WHEREAS, The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is one of the most comprehensive and acclaimed institutions of its kind, playing a key role in educating performers, scholars, composers, and music educators who influence music performance and education around the globe;
WHEREAS, The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music supports the largest and most accomplished resident faculty of any music educational institution worldwide;
WHEREAS, More than 1,600 students from throughout the United States and 40 foreign countries attend the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music during the school year;
WHEREAS, The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Indiana’s largest center for the performance of music and ballet with more than 1,100 public events each year, has been ranked first in the nation by Change magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and U.S. News and World Report;
WHEREAS, The Indiana University Opera Theater, the country’s leading collegiate opera program, stages up to eight complete productions each year, including the world premiere of Ned Rorem’s opera“Our Town”, based on Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play;
WHEREAS, Through the support and interest of Indiana University and the General Assembly, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, which will celebrate its 100 th anniversary in 2010, has achieved a level of excellence and world-renown beyond compare; and
WHEREAS, The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music has a stellar faculty and graduates, including international artists Sylvia McNair, Angela Brown, Timothy Noble, Joshua Bell, and David Baker, and alumni of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music have been named music directors of 26 symphony orchestras throughout the United States:
THEREFORE, Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, the Senate concurring:
SECTION I. That the Indiana General Assembly acknowledges the wonderful contributions that have been made by the faculty and students of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music throughout the years. The faculty and students have given the citizens of Indiana and the world countless hours of music enjoyment.
SECTION II. That the Principal Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transmit a copy of this resolution to Gwyn Richards, Dean of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Cleo Duncan, State Representative
Brian C. Bosma, Speaker of the House
M. Caroline Spotts, Clerk of the House
Before the House and Senate sessions, McNair entertained the Women’s Caucus of the Legislature at a luncheon at the Skyline Club, where she also shared the exceptional story of the Jacobs School of Music.
As a bonus, alumna Sylvia McNair brought her musical message to each branch, introduced in the House by Representative Cleo Duncan and in the Senate by Senator Vi Simpson. McNair shared what it meant to her to have such a phenomenal musical education and thanked the legislators for their ongoing support of Indiana University, while serenading them with such favorites as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Back Home Again in Indiana.”