While this may be the first time in its 13-year history that the Aston Magna Academy is being held at Yale, the campus and its environs are familiar turf for many in the academy's ranks.
The Aston Magna Academy, which began on June 15 and will continue through July 6, was founded in 1972 by two Yale alumni, Lee Elman '62 J.D. and Robert Fuller '54 M.Mus. Today, a third of the academy's 24 faculty members are Yale graduates, as are Aston Magna's director, Raymond Erickson Ph.D. '70, and associate director, Sally Sanford '74.
In fact, Ms. Sanford has a particularly long association with the campus. The daughter of a Yale employee, she remembers climbing on the carved stone lions -- dubbed Leo and Roary by her family -- that once stood outside the administrative building where her father worked. Her memories of campus also include skating at the newly opened Ingalls Rink, celebrating her wedding reception in the Presidents Room of Woolsey Hall and seeing her daughter christened at Dwight Chapel.
It was also at Yale that Ms. Sanford's career as a performer took root. At age 6, she made her musical debut in Woolsey hall, singing in a chorus of Bach's "St. Matthew Passion." As a Yale College student pursuing a double major in music and literature, she gave her first recital in Pierson College, and held her senior recital in Dwight Chapel. "I had my first experience with original instruments at the Musical Instrument Collection," she recalls. "Hearing a Bach violin was mind-blowing."
"I was deeply nourished by Yale," says Ms. Sanford. "I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing if it weren't for some incredible people at the University." She cites voice teacher Susan Wyner, music appreciation teacher Kerala Snyder, music theorist Joan Panetti, Baroque music historian Claude Palisca, and Romantic music historian Leon Plantinga as some of the professors who most influenced her life.
"Every aspect of my life comes together in bringing the Aston Magna Academy to Yale," says Ms. Sanford. "This is very emotional for me. It's like coming home in a profound way."
Ms. Sanford first became associated with Aston Magna during her years as a graduate student at Stanford University, when she attended the inaugural academy at Simons Rock College in 1978. "That experience changed my life," she says. "It blew me away to find people actively integrating the study of culture with the performance of music." She served for several years on Aston Magna's faculty and administrative staff before becoming associate director.
"Sally has worn more hats at Aston Magna than any other person, including myself," says Mr. Erickson, who has been with the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities, the academy's parent organization, since 1973.
Like Ms. Sanford, Mr. Erickson collected many fond memories of Yale during his years at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where he studied harpsichord and piano with Ralph Kirkpatrick and earned a Ph.D. in 1970. He was a graduate and resident fellow at Pierson College for several years. "My greatest claim to fame at Yale," he laughs, "is that I was [football star] Calvin Hill's freshman counselor." Today, he also serves as dean of arts and humanities at Queen College, City University of New York.
Aston Magna Academy
Part summer music festival, part scholarly conference and part research institute, the Aston Magna Academy this year has brought together 80 scholars and artists for in-depth, cross-disciplinary lectures, workshops, demonstrations and concerts focusing on baroque, classical or early Romantic culture and music. In fact, the academy is world renowned for its performances of 17th- and 18th- century music on period instruments.
The academy's activities revolve around a different yearly theme. This year's theme is "From Handel to Hogarth: the Culture of Early Georgian England, 1714-1760." Many of the events are open to the public. For information, see the Calendar. During the summer, Aston Magna will also hold concerts at Bard College and in the Berkshires, Boston and New York City.
The academy's visit to Yale is sponsored in part by the music department.