For many arts-loving Duke students, the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building is a familiar spot. Tucked behind the East Campus dorms, next to Baldwin Auditorium, this building has become a home for music on campus.
Originally built in the summer of 1974, the Biddle Music Building was a gift from Mary Duke Biddle (Women’s College ‘07) and her daughter Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans (Women’s College ‘39) to celebrate the importance of music and the arts at Duke University. It contains various practice rooms and studios, serving as a space for lessons in piano, guitar, violin and many more instruments. It is also home to the Music Library and the Duke University Musical Instruments Collection. This year, it celebrated its 50th birthday with a gala concert at Baldwin Auditorium on Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m.
Although I’ve been to Baldwin a couple of times before for various recitals and performances, when I made my way over this time, I could feel a difference in the energy. Audience members were buzzing around, excitedly talking to one another about their day, the music they were eager to hear, their children and their memories of Duke.
That was when I realized that this wasn’t just a gala concert, but a homecoming. Indeed, as I browsed the program and read the biographies of the composers and performers, I learned that most, if not all of them, had some sort of connection to Duke, whether it was graduating from Duke, being a current student at Duke, teaching at Duke or simply living nearby. Hundreds (and I do actually mean hundreds, as Provost Alec Gallimore shared in her introductory remarks) had come back home to celebrate the lasting impact of the Biddle Music Building and all that’s to come in the future.
After a brief introduction, the audience was treated to a plethora of different performances. Opening the gala was Duke Music Department’s new faculty member Colin Fullerton on the guitar, with excerpts from "Blue Ridge Frescos" composed by Duke alumnus Laurence Sherr (Trinity ‘78). Mezzo soprano Page Stephens (Trinity ‘09) and pianist David Heid performed a duet of W.B Yeats poem “When You are Old” composed by Jeremy Beck (Graduate School ‘89). Following were various duets, quintets and octets playing pieces such as Taiwan Miniatures and Phantasy.
However, for me, the greatest surprise came during the performance of the finale from the "Octet for Strings in E-Flat major" composed by Mendelssohn. As I waited for the eight performers to come on stage, I was instead greeted by a wave of violinists, cellists and violists that filled the entire stage. These performers were composed of the Ciompi Quartet, chamber music students and alumni from the Duke Music Department. What followed can only be described as an epic performance of Mendhelssohn’s work. The walls of Baldwin reverberated with the rich and dynamic sound of the strings, playing as if they were one and magnifying the original score.
After the intermission, there was a premiere of the Biddle celebration video, which highlighted not only the great history of the Biddle but also what it means to different students. They discussed the comfort the building gave to them and the community built within its walls. It’s not hard to understand the feelings they discuss: simply sit on one of the benches in the practice hallway and you will be greeted with the sounds of violin, piano, drums and a variety of other instruments. Taking in all these sounds, you can be reminded of the way music brings people together, and how Biddle has helped foster this attitude.
The Duke University Chorale also performed some pieces, including Where You Go, I will Go composed by Chorale director Allan Friedman. The program culminated in a grand finale, with a performance of Earth from "The Woman Astronaut" composed by Penka Kouneva (Graduate School ‘97) and selections from West Side Story. Performed by the Duke Symphony Orchestra and Duke Opera Theater, these pieces highlighted what the evening was all about: celebrating music and the ties it builds.
Following the performances, a reception was held in the Biddle Music Building, with pieces performed by pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, Associate Professor of the Practice of Music, and Trinity senior Vicky Yang. The highlight of the reception was the unveiling of the mural by artist Natalie Robinson, celebrating the journey of the Duke Music Department. Painted in the circular lobby of Biddle, the never-ending work, as Robinson articulated, highlights never-ending imagination. The work also celebrates jazz artist Mary Lou Williams, Duke’s first artist-in-residence and the namesake of Duke’s Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Its bright colors are inspired in part by Williams’ drawing “History of Jazz” and also features artists who inspired Williams, including Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller.
As the night ended, spirits were high. All around I could hear conversations praising the performances that were filled with excitement for the future of Biddle. But this night wasn’t just a celebration of Biddle’s history or its future, but rather a testament to its enduring legacy. The performances, which brought together generations of musicians that passed through the halls of Biddle, were fitting tributes to five decades of musical exploration and excellence.
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