Davis Talks Music at Annual Breathitt Lecture
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- , (859) 257-1754, x229
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 20, 2009) – Clinton R. Davis, a University of Kentucky music performance senior from Carrollton, Ky., will
present the 15th annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7:30
p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in the William
T. Young Library Auditorium. Davis’ lecture, which focuses on the innovative sound
created by the New York School, is free and open to the public.
The Breathitt Lectureship honors Gov. Edward T. Breathitt, an outstanding UK alumnus with an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities. He served as Kentucky's governor from 1963 to 1967 and died in 2003. The lectureship is awarded to an undergraduate who has eloquently expressed the qualities of mind and spirit, including one or more of the basic concerns of the humanities: form, value and memory. Each year all undergraduate students are invited to apply for the lectureship.
Davis’ lecture, “[an] aesthetics & [de] composition: the music of the New York School,” will explore the aesthetic dimensions of music created by a group of American composers known as the New York School, which included one of the most significant artistic figures of the modern age, John Cage. Although this type of music is peripheral to most academic programs, Davis believes it to be the most interesting and exciting, especially in the case of the New York School.
“This was a group of composers that in many ways attempted to re-invent music, throwing out as much historical precedent, tradition, and technique as possible and starting from scratch with their intuition and whatever sounds surrounded them,” said Davis. “When I listen to this music, I hear things unlike anything I've heard before.”
In his lecture, Davis will pose some relevant questions. Why do we make music? What does it mean, and how does it mean?
“This music poses questions relevant to the entire endeavor of music making in any form,” he adds. “It forces one to question what music is and what separates it from any other sound.”
The Breathitt Lectureship is an annual undergraduate award presented by the Gaines Center for the Humanities that provides a student the opportunity to write and deliver a humanities-oriented public lecture on the topic of their choosing. The student speaker is chosen through an application process that includes a lecture proposal submitted by the student to an independent committee of readers.
In recognition of his selection to deliver the Breathitt Lectureship, Davis also will receive a commemorative award and a $500 honorarium.
The Breathitt Lectureship honors Gov. Edward T. Breathitt, an outstanding UK alumnus with an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities. He served as Kentucky's governor from 1963 to 1967 and died in 2003. The lectureship is awarded to an undergraduate who has eloquently expressed the qualities of mind and spirit, including one or more of the basic concerns of the humanities: form, value and memory. Each year all undergraduate students are invited to apply for the lectureship.
Davis’ lecture, “[an] aesthetics & [de] composition: the music of the New York School,” will explore the aesthetic dimensions of music created by a group of American composers known as the New York School, which included one of the most significant artistic figures of the modern age, John Cage. Although this type of music is peripheral to most academic programs, Davis believes it to be the most interesting and exciting, especially in the case of the New York School.
“This was a group of composers that in many ways attempted to re-invent music, throwing out as much historical precedent, tradition, and technique as possible and starting from scratch with their intuition and whatever sounds surrounded them,” said Davis. “When I listen to this music, I hear things unlike anything I've heard before.”
In his lecture, Davis will pose some relevant questions. Why do we make music? What does it mean, and how does it mean?
“This music poses questions relevant to the entire endeavor of music making in any form,” he adds. “It forces one to question what music is and what separates it from any other sound.”
The Breathitt Lectureship is an annual undergraduate award presented by the Gaines Center for the Humanities that provides a student the opportunity to write and deliver a humanities-oriented public lecture on the topic of their choosing. The student speaker is chosen through an application process that includes a lecture proposal submitted by the student to an independent committee of readers.
In recognition of his selection to deliver the Breathitt Lectureship, Davis also will receive a commemorative award and a $500 honorarium.