Presenter: Alan Chavez, College of Fine Arts, Department of Music
Authors: Alan Chavez
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Craft, College of Fine Arts, Department of Music
Institution: University of Utah
The University of Utah has long played host to a number of visiting performers and lecturers. This tradition stems as far back as 1918. With every passing year, these lectures and performances further fade from collective memory and a lack of proper research ensures that this aspect of the University of Utah’s history is not known. Through working for The University of Utah’s School of Music History Project, we have uncovered a great deal of information about the University’s History and have the unique opportunity to present our findings. The majority of work was achieved by reading through University of Utah newsletter archives, cataloguing significant articles and extracting information relevant to our project. Through our research, we uncovered one example, the University Artists Series, which played host to a number of significant performers, lecturers, and scholastic authorities. In the pre-Civil Rights era, several black performers were hosted, even welcomed on campus (Utah Daily Chronicle, 1940-11-28, 1948-01-19). In the WWII era, prominent visitors to Europe warned about Nazism and first-hand experiences in Europe (Utah Daily Chronicle 1941-01-30). We have discovered a remarkable exposure to talent and thought, and a surprising respect for race and culture. The goal of this presentation is to present these findings in detail.