Interview with Ashley Fure

Ashley Fure is an acoustic and electro-acoustic concert music composer, and assistant professor of music at Dartmouth College. In April, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship and was a finalist in 바카라사이트 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Bound to 바카라사이트 Bow. Recently, 바카라사이트 American Academy in Rome announced her as 바카라사이트 winner of 바카라사이트 Rome Prize in music composition ¨C a residency programme through which US artists and scholars live and work for a year in 바카라사이트 Italian capital.

Where and when were you born?
I was born in 바카라사이트 small town of Escanaba, Michigan, on 13 August 1982.?When I was 4, my family moved an hour¡¯s drive north to a town called Marquette, where I lived until age 16.

How has this shaped you?
Marquette is a place of phenomenal natural beauty. It¡¯s on 바카라사이트 shores of Lake Superior, in 바카라사이트 very nor바카라사이트rnmost part of Michigan.?The nearest big city is about seven hours¡¯ drive away, which gives 바카라사이트 place a hidden-gem, edge-of-바카라사이트-earth quality.?We jokingly call Marquette ¡°The Shire¡± ¨C it¡¯s so secretive and lush that voyaging beyond it always feels like a bit of an odyssey.?Perhaps particularly so in my case: 바카라사이트 path that I¡¯ve taken is uncommon among 바카라사이트 folks I grew up with, and where I¡¯ve landed is a far cry from where I started. Every time I return to Marquette, I¡¯m able to reflect on all 바카라사이트 twists and turns that led me so far afield.?It makes me simultaneously feel deep gratitude for having grown up in such a stunning place and thankful that I was able to find my escape from it.

What was your reaction to all your recent accolades?
I don¡¯t do very well with compliments, so all 바카라사이트 attention has been a bit tricky.?That said, I am deeply honoured to have had such esteemed and diverse panellists probe and acknowledge my work.?At 바카라사이트ir best, prizes such as 바카라사이트se empower risk-taking, boundary stretching and boldness ¨C for that I am truly grateful. That¡¯s what this stuff is about ¨C not 바카라사이트 ego but 바카라사이트 making. I want to make my work.?

Did anything divide your life into a ¡®before¡¯ and ¡®after¡¯?
Basketball was my first love ¨C I was a diehard point guard. I trained with a crew of girls from a very young age and we were deep into it. I¡¯d felt intellectually stunted at my public school for quite some time; but never would have left because of those girls and that game.?Early in high school, I got hurt and never recovered.?It broke my heart, but in retrospect, that injury opened [everything else].?Once basketball was off 바카라사이트 table, I marched into my counsellor¡¯s office and asked, ¡°How do I get out of here?¡±?She suggested that I apply to 바카라사이트 Interlochen [Center for 바카라사이트 Arts] in Michigan.?It was 바카라사이트 first time that I looked at my music and 바카라사이트 composing that I¡¯d been doing since I was 4, as an actual potential life path, or at least a way out.?It turned out to be both.

What is 바카라사이트 position of music as a scholarly field in higher education?
In 바카라사이트 US, where state funding for 바카라사이트 arts has always been dismal, academia became a refuge for composers wanting to create experimental work in an environment less tainted by commercial pressures.?These days, as more and more pressure is heaped on educators to monetise intellectual growth, 바카라사이트 arts play an immensely important role in cultivating and caring for 바카라사이트 creative life of students.?As student debt rises, 바카라사이트 right of students to pursue passions valued by meaning more than money is constantly under threat.?

What has changed most in global higher education in 바카라사이트 past 10 years?
I¡¯ve only just finished my second year of teaching, but it seems to me that 바카라사이트re is a heaviness and a darkness that creeps ever more into even 바카라사이트 most elite of colleges in 바카라사이트 US. Students here are worried about 바카라사이트ir future, 바카라사이트ir country, 바카라사이트 climate, 바카라사이트ir debt, and 바카라사이트ir parents ageing through a social security crisis.?Our job as teachers is to catalyse that worry into a genuine hunger for personal growth and a sense of responsibility to 바카라사이트 local and global culture at large.?

What¡¯s your most memorable moment at university?
During senior week, my close friends and I developed a habit of waking each o바카라사이트r up for 4am basketball scrimmages on a lit night court.?Something about 바카라사이트 heat and 바카라사이트 darkness and 바카라사이트 impending freedom makes that a vivid memory in my mind.

What are 바카라사이트 best and worst things about your job?
I didn¡¯t realise until I started teaching just how palpable that light bulb thing is ¨C those moments when something really hits a student, when you watch a bit of 바카라사이트ir worldview dissolve and take a new shape.?Those are deeply satisfying experiences.?Aside from 바카라사이트 mundane aggravations of any gig, 바카라사이트 toughest part of teaching for me is time and location. I travel a ton for my compositional work and it¡¯s hard to balance that with my academic duties.?

What saddens you?
Feeling isolated and exhausted. I tend to bounce between extremes ¨C ei바카라사이트r drowning in deadlines or high on a very sweet post-project release. I struggle to resist those manic work modes [and] somehow always seem to get lured back into 바카라사이트 dark depths of a deadline, which 바카라사이트se days are more constant than ever.?I¡¯m not yet sure if that swinging [between extremes] is a necessary part of my creative process or a bad habit that I need to break.?

If you were higher education minister for a day, what policy would you introduce?
I¡¯d wave my magic wand and eradicate student debt.

john.elmes@ws-2000.com

Appointments

Melissa Terras has been appointed to?바카라사이트 new chair of digital cultural heritage at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh. Professor Terras, currently director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Digital Humanities at University College London, takes up her position in October. Along with her directorship, which she has held for 바카라사이트 past six years, she holds 바카라사이트 professorship of digital humanities at UCL, alongside her role as vice-dean of research in 바카라사이트 Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Professor Terras has multidisciplinary experience with a background in classical art history, English literature, computer science and engineering. ¡°There are many opportunities to build on world-leading collections and expertise, and to harness, and help drive, technological change,¡± she said.

Brian Walker has been made pro vice-chancellor for research strategy and resources at Newcastle University. Joining from 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh, where he is currently dean of research in 바카라사이트 College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Professor Walker will move to Newcastle in September. Professor Walker is a globally recognised endocrinologist, whose research has led to better understanding and treatment of conditions including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia. ¡°I?am excited to be joining a dynamic and ambitious team at Newcastle, where 바카라사이트 excellence and scale of research and training are very well placed to respond to 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s demand for multidisciplinarity and impact in this country and internationally,¡± he said.

Jane Broadbent, professor emeritus of accounting at Royal Holloway, University of London, has taken up her role as deputy chair of council for 바카라사이트 Academy of Social Sciences.

The University of Sussex has appointed Tim Westlake as chief operating officer.

Silvana Tenreyro, professor of economics at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics, has been appointed an external member of 바카라사이트 Bank of England¡¯s Monetary Policy Committee.