Transcripts
Iowa City welcomes myriad musicians
We all knew about the flood back in 1993, and we were all sort of hypothesizing that the same thing could happen, so in June, when the flood was imminent, all the organists actually tried to save our organs by sandbagging all of our practice rooms because of all the instruments in the School of Music, they were the only ones that were immovable.
I know that all of the other professors, especially on the first floor, they were scrambling to move everything up to the second floor. By the time the flood hit, there were Steinway grand pianos lining the halls of the upper floor because that was the only place that they could put them.
We have a great staff and we had a lot of people who were looking for us to go right after the flood happened—I think they knew that we would have to have options. I’d say probably back in July or August they were already scouting out buildings around town. They were asking churches if we could meet there—the buildings, the churches, and the businesses of Iowa City have been so welcoming, letting us take any corner that they have to spare for an office or a practice space.
Well, I work at Gloria Dei Lutheran as the music director, so as an organist, I had a perfect opportunity to practice there whenever I needed to. All these different churches just opened up their doors. It was kind of a good opportunity, because all the organists got to play organs we normally wouldn’t even get to touch. I know the churches also opened their doors to all other instrumentalists—you could be practicing upstairs at the UCC on the organ and hear clarinets downstairs and across the street there would be a choir going or a wind ensemble.
What prospective students need to remember, what current students need to remember is that the faculty is the same. It doesn’t matter what room you’re in; it’s what you’re learning and the materials that you’re using. Overall the content of the class is not going to be changed based on where that class is held.
Audio File
Here is a link to the slideshow audio file.
Photo Gallery
Julia Howell practicing the organ at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.
Closeup of Julia Howell at the organ.
Closeup of organ pipes.
Organ at in the Voxman Music Building before the flood.
Pianos lined up in the hallway of the Voxman Music Building during the flood.
Pianos lined up in the hallway of the Voxman Music Building during the flood.
Flood-damaged organ in the Voxman Music Building.
Closeup of organ keys.
Photo taken from behind Julia Howell as she plays the organ.
Closeup of Julia Howell at the organ.
Julia Howell practicing the organ at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Quilted ecclesiatical "Peace" banner hangs in the background.
Julia Howell practicing the organ at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.
Julia Howell turning a page in a musical score as she plays the organ.
Closeup of organ keyboard.
Sanctuary at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, with Julia Howell playing the organ.
Professor makes notations on a musical score whiteboard as students look on.
Closeup of professor making notes on a whiteboard.
Music professor talks to class.
Two women practice, one playing violin and the other playing bass.
Two young men and one woman playing brass instruments.
Conductor leads brass ensemble in a classroom setting.
Young woman carries a French horn and musical score in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
Students carrying large instrument cases head to class in one of the Temporary Arts Facilities modular buildings.
Links to other slideshow transcript/gallery pages:
- Loyce Arthur: The show must go on
- Isabel Barbuzza: Artists find unity in revamped facility
- Gayle Blevins: Softball squad makes spring splash
- Chris Coretsopoulos: Researchers scramble out of high-tech home
- Keri Hornbuckle: Engineering students embrace educational opportunity
- Renée Houser: Finding a place for displaced classes
- Nancy Kraft: UI Libraries lend hand to preservation efforts
- Rod Lehnertz: Living with the river remains a priority
- Ferman Milster: Power Plant surges back after shutdown
- Kate Tomka: Students choose service over spring break
- Larry Weber: Mitigation group boasts expertise from across campus