EXTRA
VOL./, No. 4
EXTRA
N.C. SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
MARCH 8, 1974
PHONE: 784-0085
Suderbiirg Named New Chancellor
Board of Governors
Decision Announced
In Chapel Hill
Problems
Face New
Chancellor
By ROBIN DREYER
and AMY SALGANIK
Essay Staff Reporters
Robert Suderbiirg faces an agenda of
problems at the start of the school’s second
decade which includes space problems for
design and production, upgrading salaries,
special housing for younger students and a
simmering dispute in the student affairs
department.
Hie new chancellor will take over at a
time when the school has reached a level of
stability in which it has little danger of
backsliding.
Yet, according to interviews with ad
ministrators this week, the school faces
major fund-raising hurdles and renewed
challenges to improve the balance bet
ween productions and classes.
Many administrators feel that the first
COTicem of the new chancellor will be, as
Dean Robert Lindgren put it, “un
derstanding what this school is all about.”
He said that the new chancellor will have
to get to know the school before he can
“make his own evaluations of the
situation.”
John Sneden, dean of design and
production, said that an important
■problem is the need for more space in D &
P. “We get tighter and tighter the more
shows we do, “Sneden has said. The
Summer Festival drops were painted in
the gym last summer, and the drops for
“The Tempest” were painted in Studio A
with plastic on the floor.
Armrdmg to Martin Sokoloff, ad-
ministrative director, the first respon
sibility of the new chancellor is to convince
Chapel Hill to “reevaluate our whole
salary scale.” Sokoloff said that it is
becoming increasingly difficult to attract
new faculty at the salaries offered and that
there is even a problem competing with
other offers our present faculty are get
ting.
Another problem is junior high school
housing. Many people in the school
community feel that these younger
students need more supervision, and this
would be facilitated by separate housing.
If and when this happens, it will have to &
done through the chancellor’s office.
A larger problem is money. One of the
large factors considered in the selection of
the chancellor is how well he will be able to
get money for the school. According, to
Sam Stone, director of development, the
chancellor can best raise money by
becoming known to the community.
“People who are considering a grant to the
school,” he said, “want to meet the man in
charge. To a large extent they are going to
evaluate the school on the basis of the chief
executive.”
In addition, Stone said that the chan
cellor can help fund-raising by developing
the school to its highest possible level,
thereby inspiring people to give money.
Also a problem, students have said, is
trying to balance the demands of
productions and the needs of classes. The
new chancellor as the unifying force in this
school should give considerable attention
to helping create such a balance.
Robert Suderburg
Essay Photo by Marshall Thomas
Suderburg: A Teacher in Demand
By PRUDENCE MASON
Essay Staff Reporter
“When it came time to request teachers,
10 of the 15 composition students requested
Mr. Suderburg even though he could ac
cept only three”, a former pupil, Bern
Herbolsheimer, now a teacher at the
University of Oregon said.
“There was a comfort in having him as a
teacher. He has a complete knowledge of
every aspect of his subject,” Her
bolsheimer said.
An Effort
“He made an effort to get to know each
student personally and to serve the in
dividual students’ needs while at the same
time keeping the larger objectives of the
class in mind,” he said. “He taught in such
a way that he elicited our curiousity and
made us want to leam. The classes were
never dry even if the subject matter was
dry. He could always pick up the class with
an appropriate anecdote. Now that I’m
Buys Land Near School
Ward: Not Gone for Good
By SONNY LINDER
Essay Staff Reporter
Chancellor Robert Ward is leaving but
will not be going far, he said in an in
terview this week.
“My wife and I bought a lot near the
school about a 15-minute walk away on
which we plan to build a home in the next
couple of years,” said Ward. He said he
also owns a home near Sparta, N.C., and
will spend time there.
Ward made public his resignation in a
convocation Sept. 14. He said then that he
would stay on as chancellor until a new
chancellor was found. Today’s an-
nouncenient of Suderburg’s appointment
means that stay is no t finite.-
Opera
In the interview. Ward announced his
future plans: “Right now, I am working on
an opera based on Hedda Gabler, by Ibsen,
for the New York City Opera. And I also
have a number of commissions, small
ones, that I want to finish (but I’m not
ready to announce them yet). I just want to
catch up on a lot of lost composing time.”
Concerning the candidates for chan
cellor, Ward said, “May I add that of all
the people we considered as potential
candidates for chancellor, none was a bad
candidate. I honestly felt the school
couldn’t go wrong with any one of the five
people considered toward the end. Each
Robert Ward
would be able to bring something different,
but all were capable with different
strengths. And the comments about all the
candidates by every one of the people on
the Search Committee were very com
plimentary.”
teaching I respect that all the more.”
Suderburg, M, has been a professor of
music at the University of Washington at
Seattle since 1970 and co-director of the
Contemporary Group, a performing group
there since 1966.
He has conducted or taught at Brooklyn
College, Philadelphia Music Academy,
University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr
College, Albertus Magnus College, Neigh
borhood School of Music and the Yale
Drama School. At some schools he has
done both.
He holds a bachelors, masters and
doctorate in music from the Universities of
Minnesota, Yale and Pennsylvania,
respectively.
Top Man
“A top man in every respect, highly
professional as a composer and teacher.
You are lucky to get him,” said John T.
Moore, head of the music department at
the University of Washington, in a
telephone interview. “He is among the five
or ten fastest rising young composers in
the nation,” Robert Ward, outgoing
chancellor said.
Moore described him as “very witty, an
absolute gentleman and extremely alert.”
Suderburg said he was “bom in a trunk”
in a resort town in the Great Lakes region
while his father a professional trombonist,
was on tour, and he grew up in Min
neapolis, Minnesota. He began to compose
at age 11, “I can’t remember ever wanting
to do anything else”, and received en
couragement in his musical endeavors
from Dimitri Metropoulous, conductor of
the symphony in Minneapolis.
Teaching Approach
“Putting one’s foot into the present with
a good strong basis in the past” is the way
Suderburg describes his approach to arts
education. He favors an interdisciplinary
teaching approach and says each
department should provide a “real cross
stimulus” for the others.
“We’re very excited about the school,”
Suderberg’s wife Elizabeth, a professional
singer, said. The Suderburgs have two
children, Erica, 14, who studies the violin
Correction
In our March 5 issue, the Essay inad
vertently linked the firing of Karen
Shortridge with the appearance before the
Student Council of a Black Grievance
Committee. This occurred in headlines
and in our story on Ms. Shortridge’s firing.
There was absolutely no connection
between the black grievances and Ms.
Shortridge’s firing. We regret the errors.
“but her real love is the theatre,” and
Jonathon, 8, who recently made his
professional singing debut performing in
Crum’s “Ancient Voices of Children” in
Seattle.
Mrs. Suderburg said she expects to
adapt easily to her role as the chancellor’s
wife. She plans to continue her singing
carppr after their move to Winston-Salem.
Backpacking
The Suderburgs share in all phases of
their careers. Mrs. Ward said she ex
pressed surprise at Suderburg’s eagerness
to help with the dishes after a breakfast at
the chancellor’s house. He replied “I guess
we’re just used to doing things together”.
In their sparse spare time the Suderburg
family goes backpacking and finds time to
enjoy their pets, a menagerie including
two cats, hamsters, birds, gerbils and one
rabbit.
The Suderburgs plan to visit Winston-
Salem in May before he takes office in
August.
From Staff Reports
Dr. Robert Suderburg, composer and professor in the School of Music at the University
of Washington, was named the third chancellor of the School of the Arts today.
The selection was made by the Board of Governors at their meeting in Chapel Hill this
morning and announced to the press at 11 a.m. Students were told at a convocation a half
hour later. He will take over the post Aug. 1.
Suderburg’s appointment continues an unbroken succession of composers in the job.
Outgoing Chancellor Robert Ward submitted his resignation last fall after holding the job
6 years in order to devote more time to composition.
Suderburg, 38, was picked from a list of five candidates finally considered by the
search committee said a school source.
In addition to Suderburg, the names considered were Grant Beglarian, dean of the
School of Performing Arts at the University of Southern California; Allan Sapp, a
teacher at the State LFniversity of New York at Buffalo; Robert P. Hyatt and Martin
Sokoloff, school administrators, thp source said.
Council Recommendation
The student council had recommended Sapp for the position.
Suderburg will be the youngest of the 16 chancellors in the University system, a
university spokesman in Chapel Hill said. He will earn $27,500 a year.
Holder of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968, Suderburg has received the Rockefe Her
Foundation- Houston Symphony Award, the Halstead Award and an award from the
Festival Music of Spain and the Americas. A new orchestral work, commissioned by the
Hindemith Foundation, will be premiered in Europe next year.
Suderburg is a co-founder and co-director of The Contemporary Group, a chamber
group resident at the University of Washington, which has been supported by a major
Rockefeller Foundation grant and a Naumberg Foundation Award.
Suderburg Statement
Suderburg, in a statement from his Seattle home, said: “I am both moved and
profoundly challenged in accepting the chancellorship of the North Carolina School of the
Arts- moved to have the honor of following in the footsteps of such men as Robert Ward
and 'Vittorio Giannini and challenged by the school’s present excellence and by the
belief of all concerned in its future.”
“That the citizens of North Carolina had the vision to create this unique School of the
Arts, recognizing the necessity of the arts to the health of any society, is for me both an
example to follow and a trust to be met.”
The new chancellor said he hopes to be able to teach composition and that Ward will
continue to teach his compositi'in classes.
Ward made the announcement before a full audience of students and faculty in
Crawford Hall. During the 15-minute convocation. Ward read a three-page press release
on the appointment then said:
Happy Day
“We should applaud ourselves on this happy day.” The applause continued until he left
the auditorium.
Many students, interviewed by staff reporters, said they were surprised by Suder
burg’s appointment. David Winslow, a student council member and violin major in the
college, said: “I’m surprised and shocked. I wanted Sapp.” He gave no explanation.
Susan Summers, president of SCA and a member of the search committee, said: “He
has already indicated to the student council that he responds well to students and
respects opinions. I feel he will be an attribute because of his youth, vitality and energy.
“Glad to have Suderburg chosen,” said Don Martin, SCA vice president. “He’s very
qualified and young. Younger people are needed around here.”
Theatre Experience
John Kavelin, chairman of the faculty council said, “I think he’s absolutely terrific. Of
course my own concerns are with the theatre, and Dr. Suderburg has a lot of experience
there.”
“He’s done a lot of writing (music) for the theatre,” said Kavelin, “but he’s very well
rounded in all the arts. He’s also young and energetic.”
Scott Schillin, assistant to the dean of the School of Music, said: “He’s a top-notch
composer and his emphasis on contemporary music is the direction which the school of
music should go.”
“I think it is good to have a young distinguished American composer,” said Martin
Sokoloff, administrative director and among the final candidates. “I’m also delighted
that we are continuing the tradition of having successful American composers head this
institution.”
Mrs. Marion Fitz-Simons, retiring assistant academic dean of the college, said, “The
academic faculty was all for him.”
May Visit
Suderburg has said he will be on campus in May to come to the meetings of the school’s
board of trustees, the advisory board to the school and the school’s foundation board.
The search for the new chancellor started last fall when Ward submitted his
resignation. A search committee, headed by J. Wallace Carroll, a trustee, was formed
and began drawing up a list of names of possible candidates including suggestions from
all parts of the school conununity.
Contributing to this story were Essay staff reporters Muffin Columbia, Amy Salganik,
Robin Dreyer, Prudence Mason, Marshall Thomas and Lori Gottemoeller.
Chancellor’s Home Comes with 14 Rooms,
Maid, Fish Pond, Expense Fund, . .
By MUFFIN COLUMBIA
Essay Staff Reporter
It sounds elegant: 14 rooms, a full time
maid, a part time gardener, a blue-blood
history and special funds to operate it.
It is the chancellor’s house, a mansion
sitting on a hill on Cascade Ave.
overlooking the city and it comes rent free
with the chancellor’s job.
Although it is used for receptions and
hosting esteemed guests, it is not the least
bit impersonal or foreboding. It is a home,
and like many others, it has seen its share
of hard times and refurbishing.
When the Bahnson estate was for sale
four years ago, the NCSA Foundation
purchased it for a bargain $30,000. The
house was about 57 years old then, and 20
years had elapsed without a new paint job,
wallpaper or any other major work. The
inside was dark and dingy.
Mrs. Mary Ward and R.B. Crawford,
then head of the foundation, decided what
was needed. An additional $30,000 went for
improvements including new wiring, work
on the roof, new paint and wallpaper.
Gift
Two years ago, the foundation gave the
house to the state.
The style of the house is bright and
cheerful, a tone set by Mrs. Ward through
her selection of paint colors, wallpaper,
and furniture.
Furnishings
Nearly all the furnishings except for the
rugs and some curtains belong to the
Wards and will leave with them, giving the
new chancellor a chance to influence the
personality of the house when he refur
nishes it.
The rooms on the first floor are light in
color with light rugs and flowered
wallpaper. There is a living room, music
room with grand piano, a dining room, a
breakfast room used to keep the 6-month
old dog. Mindy, and a new laundry room.
Second Floor
The second floor is as bright as the first,
there are two bedrooms and a guest room
each with an enormous adjoining
bathroom. Ward’s studio is also on the
second floor.
Above the second floor is a huge attic
with high ceilings and wood-paneled walls,
ceiling and floors. “It is rarely used except
as a dormitory-type room when all my
children come home,” Mrs. Ward said.
In the attic there’s a wrought iron stove
made in 1851 left behind by the Bahnsons.
“I think that is what I will regret leaving
most,” said Mrs. Ward.
There is a four-car garage with a storage
room above, currently serving as storage
for drama costumes.
A large, beautiful garden surrounds the
house, but at the moment it is slightly
unkempt. It has a fish pond with five gold
fish and water lilies. It is in dire need of
cleaning as the fish pond is filled with
leaves from the oak trees. Not much at
tention has been paid to the garden since
there is not a specific man whose job is to
tend the chancellor’s garden.
Garden
So much could be done with it, but since
the upkeep of the garden is not one of the
pressing problems of the school, it has had
to go untended, said Mrs. Ward.
A full time maid with a salary of $4,620 is
provided for by the state. This year the
Wards chose not to hire a maid, leaving the
decision to the incoming chancellor’s wife.
Persons to clean the house are hired
from a $250 per month house fund which
also goes toward entertaining. In addition,
the chancellor has an undisclosed amount
available for entertaining from a
discretionary fund, set up by the foun
dation.
Mrs. Ward said she felt a bit “rud
derless” at times about making changes in
the house because it was her house to do
with what she wanted yet at the same time
it wasn’t.