On March 22, 2002, several members of the GU Orchestra gathered together in the main hall of the Leavey Center to protest the inadequacies of Georgetown’s music program. As part of a larger effort to garner support for GU music, the sit-in functioned as a way for students to cite the space problems of the department and obtain signatures for a petition to President DeGoia. Instead of wielding picket-signs and yelping raucous chants, however, the quartet opted to perform selected pieces of Mozart for students and faculty passing through the building.
“Space is always a problem. It’s always a problem at Georgetown just like it’s a problem at any urban campus where there isn’t any place to go,” visiting assistant professor Patrick Warfield said. Yet, now a full five years after the GU Orchestra’s protest, the Georgetown music program is continuing to expand its presence on campus despite a lack of new places in which they can perform.
The introduction of the program’s first academic major, American Musical Culture, represents a significant step forward for the department. Focusing on music history within the context of U.S. culture, the major distinguishes Georgetown’s program from other top universities.
“Most academic majors deal with European Art music,” Professor Warfield said. “If you go to Yale or Princeton, that’s what you’re going to do. That doesn’t make sense here given that’s not primarily what our students are interested in. Also because we’re sitting at the center of the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center—we’re an American music city.”
Designed to aid students interested in radio, music journalism, entertainment law and even those seeking employment in the embassies, the major emphasizes academic study rather than music performance.
“If you want to be a top performer, you do not have time to do Georgetown academics” Anna Celenza, the Caestecker Chair in Music, said. “It wouldn’t make sense to make a performance degree here.”
Given the space and curricular demands necessary to support a performance-oriented major, American Music Culture appears to serve as an apt fit for the resources available at Georgetown.
“For the academic kind of major, space isn’t a big deal,” notes Warfield.
Along with the introduction of the new major, the Music Department also plans to add a few new classes. Celenza notes that next year, the program will feature a songwriting course taught by GU alum Bill Danhoff (“Afternoon Delight,” “Take Me Home Country Roads”) as well as master classes led by members of the American Opera Theatre, which will be in residence at Georgetown.
In addition to teaching, the Opera company will put on three shows in Gonda Theatre before embarking on tour. Celenza describes the show as “performance-practice correct for the 17th to 18th century,” featuring original instruments such as the harpsichord. However, the show adds a contemporary twist with a unique form of staging.
“They turn it into a circus,” Celenza said.
There is a constant supply of other University-sponsored music events on campus as well. Friday Music in McNeir Hall has already featured an eclectic mix of performances this semester, from Afro-Peruvian Jazz trumpeter Gabriel Alegria to a showing of the silent film Salome with live accompaniment from pianist Stefan Petrov.
Although the Hall is slightly dilapidated, the University plans to renovate McNeir over the summer to include a new stage, light equipment, sound system, seating, sound-proof ceiling, carpeting, curtains and paint.
The Music Department will also experience a space improvement with the soundproofing of Studio D in New North. However, it does not appear that the program will be acquiring a significant amount of new space anytime soon.
“There’s always been a clamor for more practice space on this campus,” Ron Lignelli, Managing Director of the PPA said. Lignelli recalls that the Davis Center was initially on track to support the music at Georgetown until donations shifted momentum towards the Theatre Arts.
Thus, the GU Orchestra’s former demands will not find fulfillment anytime soon. However, their protest certainly does not stand in vain. The consistent effort of student groups such as the Orchestra continues to shape the face of Georgetown academics. For instance, Celenza notes that one of the primary goals of the new music major is to “take music [and] look at how it changes when it enters another time and another culture.”
Before the GU’s March protest, who knew you could use Mozart as protest music?
