EUGENE, Ore. -- (KMTR) – The University of Oregon is remembering and honoring the memory of music professor and former Dean of the School of Music and Dance Anne Dhu McLucas, who passed away September 7. "The School of Music and Dance is deeply saddened and shocked by the recent tragic loss of Anne," said Brad Foley, current dean of the school. "She was an exemplary faculty member, teacher, mentor, scholar, dean and servant to the profession and community, not only in Eugene and across Oregon, but throughout the nation. Her enthusiasm, energy and love of life will be missed dearly."
McLucas was Professor Emerita of Music, specializing in musicology and ethnomusicology, and served as Dean of the UO School of Music and Dance from 1992 to 2002. Most recently, she returned to the classroom for seminars in oral tradition, American folk music, music and gender, as well as seminars on such topics as The Magic Flute and Stravinsky's Les Noces.
As previously announced in late August, plans are moving forward to present a two-part symposium on the Oral Traditions Old and New in Music this fall. The events will honor, remember and celebrate the work and life of McLucas with presentations scheduled for September 29, October 19 and October 20. Musicians and scholars from across the U.S. and abroad will come together to present their work in her memory. The theme of the symposium was chosen to honor McLucas' 2010 monograph, The Musical Ear: Oral Tradition in the USA.
A memorial service has been added to the schedule of events for Saturday, October 20 at 4 PM in Beall Concert Hall at the MarAbel B. Frohnmayer Music Building on campus. The service is open to the public.
In addition to her passion for music education, McLucas was an avid outdoors person and hoped to continue these adventures after completing what was intended to be her final term of instruction at the UO. In a recent video interview, she discussed her love of skiing, hiking and camping as a result of her childhood in Colorado.
After stepping down as Dean of the School of Music in 2002, McLucas received a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar award for research and teaching in Scotland in 2003, and published four books and numerous articles.
She also served as president of the Sonneck Society for American Music (now the Society for American Music), as president of The College Music Society, as an external program reviewer for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), council member for the Society for Ethnomusicology; host of the 2001 meeting of the National Association of Music Executives of State Universities (NAMESU), chair of the Annual Program Committee for the American Musicological Society’s 50th Anniversary Meeting and editorial board member for that organization’s journal.
In addition, McLucas was the local arrangements chair for a meeting of The Society for American Music in Eugene in 2003 and received that organization’s Distinguished Service Award the same year. She also served on the boards of the Oregon Bach Festival, the Eugene Opera and the Oregon Mozart Players.
