer Prize for his piece "12 New Etudes for Piano." He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the recipient of numerous awards including the Henry Russel Award in 1977, two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships and the Governor's Arts Award from the state of Michigan.