A percussionist, a singer and a trombonist are the three finalists for the dean’s job in the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Percussionist Richard Holly, who has served as acting dean of the college since last summer and was associate dean before that, will give the first set of interviews this week.
Kathleen Wilson, professor of voice in the School of Music at Florida International University, will come to campus the week of March16. Trombonist Russ Schultz, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Lamar University, is scheduled for the week of March 23.
The successful candidate will replace Harold Kafer, dean of the college from 1995 to 2008. Kafer currently is serving NIU as deputy provost.
“The search committee and I were impressed with the records of all candidates invited for airport interviews, but we reached clear consensus on the candidates invited for campus interviews,” Provost Raymond Alden said. “We look forward to a successful conclusion to a very promising search process.”
NIU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts houses the schools of Art, Music and Theatre and Dance and enrolls about 1,600 students with declared majors in those fields.
Short biographies of each candidate, as well as times and places for their individual forums, are available below. Their vitas are posted on the college’s Web site.
Open Forums: Wednesday, March 4
3:30 to 4:15 p.m. – Operating Staff (Altgeld 203)
4:20 to 5:15 p.m. – Supportive Professional Staff (Altgeld 203)
5:15 to 6:15 p.m. – Students (Altgeld 315)
Holly came to the NIU School of Music in 1983 as an instructor, becoming an assistant professor two years later and achieving a full professorship in 1999. He served as assistant director of the school from 1996 to 2000 and, in 2001, was named associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
He earned his M.M. in percussion performance from East Carolina University in 1980.
During his months as acting dean, he has managed an annual budget near $10 million and secured funding for the Avalon Quartet concert series and for the dance performance program. He also acquired funding to support student travel for performances in New York City’s Lincoln Center and Costa Rica.
As a percussionist, Holly was a founding a member of the Abraxas Percussion Group and has performed with the Long Island Holiday Festival Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of New York and the North Carolina Symphony. For 11 seasons, he served as timpanist of the Illinois Chamber Symphony.
Holly, a member of the Percussive Arts Society since 1974, served as its president during 2005 and 2006. In that role he secured $3 million to facilitate the society’s move to Indianapolis. From 1986 to 2002, he was associate editor for “Percussive Notes” magazine.
Open Forums: Monday, March 16
3:50 to 4:30 p.m. – Operating Staff (Altgeld 225)
4:35 to 5:25 p.m. – SPS (Altgeld 225)
5:30 to 6:20 p.m. – Students (Altgeld 203)
Wilson joined Florida International University in 2007 and served as School of Music director during the 2007-08 academic year. (Recent budget cuts at FIU discontinued the director’s position in her school and others.)
She previously worked at the University of Central Oklahoma School of Music, the Levine School of Music and the University of New Hampshire School of Music. She earned her M.M. in musicology and an Ed.D. in vocal pedagogy from Columbia University in 1987.
In Florida, Wilson established partnerships with several other arts organizations, including the Miami Symphony Orchestra and the public school system. She raised more than $250,000, including endowed scholarships, instruments and in-kind contributions.
During her tenure as director of the School of Music at Central Oklahoma, she implemented a plan to become an all-Steinway school and secured $3 million for two endowed faculty positions.
Wilson’s current and former students perform (or have performed) on Broadway and with the San Francisco Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Navy Sea Chanters and the Singing Sergeants.
The soprano has served as general editor for Pendragon Press’ VOX MUSICAE since 1996 and was editor of the NATS “Journal of Singing” from 1998 to 2000. She also was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Venezuela in 1992-93.
Open Forums: Wednesday, March 25
3:45 to 4:30 p.m. – Operating Staff (Altgeld 203)
4:35 to 5:20 p.m. – SPS (Altgeld 203)
5:30 to 6:20 p.m. – Students (Altgeld 315)
In a six-year period following Schultz’s 1999 appointment as dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Lamar University, enrollment rose 35 percent. He engaged in significant community outreach and fundraising that resulted in locally developed funds of more than $2 million, the largest discretionary budget of any of the colleges at his university.
He initiated two off-campus series of music, theater and dance performances, launched a college lecture series supported by external funding and developed new undergraduate and graduate degree programs – including a doctoral degree – in all departments.
He also hosts a weekly television and radio program called “The Dean’s Corner” and, during his first year at Lamar, began “Lunch with the Dean,” a once-a-month chance for faculty to share their personal achievements and departmental activities over food and drink.
As a trombonist, Schultz performs with the Lamar University Faculty Brass Quintet and is a professional clinician for Yamaha Band Instruments. He played with the Memphis Symphony from 1969 to 1985. He was president of the board for the Symphony of Southwest Texas from 2007 to 2008.
Schultz earned his doctor of musical arts with a major in trombone performance from North Texas State University in 1978.