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LU conservatory expansion

History
Since Lawrence's founding, music has been a part of its curriculum. In 1849, the first year classes were held, Miss Emeline M. Crooker, the preceptress, gave lessons on her own piano. She also taught drawing and painting, which were listed in the first catalog, along with music, as "ornamental branches" of study. When Crooker left in 1853, taking her piano with her, the school's trustees decided to hire a new piano teacher and purchase a new piano, which was a major investment for the fledgling school. This was the beginning of the music preparatory program, which was open to students and local residents.

When Main Hall, which housed almost all school functions, was completed, Mrs. Francena Medora Kellogg Buck, class of 1857, remembered:"The first public exercise held in the then 'new building,' [...] was at the close of the June term in 1854. How it rained! The piano had to be taken from the old building to the new and professional piano movers had not then been invented. The deed was accomplished with no perceptible injury to the instrument, on which I played 'Spirit Waltz.'"

Recalling the post-Civil War era, J. S. Anderson, class of 1870, wrote:"The musical department of the college was decidedly primitive. In 1865 it consisted of a single piano of ancient vintage in the ladies building, on which the professor or 'professorin' gave lessons of a very primary character to pupils who practiced where and when they could. [...] There were some instrumentalists in our number and an impromptu orchestra was formed. It appeared at the public functions of the college on several occasions and was much appreciated. People were not quite so critical in those days. [...] The period was marked not only by reconstruction but by progress. [...] The musical department was built up and extended."

By 1870 there were 24 full-course music students. At the instigation of George McKendree Steele, third president, the preparatory program became a collegiate-level music program in 1874, marking the founding of the conservatory as it is known today. An outreach program, known since 2020 as the Lawrence Community Music School, continues to provide instruction and performance opportunities for the public.

The conservatory (made do) with one or two instructors until 1894, when President Samuel G. Plantz increased the faculty to five; one of the new hires was responsible for teaching banjo and mandolin. A one-year course of teacher training in public school methods was added in 1901. By 1902 enrollment had increased to 170.

Musical groups listed in xxx, 1xxx, The Choral Union, The Chapel Choir, The Boys' Glee Club, The Girls' Glee Club, The College Band, The College Orchestra, The Men's and Women's Quartettes

Many groups traveled to perform around the state and further afield. The first tour (stepped off) in March 1902, when the glee club got as far as Neenah, a town six miles from Appleton. That same year the Mandolin Club, evidently a more ambitious group, undertook a 18-stop tour. In 1915 a group of faculty and students made a three-month automobile tour to California, giving seventy concerts along the way and performing at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

In 1908, a performing arts series, which brought national and international artists to campus, was organized by Dean William Harper. In recent years, the popular series has booked... Piano tuning was added to the curriculum in 1916.

By the 1940s, the conservatory was a major component... but occasional ambivalence about its role at the school. The Post-Crescent reported: ? "Shortly before 1930 the funds for a new conservatory of music were made available by a private foundation, but were lost during the stock market crash. [...] President Pusey has stated that the art building and the remodeling of science hall are the 'most urgent current' needs, and must precede any conservatory building. [...] President Pusey has also said that the college will not attempt to increase the enrollment of full time conservatory students any further. Rather, he explained, any musical expansion will be in the direction of encouraging the role of music in the liberal arts program as a leisure pursuit and as an accredited course to be applied toward the bachelor of arts degree."

1971, Jazz Studies program Fred Sturm '73

1978 task force report stressed the importance of

Campus
After Main Hall opened in 1853, music lessons, along with all other classes, were held there. There were complaints about the noise of the piano(s). The first building dedicated to conservatory use was a wood-frame house purchased in 1906. Later it became, along with a second house, an annex to the new Peabody Hall, named for donor George F. Peabody, built in 1909 on E. Lawrence Street. Along with classrooms, practice rooms and an office for the dean, the building included a 400-seat recital hall.

Memorial Chapel, dedicated in 1919, is the largest performance space on campus. It houses a 49-rank mechanical-action organ built in 1995 by John Brombaugh of Eugene, Oregon, one of four organs owned by the school.

A new Music-Drama Center opened in 1959, providing classrooms, practice rooms, a library and two performance spaces, the 445-seat Stansbury Theater and Harper Hall, seating 249. Peabody Hall and its annexes were demolished.

A major expansion of the physical plant was completed in 1991. As described in the Post-Crescent:"The Ruth Harwood Shattuck Hall of Music connects the Music-Drama Center and Memorial Chapel to create a comprehensive music facility. The newest addition provides faculty studios, practice rooms, classrooms, percussion studios, a jazz rehearsal room, two large-ensemble rooms, a digital recording/editing studio, and student lounge and study areas."

Academics
The conservatory offers four degree programs: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, a combined BA/BMus (a five-year program granting two degrees), and Bachelor of Musical Arts. The BMA program, added in 2019, combines music and liberal arts studies, with a concentration on jazz and improvisational music.

Majors are offered in composition, music, music education, music performance, and music theory. In 20xx, a minor in dance was added/introduced. Conservatory programs which are not (eligible as majors) are jazz and improvisational music, musicology, and opera theater.

(something about faculty) Instruction is offered for string instruments, guitar, harp, wind and brass instruments, percussion, piano, organ and voice.

The conservatory offers opportunities to participate in a variety of ensembles, which are open to all students, whether they are majoring in music or not. There are two bands, two orchestras, four choirs, and three jazz groups. In addition, there are a number of specialized groups, including the Balinese Gamelan, Improvisation Group (IGLU), Mariachi Ensemble (LUMÉ), New Music Ensemble, Opera Theatre, and the Percussion Ensemble (LUPÉ).

Leadership

 * Directors
 * 1874–1876 T. Martin Towne
 * 1885–1905 John Silvester (Named Director in 1894)
 * T. Dillwyn Thomas
 * Dudley L. Smith
 * Deans
 * 1908–1913 William E. Harper, first dean?
 * 1913–1920 Frederick Vance Evans (Professor of voice)
 * 1920–1949 Carl J. "Coach" Waterman (Faculty member 1910–1953)
 * 1950 - Office of Dean abolished by President Pusey.
 * 1954–1970 LaVahn K. "Blondie" Maesch (Class of 1926, faculty member 1926–1970, Professor of organ, appointed director in 1954, became dean in ?)
 * 1970–1971 Ralph Lane, associate deans James Ming and Clyde Duncan
 * 1972–1978 Charles F. Schwartz
 * 1979-1988 Colin Murdoch
 * 1988–1989 Nancy Marsh Stowe (Class of 1961, Conservatory faculty-voice, 1982-?. and acting Dean of the Conservatory)
 * 1989–1999 Richard K. Dodson
 * 1999-2004 Kathleen Murray (faculty of piano, 1986?-2004 and Dean of the Faculty and Conservatory)
 * 2005-2008 Robert Thayer
 * 2008–present Brian Pertl (Class of 1986)
 * 2008–present Brian Pertl (Class of 1986)