FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is deeply saddened to announce the death of Charles H. Webb on Monday, April 13, at age 93, after a life very well lived.
Webb arrived in Bloomington with his beloved wife, Kenda, in 1958 as a D.M. student of Walter Robert. He joined the Indiana University faculty in 1960 as instructor of music and manager of musical organizations and was appointed assistant dean in 1964 and associate dean in 1969. In addition, he served IU’s central administration as associate dean of academic affairs for four years. He became dean of the Jacobs School of Music on July 1, 1973, and retired on July 1, 1997, after 24 years of leadership.
During that time, he bolstered the school’s reputation from nationally respected to internationally revered, making visionary curriculum enhancements, adding premier artist-faculty members, and implementing ambitious initiatives. In addition to championing the school’s global outreach efforts, Webb brought some of the world’s foremost musical figures to Bloomington, including Leonard Bernstein for a six-week residency in 1982 to work on his opera A Quiet Place with Jacobs students.
Along with his administrative duties, Webb maintained an active performance schedule as both conductor and pianist. He was associated with the Fred Waring Music Workshops as choral director and workshop dean for over 15 years. He also served as guest conductor of choral festivals in many states. While in the United States Air Force, he trained a glee club of jet pilots that gave concerts throughout the country and won second place in worldwide Air Force competition in 1956. In Dallas, Texas, he was minister of music at the Oak Lawn Methodist Church before becoming organist at the First United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana, where he served for almost 62 years. He regularly appeared as concert organist and performer in organ dedication recitals, and in May 1987, was a featured recitalist on the Riverside Church concert series in New York City.
Appointed conductor of the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir in 1967, Webb conducted the choir and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in many choral works, including Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. In 1969, he directed the premiere of Dave Brubeck’s The Light in the Wilderness. In 1978, he prepared the chorus for Berlioz’s Requiem performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
At IU, Webb conducted performances of such major works as Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ, Handel’s Messiah, and Verdi’s Requiem as well as full-scale productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Delibes’ Coppélia, Giordano’s Andrea Chenier, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe. During the 1972-73 season, he conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra with Van Cliburn as piano soloist.
As a pianist, Webb appeared as soloist on several occasions with the Dallas and Indianapolis symphony orchestras. With pianist Wallace Hornibrook, a faculty member at the music school, he toured nationally and internationally playing duo-piano recitals and concerts with major orchestras. He also appeared as pianist with many music school faculty artists.
Webb made several recordings, including two with James Pellerite on Coronet Records and two with Wallace Hornibrook on the IU Faculty Series and Coronet labels. His publications with Shawnee Press include two collections of free harmonizations and descants to well-known hymns and Choral Sentences for the Worship Service as well as a module, Handel’s Messiah, published by Harper and Rowe. Chorister’s Guild published several of his anthems for children’s voices.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Webb received A.B. and M.M. degrees from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 1955 and a D.Mus. from Indiana University in 1964. He was one of four from IU selected for the 1970 edition of Outstanding Educators in America and is listed in Who’s Who in America and Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. He was chairman of the board of advisors of International Music Festivals Inc., appointed in 1976 by Governor Bowen to the Indiana Arts Commission, and a member of the board of trustees of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He also served on the recommendation board for the Avery Fisher Prize and was a director of the Busoni Foundation, a member of the advisory board of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, and a member of the national advisory board of the American Guild of Organists. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from SMU in 1980.
In 1983, Webb was named a member of the prestigious Indiana Academy. He also served as a judge for international music competitions on several continents, including the Liszt-Bartok Competition in Hungary, Busoni Competition in Italy, Munich Competition, Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris, and Carl Flesch Competition in London.
Webb received the Thomas Hart Benton Medal from IU in 1987 and the President’s Medal in 2000. He also received three Sagamore of the Wabash awards, Indiana’s highest award for meritorious service, from governors Bowen, Orr, and O’Bannon.
From 1985 to 1989, Webb served as an appointed representative on the Hymnal Revision Committee of the United Methodist Church. He published over 100 descants, free harmonizations, and hymn arrangements for Abingdon Press. In 1989, he received the Governor’s Award for the Arts from Indiana governor Evan Bayh. In 1989, he also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Highland Park High School, Dallas, Texas. In 1997, he was named an honorary member of the Alliance of Distinguished Professors of Indiana University. He also received the Rocking Chair Award for meritorious service from the Society of Professional Journalists and was honored by resolutions of the Indiana General Assembly and the U.S. Senate. The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named him a Paul Harris Fellow.
In 2004, he was named a “Living Legend” of the State of Indiana by the Indiana Historical Society and was appointed to a congressional committee by Colin Powell, “Committee to Advise the Secretary of State on Cultural Diplomacy.” In 2005, Webb was elected to the board of directors of the American Symphony Orchestra League and received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from Indiana University, Bloomington.
In 2009, he chaired an international panel at IU on “USA, Politics, and Culture;” he also received the Elmer Stefen Award from the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir for extraordinary service to music and the choir he conducted for 13 years.
His autobiography, The Emergence of a Musical Life: A Retrospective on Charles H. Webb, was published in 2021.
He and his late wife, Kenda McGibbon Webb, had four sons—Mark, Kent, Malcolm, and Charles III—and 10 grandchildren.
Charles was a treasure: an incredible academic leader, musician, cultural diplomat, husband, father, and friend to many. We will miss seeing him and his family in our community. Details of his memorial service and other events celebrating his life will be announced in the days ahead.
May his memory be a blessing to all those who knew and loved him.