Music ‘angel’ smiling on CSI campus
Retired English
professor Michael Shugrue is quietly ‘stimulating the cultural
atmosphere’ in Willowbrook
Staten Island Advance - April 10, 2005
Some curse the dark decline of cultural enthusiasm
and curiosity. Others say little and whip out their checkbooks.
At the College of Staten Island, retired English professor Michael
Shugrue isn’t making noise. He’s quietly underwriting concerts on
the Willowbrook campus.
The most daring program to date will present new music by two
mid-career composers Tuesday at 7:30 in the Recital Hall of the
Center for the Arts. Naturally, Shugrue is hoping the presentation
will draw healthy crowds not only from the campus, but from the
outside world, too.
‘All I’m trying to do is stimulate the cultural atmosphere,” the
Manhattanite said recently, adding that he’s pleased to have some
kelp.
“It has been coming to life these days under Sylvia Kahan,” he said,
referring to the music historian who is chair of the department of
performing and creative arts.
Shugrue’s strategy is simple. “The idea is to give students and the
community access to real musicians that the college can’t always
afford,” he said. “They need to know that there’s another world out
there that they can enter.”
So far, Shrugrue has helped take concert-goers to some of the
expected serious/classical places. One show traveled to the early
20th century Parisian salon of Winaretta Singer, the American
patroness who devoted much money and attention to struggling young
modem composers (Debussy, Satie, etc). As it happens, Ms. Kahan is
the author of a biography of Ms. Singer, who was a daughter of the
inventor of the sewing machine.
Shugrue began teaching at Richmond College (forerunner of the
College of Staten Island) in 1974. He retired in 1999
Tuesday’s program will showcase two “very different” composers, both
blessed with gilded resumes. David Keberle, who recently joined the
music faculty, is a Fullbright Scholar trained at the New England
Conservatory of Music arid the University of Pittsburgh.
His program will include Incroci for Bb Clarinet and Piano (2000),
SLICE for Solo Violin (1998) and Four to Go for Flute, Clarinet,
Violin, Cello Piano & Percussion (1999).
Cristian Amigo, a New York-based composer, holds a phD in
enthnomusicology from UCLA. He has received commissions from the
Teatro del Pueblo in Minneapolis, and the Wolly Mammoth Theater in
Washington, D.C. He will bring guest artists Lucia Pulido, a singer;
Julio A. Santillán, a guitarist; and Guillermo Cardenas, a
percussiomst.
Shugrue also has several upcoming projects. He’s sponsoring two
music scholarships to be awarded next month. Next semester, he’ll
underwrite a visit by Alan Tennant, author of the hit eco-memoir “On
the Wing.”
Reprinted here with permission from the
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