WINTER 2016
HITTING THE HIGH NOTES
In 2015, operatic tenor George Shirley (DMus Hon ’15)— the Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Emeritus Professor of Voice at U-M—was celebrated three ways. At the White House on September 10, President Barack Obama presented him with a 2014 National Medal of Arts. At the Lincoln Center in New York on October 14 and 15, the New York Philharmonic paid him tribute as a groundbreaking vocalist. And at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on December 20, U-M awarded Shirley an honorary doctorate (see panel at the bottom of the page). The accolades cap a lifelong effort “to make use of what I’ve been given,” Shirley said, and the surprising rush of events reminds him of an earlier time in his life: the years between 1959 and 1961. In May 1959, four years after graduating from Wayne University in Detroit (as it was then called), Shirley— who had never sung opera professionally—auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera of New York. “I sang, and I lost,” he said. At the reception afterward, two judges sought him out. “We like what we heard you do,” they told him. “We don’t think you’re ready yet for the semifinals, but we want to encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing.” With that, Shirley said, “I felt as though I had won.” He soon made his operatic debut with a small company in Woodstock, New York. Then in 1961—after a successful audition—Shirley debuted at the Met, where he went on to perform for 11 years. He was the first African American tenor to sing in a leading role there.
Shirley had blazed trails before. In 1955, he was the first African American appointed to teach high school music in Detroit. And in 1956, he became the first African American accepted into the United States Army Chorus in Washington, D.C. “That was a turning point,” said Shirley, who until then had envisioned a career teaching music in the Detroit Public Schools. “It was great to be able to spend my time singing.” He has performed to international acclaim in the world’s great opera houses and with numerous record labels. He received a Grammy Award in 1968 for the RCA recording of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. And he taught for 20 years at U-M’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, retiring in 2007. The National Association of Teachers of Singing honored Shirley with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. “Seeing a young student grasp an idea and run with it and make their touchdowns—that’s better than standing on a stage singing a great high C,” Shirley said. With former student Louise Toppin (DMA ’90), Shirley created the George Shirley African American Art Song & Operatic Aria Competition. Primarily for high schoolers—and recently extended to college students—the prize aims to popularize African American compositions. “I want people to know this music and perform it,” Shirley said. Shirley also raises money for the George Shirley Voice Scholarship fund at U-M. Endowed in 2008 by Maurice (AB ’54) and Linda Binkow, it provides four-year needbased scholarships to undergraduates studying voice. “I’d love to see [the scholarships] get to a point where thousands of young people could benefit,” Shirley said. “There’s no greater legacy that anyone can leave than an investment in people that enables them to realize their potential.”
“ There’s no greater legacy that anyone can leave than an investment in people.”
—GEORGE SHIRLEY (DMUS HON ’15)
The 2014 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government, was awarded by President Barack Obama on September 10, 2015. The 11 recipients included two from the University of Michigan: operatic tenor George Shirley, U-M’s Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Emeritus Professor of Voice, and the University Musical Society (UMS), whose award was accepted by UMS President Ken Fischer (AM ’67). Pictured here are (back row, left to right) John Baldessari; Tobias Wolff; President Obama; First Lady Michelle Obama; Edward P. Henry (AB ’73), president of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), accepting on behalf of DDCF; Ping Chong; Stephen King; Ken Fischer; (front row, left to right) George Shirley; Ann Hamilton; Sally Field; Miriam Colón; Meredith Monk.
NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY AMANDA LUCIDON
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COMMENCEMENT ANN ARBOR, DEARBORN, FLINT | DECEMBER 20, 2015 As the university graduated students from all three campuses during commencement in December, UM-Dearborn recognized its 50,000th graduate and welcomed commencement speaker Eugene A. Gargaro, Jr., the chair of the board of directors at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The commencement speaker at UM-Flint was Alexa Canady (BS ’71, MD ’75), who made history in 1981 as the first African American woman to become a neurosurgeon. In Ann Arbor, the commencement speaker and three others were recognized with honorary U-M degrees (pictured above, left to right, with President Schlissel at center): • Acclaimed operatic tenor and educator George Shirley (also pictured at top of page) received an honorary Doctor of Music degree • Scholar, author, academic leader, and human rights advocate Martha Minow (AB ’75), the Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and delivered the commencement address • Innovative art museum director Graham Beal received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree • Pre-eminent life scientist Pedro Cuatrecasas, a biochemist and pharmaceutical executive, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree
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2 ANN ARBOR—1. Regent Michael J. Behm (AB ’89), Regent Shauna Ryder Diggs (BS ’91, MD ’94, MedRes ’98), Regent Andrew C. Richner (BBA ’82, JD ’86), Regent Katherine E. White 2. Regent Emeritus Fred C. Matthaei, Jr. (BSE Ind&ME ’47), James Matthaei Crowther (BSE ME ’15) FLINT—3. UM-Flint commencement speaker Alexa Canady (BS ’71, MD ’75) 4. UM-Flint Chancellor Susan E. Borrego 5. A happy Flint graduate 6. A UM-Flint ROTC graduate DEARBORN—7. Toney J. Ross (BSE ’15), Timothy M. Mwenje (BSE ’15) 8. A proud Dearborn graduate 9. Ashwak Chehimi (BBA ’15) and her family 10. Megan M. McDonald (BBA ’15), UM-Dearborn’s 50,000th graduate; UM-Dearborn Chancellor Daniel E. Little
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