Byron Pearson, Longtime Professor of Trumpet, Dies at 74</h1> <article> <h1>Byron Pearson, Longtime Professor of Trumpet, Dies at 74</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:04 +0000</p> <span>Byron Pearson, Longtime Professor of Trumpet, Dies at 74</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:04-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Willard Byron “Barnie” Pearson, a professor of trumpet at the �鶹��Ƶ Conservatory from 1979 until his retirement in 1997, died August 4 at age 74.</p> <p>A native of Chelsea, Michigan, Pearson graduated from Chelsea High School in 1958 and attended the University of Michigan. He was a member of the school’s Symphony Band, with which he took part in a 15-week goodwill tour of Russia and the Middle East in 1961, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. A year later, he left Michigan to join the Marine Corps, becoming a cornet soloist in “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and first trumpet in the White House Orchestra.</p> <p>Following his service, Pearson performed in the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony, among others.</p> <p>He returned to his hometown in 1972 and operated a tool and die shop for three years. In 1975 he resumed studies at the University of Michigan, completing his undergraduate degree and a master’s degree, in addition to coursework toward a doctorate. By 1979, he joined the faculty at �鶹��Ƶ, serving for many years as director of the Brass Guild of �鶹��Ƶ in addition to his role as professor of trumpet. In 1981 he married horn player Anne Gilbert.</p> <p>For many years, Pearson continued to play in major ensembles including the Baltimore Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and various Cleveland-area groups. He made two solo recital albums for the Crystal Record label.</p> <p>After retiring, Pearson returned to Michigan, where he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a member of numerous hunting and firearm organizations, as well as the Masons, the American Federation of Musicians, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.</p> <p>In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of his landmark tour to Russia and the Middle East, Pearson was inducted into the School of Music, Theatre & Dance Hall of Fame at the University of Michigan.</p> <p>Pearson is survived by his fiancée, Julie J. Chambers; a son and daughter; and two grandsons.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-09-09T12:00:00Z">Wed, 09/09/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2412">Obituaries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Herbert Henke '53, Longtime Conservatory Professor, Dies at 84</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:25 +0000</p> <span>Herbert Henke '53, Longtime Conservatory Professor, Dies at 84</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:25-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Herbert Henke devoted 36 years to teaching as a member of the �鶹��Ƶ Conservatory faculty, but his influence on students and colleagues spanned far beyond his conservatory years. He adored the life of an educator, and he embraced each opportunity he encountered.</p> <p>“I always found great satisfaction in teaching: children or adults, any subject matter,” the professor of eurhythmics told <i>�鶹��Ƶ Alumni Magazine</i> shortly after his retirement in 1998. “I love the variety that teaching offers, the search for new ways of imparting information, and the development of skills.”</p> <p>Henke remained firmly rooted in �鶹��Ƶ for most of his life, but he traversed the globe frequently to share his gifts. In 1973 he served as music consultant to the National Center for the Arts in El Salvador. Five years later, he worked with the National Youth Symphony Program in Costa Rica. He led the chorale at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia, and he filled in for former students as a teacher at the American School in London, in addition to stints teaching in Sweden, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.</p> <p>"I didn't know I was going to come to �鶹��Ƶ and see the world," he quipped at the conclusion of his final semester in 1997.</p> <p>In his early years on the �鶹��Ƶ faculty, Henke taught conducting, keyboard skills, and techniques in secondary music education. With the retirement of �鶹��Ƶ eurhythmics professor Inda Howland in 1974, Henke began to devote great energy to the century-old Swiss approach to musical training that emphasizes movement. He became an internationally respected teacher of eurhythmics and found his expertise in great demand throughout the world. For nearly two decades before and after his retirement, he taught annual summer classes in eurhythmics at Carnegie Mellon University.</p> <p>“Herb brought a gentle passion for music and music education to his teaching,” says Associate Professor of Music Education Jody Kerchner, whose �鶹��Ƶ career began as Henke retired. “Herb remained committed to the cause of preparing future music teachers, frequently returning to our conducting and music education classes to share his expertise.”</p> <p>Kerchner and her colleagues honored Henke in 2002 with the conservatory’s first Distinguished Music Education Alumni Award. “We have cherished and will now miss his friendship, collegiality, musical sensitivity, and calm wisdom that were his hallmarks,” she says.</p> <p>Henke grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Parma and earned three degrees from �鶹��Ƶ Conservatory—bachelor’s degrees in music and music education, and a master’s in music education—followed by a PhD at the University of Southern California. Initially a teacher in the Cleveland public schools, he accepted his first faculty position at the University of Maryland, where he taught for four years before returning to �鶹��Ƶ to teach in 1962.</p> <p>An accomplished singer who was active in the local community, Henke served multiple stints as music director of First Church and performed for years as a bass soloist in �鶹��Ƶ and Cleveland. His well-rounded musicianship made him all the more beloved among those who knew and learned from him.</p> <p>“Herb was a wise and generous presence among the faculty and a legendary teacher to countless students,” says former colleague Steven Plank, �鶹��Ƶ’s Andrew B. Meldrum Professor of Musicology. “His teaching, be it of music education or eurhythmics, was inspired by a deep love of music-making and, I suspect, an instinctive understanding of the ways in which music touches our humanity.</p> <p>“In this way, he touched us all, and he will be remembered with great fondness and admiration.”</p> <p>Henke died August 16. He is survived by his wife, Sabra Lee Chambers ’53, whom he met at �鶹��Ƶ and married the year they graduated; their daughter, Lia Lowrie; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Kevin Henke ’77, and daughter, Jeanine Neumann.</p> <p>A celebration of Henke’s life will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, September 12, at First Church in �鶹��Ƶ.</p> <p>In lieu of flowers, Henke’s family welcomes donations to the Herbert Henke Merit Scholarship in Music Education, which supports students who show great promise in the field of music education. Learn more at www.oberlin.edu/giving/donate or call 800-693-3167.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-08-22T12:00:00Z">Sat, 08/22/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2412">Obituaries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2974">Conservatory Alumni</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=28876">Music Theory</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/music-theory" hreflang="und">Music Theory</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>In Memoriam: Ed Miller, Emeritus Professor of Composition</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:04:25 +0000</p> <span>In Memoriam: Ed Miller, Emeritus Professor of Composition</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:04:25-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:04">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:04</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Throughout his 27 years at �鶹��Ƶ, Professor of Composition Edward J. Miller found inspiration in the work of his students and fellow faculty members.</p> <p>Miller, likewise, was an inspiration to countless others: His compositions have been performed by numerous major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra, and he earned widespread acclaim for his work.</p> <p>Miller, who retired in 1998, died on August 31 after an extended illness.</p> <p>“The thing that impressed me most about Ed was his ability to teach a wide variety of courses,” says Professor Warren Darcy, a longtime colleague of Miller’s at �鶹��Ƶ. “Music Theory, Aural Skills, Composition—he taught it all, and he did it all very well.</p> <p>“In addition, he was a first-rate composer, and he wrote some of the most beautiful music that ever flowed from the pen of a late-20th-century composer.”</p> <p>As a younger man, Miller was fortunate to study with some of the best. Born in Miami, he began playing music at age 10, and by 16 was performing in a professional jazz band. He earned a bachelor of music from the University of Miami, then won a Koussevitzky Prize, which afforded him the opportunity to study with Mexican composer Carlos Chavez at Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center. Miller had been recommended for the prize by Aaron Copland, who called Miller one of the “young talents whose music commands attention.”</p> <p>Miller later earned a master’s degree in composition from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, where he taught for 12 years before joining the faculty of �鶹��Ƶ. Over the course of his career, Miller won two Ohio Arts Council Awards, a composition award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cleveland Arts Prize, among other honors.</p> <p>Miller’s compositions—he wrote roughly 70 of them in all—were performed by a number of fellow �鶹��Ƶ faculty members, including Peter Takács, Gregory Fulkerson, Daune Mahy, and Marlene and Michael Rosen. Though his works tended toward the upbeat, Miller was most proud of <em>The Seven Last Days</em>, an apocalyptic piece he wrote for chorus, orchestra, film, and tape.</p> <p>“Ed had a fantastic attentiveness to the general flow of music,” says Professor of Violin Gregory Fulkerson, for whom Miller wrote a piece called <em>Beyond the Wheel</em> in the mid-1980s. Fulkerson played it in Cleveland and New York, where a <em>New York Times</em> critic praised it for its “shimmering otherworldly texture.”</p> <p>Seven years after his retirement, Miller relocated to New Mexico with his wife, Judi Miller, a former �鶹��Ƶ professor of psychology.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2013-09-05T12:00:00Z">Thu, 09/05/2013 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2412">Obituaries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>