vividreports: Big news!

DAY FORTY-SIX: We have big news in the family! My daughter, Betsey, and her husband, Rob, will be leaving Columbia, MO this summer and moving to Boulder, CO, where Rob will become the Dean of the College of Music of the University of Colorado.

Here is the official announcement by the U of C:

Robert Shay

University of Colorado Boulder Provost Russell L. Moore today announced the appointment of a new dean for the College of Music. The new dean will be Robert Shay, director of the School of Music at the University of Missouri in Columbia. His appointment will begin Sept. 1st, 2014.

“I’m excited to have Robert Shay join us at this critical juncture for the College of Music,” Moore said. “His energy, enthusiasm and innovative spirit are great fits for our campus, and I'm confident in his ability to lead the college to new creative achievements in scholarship and performance.”

Shay has been director of the University of Missouri School of Music since 2008 and previously held positions as the vice president for academic affairs and dean of the conservatory at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass. (2000-08), visiting associate professor of music at Duke University (1999-2000) and various positions at Lyon College in Batesville, Ark., from 1991 to 2000 including associate professor of music and chair of the Fine Arts Division. He earned his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Wheaton College in Illinois, a master’s degree in choral conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I have long considered the CU-Boulder College of Music one of the leading programs in the field and its faculty among the best in the country,” Shay said. “I am thrilled and honored to have been selected as the college’s next dean. At every stage of the search process, I was thoughtfully and warmly engaged by faculty, staff, students, administrators and supporters, and I look forward to joining such an amazing, committed team.”

More than 50 applications were received for the position, said John Stevenson, dean of the Graduate School and chair of the search committee.

James Austin, professor of music education, has been serving as interim dean of the CU-Boulder College of Music since Dan Sher returned to teaching last year. Sher had served as dean for 20 years

This will be a big change in many ways. The College of Music at UofC is about twice the size of the School of Music at Mizzou, Rob will have control of his budget, which he did not have at Mizzou, and he will have much more support staff, which he hopes will free him to be more of a "visionary" as he puts it, rather than having attend to a lot of administrative detail. Also, Boulder is an exciting city, beautifully situated at the foot of the Rockies.

Ellen and I have enjoyed Columbia. As small cities go, it is very nice, and we will still go there, because Katie will continue her education there. And that is another piece of news: She is transferring from being a Vocal Performance major at University of Missouri to being a major in filmmaking at Stephens College, also in Columbia. This is a recognition that her talents and interests, and opportunities for a career, probably lie more in film than in singing. The aspect of filmmaking that most appeals to her is cinematography. She has a long-standing interest in photography, and last summer she got a real introduction to filmmaking when she worked on a crew at Stephens that was filming a documentary, and she loved it and they loved her.

Boulder will fit well into our usual itinerary to visit family. It is a possible day's drive from Columba to Boulder (long, but possible), and it is a fairly normal day's drive from Boulder to Alpine. Just another stop in the Big Loop that we make twice a year!

We actually went via Boulder last week as we came from Alpine to Columbia, just to check it out, and spent the night nearby in Longmont. We explored Boulder and the University campus last Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Here are some scenes (it had snowed Wednesday night):