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Department of Music programs

 Collection
Identifier: UA-0005-0304

Scope and Contents note

Printed programs and brochures for programs presented by the University of West Georgia's Department of Music since 1934. In this collection are the programs and brochures for the department's performance groups (Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, West Georgia Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Women's Choral Ensemble, Men's Choral Ensemble, Keyboard Ensemble, String, Woodwind, and Brass Ensembles, and Pep Band); The Fine Arts Festival (inaugrated in Spring 1964); concerts by music faculty and guest artists; faculty and student recitals; workshops; programming done in conjunction with and in support of other campus departments and groups; programming done in support of the campus calendar (Opening of School, Student Convocations, Visitation Day, Parent's Day, End-of-School, Commencement); programs done in conjunction with City of Carrollton organizations and groups; and West Georgia Mutual Concert Association presentations.

Of particular note are a band concert as part of a slate of programming for the West Georgia College Dedicatory Program for the Library, Social Sciences Building, Classroom Arts Building, Mathematics-Physics Building (November 12, 1969); the Dedicatory Program and Organ Recital for The Kathy Cashen Recital Hall (May 16, 1970); a performance by the Tuskegee Institute Concert Choir (April 19, 1971); An Inaugural Recital Honoring President and Mrs. Ward Pafford (October 27, 1971); the West Georgia College Singers Tour of Romania (August 7-29, 1973); Department of Fine Arts performances as part of the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the CBS Record and Tape Manufacturing Facility in Carrollton (October 17, 1978) in which the welcome was given by Governor George Busbee; Fiftieth Anniversary Dinner with the Board of Regents (September 13, 1983); A Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of West Georgia College Convocation and Luncheon with Pat Conroy as the convocation speaker (September 24, 1983); and the West Georgia College Concert Choir European Tour (March 17-26, 1990).

Also included are printed materials for performances that took place at West Georgia College prior to 1963. These early performances, performers, and events include the following: the Glee Clubs, West Georgia Chorus, Christmas Vespers, The Messiah, the West Georgia College Choir, the West Georgia A Capella Choir, the Annual Choir Banquet, the West Georgia Concert Series, and the Twenty-First Annual Commencement Concert.

Dates

  • 1953 - 2019 (bulk 1963 - 2019)

Creator

Conditions Governing Access note

Open to all users; no restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use note

All rights held by the University of West Georgia.

Biographical/Historical note

West Georgia has maintained a musical tradition since its earliest days as the Fourth District A&M School. By the mid-to-late 1920s, it had a band, possibly known as the “orchestra,” composed of both male and female members. By 1933, the school, now known as West Georgia College, had both Women’s and Men’s Glee Clubs. The Glee Clubs presented annual Christmas programs and toured the west Georgia region, in addition to other programming (Department of Music programs, Box 8, Folders 6 and 7).

By school year 1942-1943, the College offered a Women’s Glee Club and, “when possible, a College Orchestra” (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1942-1943, p. 19). Students were granted one course credit for fulfilling satisfactory requirements for membership in the College’s A Cappella Choir (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1942-1943, p. 19).

That same year, the Bulletin also noted the addition of a music room, a gift of the Carnegie Foundation, located in the Rural Arts Building. It was equipped with a “complete library of records and with an excellent record player” and was “intended to be a gathering place for students and faculty members to enjoy formal and informal musical programs” (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1942-1943, p. 19). Programs, such as the “Music Hour,” were presented in the West Georgia College Music Room with much of the Music Hour, at least in 1942, focusing on the history of music (Department of Music programs, Box 8, Folder 9).

By 1942, West Georgia was presenting annual Vesper Services; Commencement Concerts (its Twentieth on May 31, 1953); Christmas Concerts; and Spring Choral Concerts among other programs (Department of Music programs, Box 8, Folders 6-7, 11).

In March 1944, courses in music appeared in the West Georgia College Bulletin for the first time. These two courses in Public School Music were nested in the Division of Language, Literature, and the Arts (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1944, p. 43). Two years later, College Choir was listed in the Bulletin as a one hour class (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1946, p. 13).

In the March 1955-1956 Bulletin, Band was listed as an activity for students who had prior experience and could furnish their own instruments (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1955-56, p. 45). The following year, two courses in College Band were added to the Bulletin, each providing one course credit (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1956-1957, p. 21).

As West Georgia College moved from junior college to senior college status, coursework in music expanded to also include Music Appreciation and applied music (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1958-1959, p. 40). By December 1958, West Georgia was presenting The Messiah on campus and in Carrollton’s churches (Department of Music Programs, Box 8, Folder 10).

In academic year 1960-1961, the division’s name was changed to the Division of the Humanities (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1960-1961, p. 62). In that year or shortly thereafter, the West Georgia Concert Series was instituted with organist William Weaver the first performer and Kay Griffel, mezzo soprano, presenting the second program on November 6, 1961 (Department of Music Programs, Box 8, Folder 14).

Robert Milton Coe joined the faculty of West Georgia College in March 1964 as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Fine Arts which was established in 1963 (Robert Coe in correspondence with John Ferling, July 19, 2016; West Georgia College Bulletin, 1963-1964, p. 8). Disciplines included Music, Art, and Speech and Theatre. The six faculty members were housed in the Martha Munro Building. One of the classrooms had a small stage so it served as a recital hall. All concerts and plays were scheduled in the college auditorium. In 1963, the building was also the gym with the Dining Hall on the lower level. After construction of the Performing Arts Center, it was designated as space for intramurals (Robert Coe in correspondence with John Ferling, July 19, 2016).

Coe’s leadership initiated tremendous growth in musical programming at West Georgia College which was continued by his successors. In May 1964, Coe inaugurated the Fine Arts Festival at West Georgia College, a campus tradition, held each spring for 38 years (through 2002) (Department of Music Programs, Boxes 1-6). Music minors in the Bachelor of Science in Education Degree and the Bachelor of Arts Degree were offered the following year (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1964-1965, p. 76).

In the 1966-1967 academic year, the College offered a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Music Education and, in 1968, the Department of Fine Arts instituted its first general core curriculum course (West Georgia College Bulletin, 1966-1967, p. 88; West Georgia College Bulletin, 1968-1969, p. 85).

Art became a separate department in 1975 leaving music and speech/theatre in the Fine Arts Department (Robert Coe in correspondence with John Ferling, July 19, 2016). On July 1, 1986, the Department of Fine Arts split into two departments: the Department of Music, with Coe as chair, and the Department of Mass Communication and Theatre Arts chaired by Dr. Chester Gibson (West Georgia College Undergraduate Catalog, 1986-1987, pp. 361, 364).

Robert Coe continued as chair of the Department of Music through the 1993-1994 academic year (West Georgia College Undergraduate Catalog, 1993-1994, p. 358; West Georgia College Undergraduate Catalog, 1994-1995, p. 430-431). Dr. M. Scott McBride assumed that role two years later in the 1995-1996 academic year and remained in that position through academic year 2002-2003 (West Georgia College Undergraduate Catalog, 1995-96, p. 454; State University of West Georgia Undergraduate Catalog, 2002-2003, p. 454). Dr. Kevin Robert Hibbard became interim chair of the Department of Music in the 2003-2004 academic year, chair in 2004-2005, and retired from the University of West Georgia on July 1, 2020. (State University of West Georgia Undergraduate Catalog, 2003-2004, p. 452; State University of West Georgia Undergraduate Catalog, 2004-2005, p. 450; University of West Georgia Office of Academic Affairs, 2021).

Extent

3.36 Linear feet (8 boxes)

Language

English

Overview

Printed programs and brochures for performances presented by the University of West Georgia's Department of Music since 1953. Also included are musical performances that took place at West Georgia College as early as 1934.

Arrangement note

In two parts: (1) Printed programs and brochures for performances presented by the University of West Georgia's Department of Music since 1953. (2) Musical performances that took place at West Georgia College as early as 1934. Files within each section are in chronological order.

Title
Guide to the Department of Music Programs UA-0005-0304
Status
Completed
Author
Catherine Hendricks
Date
2019
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English

Repository Details

Part of the University of West Georgia Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections, Ingram Library
University of West Georgia
1601 Maple Street
Carrollton GA 30118-2000 United States