FAREWELL SONG: DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR PATRICK GARDNER RETIRES

Years At Rutgers

By Risa Barisch

In reflecting on his three decades on the faculty of the Music Department at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Distinguished Professor of Music Patrick Gardner is hard-pressed to pick his most meaningful accomplishment.

There have been many special moments and important milestones for Gardner, who will retire this spring as director of choral activities and head of conducting—but throughout his Rutgers career, the underlying goal has always been to train young professionals to perform “significant music at the highest level,” Gardner says.

“There’s a lot of schools around the country that provide a great outlet for students to sing and have fun—and we do a lot of that—but the most important part of what we do is providing university-level intellectual engagement and artistic accomplishment,” says Gardner, director of the both the Rutgers University Glee Club and the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir and director of the doctoral program in choral conducting, which he created after arriving at Rutgers in 1993.

In both choirs, Gardner has worked to elevate the output of the singers— who come from all backgrounds and programs of study at Rutgers–New Brunswick—as well as the repertory they perform.

Both ensembles have become nationally recognized and have performed in many high-profile events over the years. During this past spring semester alone, the Kirkpatrick Choir and Glee Club performed at Carnegie Hall with the Riverside Choral Society (which Gardner has directed for 32 years), and three days later, the Kirkpatrick Choir performed alongside The Eagles during the closing night of the band’s “Hotel California 2023 Tour” at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

In 2017, the Kirkpatrick Choir performed Lou Harrison’s “La Koro Sutro” at Trinity Wall Street as part of a centennial celebration of the composer in a concert that The New York Times chose as one the best classical music performances of the year.

And in 2019, the choir was one of 14 ensembles from around the world (and one of only three from the United States) chosen to perform at the International Chamber Choir Marktoberdorf competition, where they won the top prize for best programming content.

Under Gardner’s direction, the Glee Club has performed at venues and with orchestras around the country, as well as toured internationally. The ensemble celebrated its 150th anniversary last year with a tour of Italy, performing at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, among other significant sites.

In addition to everyone’s favorite traditional Rutgers songs, the Glee Club has performed commissioned works by three Pulitzer Prize-winning composers: Jennifer Higdon, Lewis Spratlan, and William Bolcom. The composers “love that this group of wonderful young university students of all types, from music majors to engineers to English lit majors, can perform at this level,” says Gardner. “That’s an exciting thing that I’ve found incredibly gratifying—because of world-class musicians like these composers, the Glee Club has helped contribute to the major classical music repertory.”

Jason Geary, dean of the Mason Gross School, points to Gardner’s tireless dedication to advancing the level of musical artistry at the school as one of Gardner’s greatest strengths.

“Patrick’s vision, experience, and superior musicianship has helped to transform the choral program at Rutgers into one of the most respected in the nation,” Geary says. “His legacy is one of having built on a long tradition of excellence in this area to elevate both choral singing and conducting to new heights.”

Gardner has also served as a musical mentor to countless students over the decades, including recent Music alum Erin Chang, a member of both the Kirkpatrick Choir and the Riverside Choral Society.

“Dr. G was extremely influential during my time as an undergrad—he taught me to always stay ambitious and passionate, to have longterm goals and visions, to shoot for the stars, and to not settle for mediocrity,” says Chang. “I was exposed to a variety of music and in the process of learning that music, I learned a lot about musicality and how to make a piece of music come alive.”

Rutgers College and Rutgers Business School alum Matthew Cirri, who first met Gardner at an audition for the Glee Club when he arrived on campus in the late 1990s as a biochemistry major, says that between the Glee Club, Kirkpatrick Choir, and Riverside Choral Society, he has sung with Gardner for over half his life.

“It’s inspiring to see Dr. G seamlessly shift between world-class conductor, faculty advisor, big brother, distinguished professor, and Rutgers advocate,” says Cirri, who now serves as president of the Rutgers University Glee Club Alumni Association.

“Wherever you are in life and whatever you need, he has something to offer you, and does so without judgment.”

Gardner’s promotion of Rutgers has been so prolific that he was designated a Loyal Son of Rutgers by the Rutgers Alumni Association, which cited him as “a tireless supporter and advocate for the university…a master at keeping alumni engaged with their alma mater—not just Glee Club alumni but all Rutgers graduates.”

For Gardner, everything comes back to teaching and the impact he’s had on generations of students.

“I’ve spent my entire life as a university professor…and the joy that I have in passing down my knowledge of the craft and the skills needed to present the choral art is a very fulfilling part of my life,” Gardner says. “It’s just something I’ve always done—I’ve always been a teacher.”