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