List of University of the Arts (Philadelphia) faculty
Wikimedia list article
The University of the Arts (UArts) was an American private arts university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia College of Art and the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts merged to form the University of the Arts in 1987. Through its predecessor institutions, the university dates back to 1870. The university closed in 2024.
Following is a list of some of the notable faculty and staff of the University of the Arts and its predecessor institutions. Former institution names include the College of Performing Arts of the University of the Arts, Hahn Conservatory of Music, Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia College of the Arts, Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, Philadelphia Museum College of Art, Philadelphia Museum School of Art, Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts, Philadelphia Musical Academy, and the Zeckwer-Hahn Philadelphia Musical Academy.
Administration
Sean T. Buffington – president and CEO of the University of the Arts
Joseph Castaldo – classical composer; president of the Philadelphia Musical Academy
Frederick E. Hahn – violinist and composer, president and director of the Zeckwer-Hahn Philadelphia Musical Academy
Thomas F. Schutte – president of the Philadelphia College of Art 1975–1983
Camille Zeckwer (Philadelphia Musical Academy 1893) – pianist and composer; president of the Zeckwer-Hahn Philadelphia Musical Academy
Richard Zeckwer – composer; founding director of the Philadelphia Musical Academy 1876–1917
Humanities
Lawrence Curry – historian and politician; history professor at the University of the Arts for 40 years
Helen Drutt – art historian and gallery owner; art history instructor at the Philadelphia College of Art
Elise Juska – novelist; founding director of the undergraduate creative writing program at the University of the Arts
Camille Paglia – author and feminist social critic; professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts 1984–2024
Performing arts
César Alvarez – composer, lyricist, and playwright; artist-in-residence at The University of the Arts and artistic director of Polyphone
Theodore Antoniou – composer and conductor, taught at the Philadelphia Musical Academy
William Ashbrook – musicologist, professor of opera at the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts
Jeanne Behrend – pianist, musicologist, educator, and composer
Sam Dockery – hard bop pianist; taught at the University of the Arts
Margaret Garwood – composer; lecturer in piano at the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts 1953–1969
Gabrielle Hunt – contralto; professor of voice at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music
Ada Turner Kurtz – singer; head of the vocal department at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music
Aaron Levinson – Grammy Award-winning record producer; master lecturer at the University of the Arts 2014–2019
Forrest McClendon – actor; visiting assistant professor of musical theatre at the University of the Arts
Tony Miceli – jazz vibraphonist; adjunct associate professor at the University of the Arts
Lorne Munroe – cellist; taught at the Philadelphia Musical Academy
Paul Nordoff – composer and music therapist; taught composition at the Philadelphia Conservatory 1937–1942
Leo Ornstein – pianist and experimental composer; head of the piano faculty of the Philadelphia Musical Academy 1924–later 1950s
Vincent Persichetti – classical music composer; head of the theory and composition departments of the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music 1939–1962, followed by the Philadelphia Musical Academy
Ralph Peterson Jr.
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