Sixty years after graduating from the University of Chicago, celebrated composer Philip Glass will return to campus as a UChicago Presidential Arts Fellow Feb. 17-19, 2016, for a three-day residency. Glass' visit will feature a film screening, a public conversation and a sold-out concert at Mandel Hall.
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Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble and his wide-ranging collaborations with artists, including Twyla Tharp, Allen Ginsberg and David Bowie, Glass, AB’56, has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact on the musical and intellectual life of his times.
In his memoir Words Without Music, Glass credited his nights spent reading in the University’s Harper Library as providing the basis for his trilogy of autobiographical operas—Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten—and said that the “impact of such original and professional researchers and academicians” at the University was “enormous” during his formative years.
Glass’ residency will begin on Feb. 17 with a screening of Mishima at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. The 1985 film, which is based on the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, features a score written by Glass and performed by the Kronos Quartet. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Glass, which will be moderated by Berthold Hoeckner, associate professor of Music and in the College.
On Feb. 18, Glass will join Augusta Read Thomas, University Professor of Composition in Music, for a public conversation on artistic collaboration at the Logan Center.
The visit will conclude with a sold-out performance of Glass’ piano etudes at Mandel Hall, performed by Timo Andres, Aaron Diehl, Lisa Kaplan, Maki Namekawa and Glass. The event is sponsored by the University of Chicago Presents and the Logan Center.
In addition to the public events taking place during his visit, Glass will participate in a workshop for University of Chicago undergraduate and graduate composition students, who will have the opportunity to share their work with Glass and hear about his creative process.
Please visit the Philip Glass page for more information on Glass’ residency and a full list of event sponsors.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
