Bruce Levingston (Photo courtesy Antonio Notarberardino)
Renowned pianist Bruce Levingston joined the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College as its Artist-in-Residence over the summer. Levingston is the latest addition to Chancellor Dan Jones’ “in-residence” positions across the university.
The Artist-in-Residence position was made possible by the Lester G. Fant III Charitable Lead Annuity Trust. Dean Douglas Sullivan-González of the honors college said he began seeking this addition to the honors college a year ago.
“We are super excited to have Bruce associated with us,” Sullivan-González said. “He’s working with Philip Glass, one of the nation’s premiere composers, for a performance in Brooklyn on Dec. 5.” This performance refers to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Howard Gilman Opera House.
“To have honors students associated with that world-recognized talent is extraordinary,” Sullivan-González added.
Levingston will have many different roles in his new position. He will perform for the university and around the community along with making appearances in honors courses throughout the year.
“He’ll be involved in conversation courses and special theme courses that we create that will allow him to talk about the power of art in our lives,” Sullivan-González said.
Levingston said he was excited for the opportunity to interact with students.
“I believe that becoming the Artist-in-Residence at the honors college will give me the opportunity to interact and engage with some of the finest students in the country as they set out to find and make their own special place in the world,” Levingston said. “I hope to help them find their individual voice and vision.”
Levingston, who previously served as the special adviser on the arts to the chancellor and a senior fellow for the honors college, has already made an impact with honors students. Last year, he took students on trips to the Boston Ballet and one of his performances at Carnegie Hall.
“We asked the music department to help us choose four students who have been involved in the world of music, who may or may not be music majors,” Sullivan-González said. “We came to that list, and we invited them to participate. I was super jealous.”
Levingston expressed interest in looking for talented students to commission and premiere pieces by his nonprofit foundation Premiere Commission, which has premiered and commissioned more than 50 works since its founding in 2001.
“I founded the Premiere Commission in order to commission, promote and premiere the works of great living composers,” Levingston said. “I would love to commission some new works involving some of the superb artists from UM. I’ve already been working on one very exciting project I hope to premiere in a year or two.”
Levingston, originally from Cleveland, Miss., said he lovedOle Miss and was impressed with the opportunities it presents.
“Chancellor Jones kindly invited me to see the campus, which I had not visited more than once or twice since childhood,” Levingston said. “I was amazed to see the changes here. It was always a kind of mythical place, but the campus looked even more beautiful than I had remembered. There were so many impressive students and faculty that I had the opportunity to meet.”
The acclaimed pianist has many performances and projects coming up. Several of which will be in Oxford or at the university, including an appearance at Nutt Auditorium for the Thacker Mountain Radio Show Sept. 4, a performance in the Lyric Theater where he will showcase a piece he co-commissioned with the university’s Southern Foodways Alliance based on the civil rights figure Booker Wright Oct. 26 and the “Music Noir” concertin the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts with colleagues March 27.
“I would like to not only have the people of Oxford, the university community and Mississippi see what extraordinary talents and gifted people we have here, but also the nation in general to see what this community and the university have to offer,” Levingston said. “If I can help promote young artists and help students realize their vision, then I will be fulfilling the mission I have set forth for myself.”
