Kudos

Gregory Barrett

Gregory Barrett, professor of clarinet in the NIU School of Music, has a special fondness for music written by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Barrett, a clarinetist, was reading Sibelius’ biography in hopes of a mention of a chamber music work with clarinet when he stumbled on a musical mystery.

In 1891, Sibelius began writing a piece for flute, clarinet and five strings while studying in Vienna. He wrote to a friend that it was “… completely like a fairy tale in the romantic style …” Sibelius rewrote the piece several times until it became an orchestral piece, “En Saga.”

At some point, the chamber version was lost. The orchestral score was first kept in the library of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra but, somehow, it also disappeared. In the 1970s, it miraculously was found in an antiquarian shop in Oxford and, amazingly, returned to the Helsinki Philharmonic.

Barrett was given a copy of this orchestral score by the Helsinki Philharmonic and began reconstructing the lost chamber work from it. When it was complete, Breitkopf & Härtel, a major international publishing house located in Wiesbaden, Germany, offered to publish the work. The Austrian-Finnish Friendship Society asked to sponsor the world premiere in Vienna, the city where Sibelius wrote the original work.

In June 2003, Barrett and six musicians from the Lahti (Finland) Symphony met in Vienna for rehearsals and the premiere concert. The performance was held in the Brahms Hall of Der Musikverein, famous for its annual televised New Year’s concert. The Finnish Embassy gave a gala reception after the performance.

Tanuja Singh

Professor of Marketing Tanuja Singh has been selected by the Academy of Marketing Science as North American program chair for the academy’s 2005 World Congress to be held in Muenster, Germany.

The Academy of Marketing Science is devoted exclusively to the marketing professorate, is on the forefront of the marketing discipline and is considered one of the premier organizations in the field. Singh has been active in the organization for many years, and in the past has served as a track chair.

As program chair, Singh will be responsible for many aspects of the congress, including identifying and organizing the various tracks and recruiting academics from around the world to chair each. She also will be active in calling for and selecting papers, inviting plenary session speakers and developing special sessions to be presented.

Heating Plant employees

Employees of the Heating Plant recently were honored by the Illinois State Water Survey for their expertise in maintaining water quality in all water-based heating and cooling systems on campus.

For the fourth straight year, that department earned the highest score in the state for their work, earning 92 points out of 100. That four-year streak is thought to be unprecedented in the 55 years that the state has monitored such systems.

The goal of the program is to extend the lifetime of the heating and cooling systems, to keep them operating efficiently and to reduce maintenance. Such measures result in short and long-term savings.

The program also helps determine best practices to recommend to the 87 other sites monitored by the state at agencies such as the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health and Human Services. The NIU Heating Plant has originated several such practices.

“The key to the success is the good personnel that you have,” said Charles Curtiss, an assistant chemist with the Illinois State Water Survey, who presented the award. “We can make all the recommendations in the world and it won’t do any good if you don’t have good people.”

12-8-03