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Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI, USA 48197
Dr. Diane L. Winder
Interim Department Head
emu.music@emich.edu
Phone: 734.487.4380
Fax: 734.487.6939
Instruction in music began during the second year of classes at the Michigan State Normal School, the country’s oldest professional teacher education institution west of the Allegheny Mountains. The year was 1854. It would mark the start of the department’s long and proud tradition of teaching and performing music at the highest standard or “norm.” In time, the Normal School evolved into Michigan State Normal College (1899), into Eastern Michigan College (1956), and, finally, into Eastern Michigan University (1959). Yet, throughout its history, the music department remained true to its original mission as it met new challenges, developed truly comprehensive programs, and responded to the needs of a changing campus and community.
This historical overview examines the events significant to the department’s history highlights the effort and vision of its dedicated leaders.
Albert Miller was the first man to head the fledgling department in “Old Pierce Hall” on College Place, the only building on campus at the time. He taught without musical instruments of any kind. During his four-year administration, he organized vocal music classes based on the classical tradition. To more talented students, Professor Miller offered instruction in harmony and composition.
Ezra Meade Foote brought with him a new philosophy of teaching when he took over departmental reins in 1858. His courses promoted the study of “songs of the day,” and they proved to be very popular. Ezra Foote is credited with starting the first Normal choir, a group that would be a source of great civic pride for many years to come.
The next 78 years of the department’s history were led by two very special men recognized to this day for their significant contributions and years of service. These men were Frederic H. Pease (1863-1909) and Frederick Alexander (1909-1941), in whose honor Pease Auditorium and the Alexander Music Building were named. This was a period of enormous success and development for the young department.
Frederic Pease became the third director of music in the Normal School while still in his twenties. A teacher of “voice culture,” a composer, an author, and a specialist on the pipe organ, Pease expanded the vocal curriculum in 1863 to include instruction in piano-forte, organ, melodeon and harmony, and later offered an advanced course for teachers in “graded and district schools” as well as lessons on the violin.
In 1881, the State Board of Education authorized the creation of a Conservatory of Music, located on a site where Boone Hall now stands. Promotional materials of the day hailed the new opportunities for advanced instruction, for membership in the Normal choir, and for practical application of skills in the School’s model training school.
To prepare for his expanded responsibilities, Pease was granted a year’s leave of absence to travel and study abroad. He observed the most current methods of instruction in Europe. When he returned to Ypsilanti, Pease developed the first four-year music program at Normal. Soon thereafter he implemented a series of events important to the community. Conservatory students offered weekly public recitals (the “Wednesday 4 o’clocks”), a lecture and entertainment course featuring an annual community concert by the Normal Choir, private lessons for local citizens, and the inclusion of local talent in the chorus and orchestra. His efforts to strive for the best in education and performance established an excellent reputation for the Conservatory. Pease remained at Normal until his death in 1909.
Frederick Alexander became department head and director of the Normal College Conservatory of Music in 1909, a post he would hold until his retirement in 1941. Alexander’s undisputed expertise in the area of choral music soon propelled the 200-voice Normal Choir into national prominence. The choir received prestigious invitations to appear in Detroit, Amherst (MA), Minnesota, and Washington, DC. Alexander urged his students to develop musicianship and taste through interpretation of the great masterpieces. Like Pease before him, Alexander also encouraged community singing and involvement in campus activities.
Early in the Twentieth Century, growing interest in band and orchestral music in the public schools led Alexander to introduce instrumental music education into the curriculum. In support of the band program, Alexander himself directed the Normal College Band in 1915. In 1931, he brought in Marius Fossenkemper, to form the first student orchestra. Thanks to Fossenkemper, and later, William Fitch and Maurice Riley, it would not take long for the College orchestra to gain national prominence.
Alexander was fortunate to preside over the construction and gala opening of the Frederic H. Pease Auditorium in 1915. This magnificent acoustic performance hall, surrounded by music classrooms and faculty offices, soon became a magnet for cultural, educational, and ceremonial events across the campus, community, and region. The Detroit Symphony, Duke Ellington, John Philip Sousa, Pearl Bailey, Joffrey Ballet, Victor Borge, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Philadelphia Orchestra, Julian Bond, Shirley Chisholm, and Winton Marsalis all would make stops in Ypsilanti for concerts and lectures in the nearly-1700 seat auditorium. As the only concert hall on the campus, the Auditorium became a gathering place for college and community ceremonial events as well. After 32 years of service, Frederick Alexander retired in 1941.
At the time of his death fourteen years later, Alexander left a bequest of $90,000 to Eastern Michigan College for construction of a pipe organ in Pease Auditorium. Built by the Aeolian-Skinner Company in 1960, the glorious voice of the Frederick Alexander Memorial 4200-pipe organ in Pease continues to enrich the musical life of the University and community to this day.
Haydn Morgan, Alexander’s successor in 1941, was another outstanding leader. A noted educator, choral conductor, author and composer, Morgan brought with him a commitment to the goals of music education, with a renewed emphasis on the proper training of young voices. The choral tradition established by Alexander flourished. In 1955 the Conservatory name changed under Morgan’s tenure, becoming the Department of Music at Eastern Michigan College. The college attained university status four years later.
During this post-war period of rapid growth and change, Morgan strengthened programs in all areas and recruited outstanding music faculty members to the department. Among them was a man who would become director of both the band and orchestra, serve as student advisor, a teacher of all woodwinds, a specialist on the oboe, and, finally, as a department administrator. William D. Fitch’s arrival in 1944 made a huge impact on the quality of the expanding programs in the music department. His expectations and energy took the university band to new heights in musical excellence.
Morgan also established the EMU Choir, Women’s Chorus, Men’s Glee Club, Freshmen Girl’s Vocal Ensemble, the Madrigal Singers and the EMU-Civic Symphony Orchestra. Distinguished graduates of this period included Harper Maybee, John Challis, Maynard Klein, Kenneth Jewel, Emily Mutter Austin, William Stewart and Mary Helen Munson. Haydn Morgan remained as department head for 22 years and deeply influenced the course of the department’s expansion.
Warren Joseph became department head in 1963. He was followed by Howard Rarig in 1965. During Rarig’s six years of service at Eastern, the music department experienced dramatic growth in quality and size. University records show that student enrollment increased from 5,000 in 1960 to 19,000 in 1970. He was respected for his strong leadership style during the turbulent 60’s and credited with laying the groundwork for hiring applied music specialists on each instrument. Rarig became one of the first administrators to recognize the importance of development activities in support of department scholarships.
James B. Hause was recruited from an administrative post at Western Michigan University in 1971. Arriving at the top of the population boom, his burgeoning music faculty occupied forty-four offices scattered in three different buildings across campus. Dr. Hause’s first task was to facilitate the long-needed construction of the Alexander Music Building, completed in 1981.
Hause’s years were also defined by stormy years of unionization and economic downturn. To him fell the challenge of keeping the department on an even keel and seeking outside donations to bolster insufficient accounts. Under his leadership, the department’s endowed scholarship funds and course offerings increased greatly. He encouraged the highly respected music therapy program now at EMU. To many, Jim Hause was known as an ardent advocate of the department and the arts on campus. His tireless efforts and articulate manner were influential in the University’s decision to renovate historic Pease Auditorium in the early 1990’s. He retired in 1994, after 23 years of excellent service.
His successor, Gordon McQuere, helped the department prepare for the grand reopening of the restored auditorium. In April, 1996, an alumni festival called “Encore,” signaled the return to Pease and the magic of music within its grand concert hall. Alumni from across the country gathered to perform in Pease once again with current faculty and student ensembles. Nearly 65 of professor Emily Lowe’s Madrigal Singers, acclaimed for their world travels and competition honors throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, came back for the event. Dr. McQuere’s determination to salvage and restore the dismantled organ in Pease, whose pipes were stored in boxes for 11 long years, culminated in a joyous rededication concert of the Frederick Alexander Memorial Organ in April, 2001.
Since 2001, David Woike’s technological expertise and careful planning have escorted the department into the 21st century. Under his watch, we have become the Department of Music and Dance and a step closer to his dream, the creation of a School of Fine and Performing Arts. A man of action and compassion, Dr. Woike has implemented changes in the department input system and brought a new sense of ownership to faculty and students alike. Today, student enrollments are up, and morale is high. At a time when state funding is decreasing, music endowments remain at the top of the charts in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Present members of the EMU music faculty salute the department’s many strong leaders who have blazed new trails and guided our growth. We express gratitude to the university, community, students, and alumni who, throughout the years, have encouraged the department to continue its mission. The EMU Department of Music and Dance, 150 years after its unheralded beginning, is still working hard to teach music of the highest quality, provide the best value in music education, and facilitate meaningful interaction between the University and surrounding community.