Dorothy E. and DuWayne H. Hansen Musical Arts Series

The Dorothy E. and DuWayne H. Hansen Musical Arts Series Fund was established in 1996 to bring to the campus and the Bowling Green community significant representatives of the musical arts to share their talents with undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Musical Arts and with residents of the community.

Dorothy Hansen is an alumna of the College of Musical Arts, while DuWayne Hansen is a former chair of the Department of Music Education.

2009 Hansen Musical Arts Series Guest

Benjamin Zander
January 20–21

Benjamin Zander, conductor, teacher and speaker, teaches on faculty of the New England Conservatory and is artistic director of the joint program between NEC and Walnut Hill, a boarding school for the Performing Arts. During his 35-year tenure as conductor of the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic, he has taken the orchestra on 13 international tours, made five commercial recordings and several television documentaries for PBS. Zander is conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. The BPO has recorded five extremely successful CDs, all of which are listed in the Penguin Guide of the Best Recordings of the Past 20 Years. Zander has established an international reputation as a guest conductor and has a unique relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London with whom he is recording a series of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies for the Telarc label. He also has an extensive speaking career, traveling the world lecturing to organizations on leadership. The best-selling book, The Art of Possibility, co-authored with his partner, leading psychotherapist Rosamund Zander, has been translated into 16 languages.

Past Musical Arts Series Guests

Terence Blanchard

A world-renowned trumpeter/composer/band leader and Blue Note recording artist, Terence Blanchard is the most prolific jazz musician to ever compose for motion pictures. Born and raised in New Orleans, where he studied with the Marsalis brothers at the famed New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, he won a scholarship to Rutgers University and immediately began performing in the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Two years later he succeeded Wynton Marsalis in the legendary Jazz Messengers, before forming his own influential groups. He originally began performing on Spike Lee’s soundtracks, including Mo Better Blues in which he ghosted the trumpet for actor Denzel Washington.

Anne Midgette and Greg Sandow

Anne Midgette is a classical music reviewer for The New York Times, where she also occasionally reviews theater. A freelance critic and arts writer, she has written frequently for The Wall Street Journal, Town and Country, The Los Angeles Times, Opera News, OpernWelt, ARTnews, and many other publications. After graduating from Yale University with a degree in Classical Civilization, she lived for 11 years in Munich, Germany, reviewing opera, music and art throughout Europe for the Wall Street Journal and Opera News, doing freelance work for everyone from Deutsche Grammophon to the BBC, editing a monthly magazine, and writing several travel guidebooks. After returning to New York she worked as classical music editor for the now-defunct music-on-demand site MusicMaker.com, as well as writing and reviewing for Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Die Welt (in German) and other abovementioned publications, before becoming the first woman to review classical music for the Times on a regular basis in 2001.

Greg Sandow has been one of the few music critics in America with a national reputation for writing about both classical music and pop. He’s also been one of the few classical critics who challenges the old assumptions of the classical music world. His writing has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times Book Review and The Wall Street Journal, where for many years he was a regular contributor. In pop music, he’s been chief pop critic of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and both music critic and senior music editor of Entertainment Weekly.

Howard Gardner

Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Howard Gardner is widely recognized in educational circles for his theory that humans have eight relatively autonomous intelligences rather than just one that can be assessed by standard instruments. He visited BGSU for a mini-residency Sept. 7–9, 2005.

Gardner has written many books on developmental psychology, including the development of creativity in children and adults, and is also well regarded for his work with artistic development. He is a founding member and senior director of Harvard’s Project Zero, which is focused on systematic studies of artistic thought and creativity.

In recent years, Gardner has embarked on a study of “GoodWork”—work that is socially responsible as well as excellent in quality.

Craig Schulman

Singer and actor Craig Schulman, whose Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Jekyll & Hyde, visited BGSU for a mini-residency Oct. 4–5, 2004.

A veteran of Broadway productions, national and international tours in such starring roles as Jean Valjean, the Phantom and Jekyll & Hyde, Schulman presented educational activities for high school and college students, as well as a live public performance.

Schulman conducted master classes with BGSU voice and theater students, as well as worked with several talented high school students nominated by their teachers. He also spoke with students enrolled in an introductory opera class, sharing his experience in switching back and forth between the worlds of opera and musical theater.

Inaugural Guest — Bob McGrath

The College of Musical Arts hosted a three-day mini-residency by Bob McGrath of Sesame Street fame on Sept. 3–5, 2003.

Appearing for more than 30 years on Sesame Street, McGrath is one of the original hosts of the groundbreaking children’s show. He was recently inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and is the recipient of the American Eagle Award by the National Music Council, as well as the Fame Award, presented by the National Association of Music Educators for furthering the cause of music education.

McGrath attended an invitation-only dinner co-sponsored by the College of Musical Arts and WBGU-PBS; met with students from the Arts Village, a University residential learning community; held an interactive presentation for approximately 400 first- and second-grade students from the Bowling Green City Schools; presided over storytelling at the Wood County Public Library, and spoke at the College of Musical Arts’ Fall Convocation.