{"id":35946,"date":"2016-03-08T19:06:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T01:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=35946"},"modified":"2016-03-08T19:06:33","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T01:06:33","slug":"back-to-school-renowned-composer-philip-glass-returns-to-the-university-of-chicago-for-three-day-residency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/back-to-school-renowned-composer-philip-glass-returns-to-the-university-of-chicago-for-three-day-residency\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to school: renowned composer Philip Glass returns to the University of Chicago for three-day residency"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Frances Van de Vel<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1956, Philip Glass graduated from the University of Chicago at the age of 19 with a degree in mathematics and philosophy. His eventual career path, however, strayed far from those tracks in pursuit of musical composition. Sixty years and multiple operas, soundtracks and concertos later, the alumnus finally returned to his alma mater on Feb. 17 for a three-day residency.<\/p>\n

His stint as a Presidential Arts Fellow at the university opened with a screening of a movie he scored: \u201cMishima: A Life in Four Chapters\u201d (1985), directed by Paul Schrader, in the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. One day later, that was also the site of a public conversation, in which Glass discussed the value of artistic collaborations with Augusta Read Thomas, Professor of Composition at the University of Chicago. The residency ended on Feb. 19 with a sold-out performance of his piano etudes in Mandel Hall.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For Glass, who enrolled at the university at age 15, his residency presented an opportunity to reminisce about the first days he set foot in Chicago (\u201ca powerhouse of a city\u201d) after a childhood in Baltimore, Md.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe breadths and depths of culture were far more than I could have imagined,\u201d said Glass fondly. \u201cWhen I came to Chicago, it felt like I was walking into a living encyclopedia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fascinated by the music scene on the South Side, he would regularly go down to the Beehive Lounge on 55th Street. Too young to enter, he listened to the live jazz music at the windows, until someone would let him in with a gruff \u201cOkay, kid\u2026 You sit here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet it was in the university\u2019s Harper Library that Glass first thought about becoming a musician himself, an idea hatched while studying scores and recordings in the library\u2019s small music department. Both learning how to use the library for research and hearing the music he was exposed to in the city have left a lasting impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Chicago provided me was a deep, broad and cultural basis,\u201d said Glass. \u201cFrankly, I couldn\u2019t have become an opera composer without that training.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his residency as a Presidential Arts Fellow, Glass passed some of that knowledge on to University of Chicago composition students while workshopping their musical creations. Glass, who has described his success as \u201ca surprise since day one,\u201d remained modest about his contributions to the students\u2019 learning process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t expect to be a model for anybody else,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think we had a good conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas, on the other hand, thought Glass had been an excellent teacher for the University of Chicago students, informing his eager audience with thoughts about issues such as the artist\u2019s work ethic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that it was fantastic,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of really important subjects came up, and he was extremely articulate; I would say profoundly generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The masterclass left Glass thoroughly impressed with the up-and-coming artistic generation. \u201cThis generation of kids [is] extremely interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had as creative a generation since the 1960s.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Glass, the previous generations of artists focused too much on money and on getting on television programs. He considered the current generation more idealistic and appreciative of core values such as community and creativity, and compared this ideological change to polluted rivers: \u201cIf you leave it alone, ten years later, it will be clean again\u2026 Mother Nature has a way of correcting things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, he was pleasantly surprised by the refreshing ways in which the students wrote their music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat could be better than that,\u201d wondered Glass, \u201cif you\u2019re a composer hearing music that you couldn\u2019t write \u2013 isn\u2019t that great?\u201d<\/p>\n

Approached by a student who was unsure about what to do with his own compositions, Glass had a peculiar piece of advice ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I know the feeling,\u201d he replied. \u201cIt\u2019s like walking into a restaurant where all the tables are taken. So what do you do? You build another table. Just build another table.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Photo at top: Philip Glass talks to University of Chicago Professor Augusta Read Thomas about artistic collaborations. (Rob Kozloff\/ THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Frances Van de Vel In 1956, Philip Glass graduated from the University of Chicago at the age of 19 with a degree in mathematics and philosophy. His eventual career path, however, strayed far from those tracks in pursuit of musical composition. 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