The Slosberg Music Center at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
In Tuesday’s (8/29) WBUR (Boston, MA), Max Larkin reports, “Days after Brandeis University proposed cutting two doctoral programs in music, faculty, students and staff are pushing back, arguing the move will hobble one of the school’s oldest and best-performing academic departments…. Brandeis intends to stop admitting new doctoral students in musicology and music composition this year, setting those programs up for eventual closure…. A Brandeis spokesperson said that following an 18-month review, university leaders concluded those PhD programs ‘needed more investment than Brandeis could provide to maintain the excellence they have been known for.’… Brandeis will continue to ‘fully support current students and ensure that they are able to complete their PhDs.’ The department’s website lists 27 current doctoral students…. The proposed cuts will need final approval from the university’s board of trustees … Students, faculty and alumni … are loudly challenging the logic behind the move. An eight-page statement … attributed to ‘The Brandeis Department of Music’ called some of the administration’s arguments for the cuts ‘staggeringly untrue,’ impolitic’ and, simply, ‘bonkers.’ Department chair Eric Chasalow confirmed the statement had been signed and approved by the university’s entire music faculty…. ‘Writing new music matters a lot. Concerts matter a lot,’ [said] Marie Comuzzo, a third-year doctoral student in musicology. ‘A society cannot survive with only engineers and doctors and biologists.’ ” Composers who taught at Brandeis include Leonard Bernstein, Irving Fine, and Aaron Copland.
