Music theory and composition professor Heather Gilligan was awarded the Keene State Faculty Distinction in Research and Scholarship Award and will have a composition showcased by the KSC Concert Band during the Theatre and Dance Department’s annual Evening of Dance performance.
As the most recent recipient, Gilligan will participate in the committee that selects the next recipient, according to permanent committee member and Director of Mason Library Dr. Celia Rabinowitz.
“It’s sort of this cyclical kind of thing … being given this award and there are people who are congratulating you and celebrating the work that you’ve done but then you get to turn around and send it outward and give it to somebody else,” Gilligan said.
Rabinowitz said the prior year’s committee was drawn to choosing Gilligan in part because of her prolific work outside of the classroom as a composer.
“She’s been incredibly productive in lost of different ways and had pretty amazing impact and won a lot of acclaim and awards for her work,” Rabinowitz said.
Gilligan said she started her musical career as a performing pianist, but gradually discovered composition was where her true passion was. Now, she is the coordinator for the music composition area of the Music Department.
“My work is always in [composition], in terms of classes, but also in terms of the work that I do… I’ve been composing for the department and I sometimes have commissions that take me out of the area,” Gilligan said. “I have to travel to have my pieces performed, but I also have my grounding here as well.”
Gilligan explained her compositions for this year, “I’ve written a piece for the band. It’s in honor of the 50th anniversary of Evening of Dance on the 100th anniversary of ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ And so I wrote a piece that was intended to be a companion or response piece through ‘Rhapsody In Blue.’”
Gilligan described the writing process as continuing into the rehearsal phase of the performance.
“There was one student who came up to me last week and asked if he could have more music because he didn’t want to be not playing,” she said. “I was thinking that some of the lower drums might be nice at the end of the piece, so I wrote it in. It’s still the writing process, even though it’s the rehearsal process.”
Concert Band Director Dr. John Hart said Gilligan’s compositions do “a really good job of hitting the mark right off the bat.”
Hart said the first time he saw Gilligan’s composition, it consisted of rough sketches. He said he had the opportunity to give his own input on the piece.
“She’s got a lot of skill that I really admire,” he added.
Hart spoke on Gilligan’s presence in the music department, “Some people come into higher education with immense skill in their field, but they have never really taught or they haven’t figured out how to embrace teaching and it couldn’t be further from the truth for Dr. Gilligan,” Hart said.
Hart added, “She’s a teacher through and through. She reacts and responds to what her students need and she meets them where they are, moves them forward in ways that they can understand.”
Additionally, Hart said Gilligan helped with his transition to Keene State when he was new to the school.
“Having somebody to help guide me through those first few years,” Hart said. “She really guided me in the early years to put together really good portfolios … I credit Dr. Gilligan with a lot of that mentorship and you know, she’s just a really nice person to boot.”
Music Department Chair Dr. Daniel Carberg said it was exciting to see a member of the department receive the faculty distinction.
“It’s good to be recognized by the college,” he said. “I think it’s also something we can use for recruitment, because there are some students that are interested in research and that might be inspired by that. It elevates our program.”
Carberg also spoke on Gilligan’s abilities as a professor.
“She is really good at meeting people where they are, but also challenging those students … she’s had a lot of students go on for careers in composition.”
One of Gilligan’s students, senior Simon Furze, said he appreciated the time he has spent working with her.
“I’ve been working with Dr. Gilligan for four years now,” Furze said. “I’ve got to work with her in a lot of different class settings and then also as a one-on-one composition teacher… she gives the reins to the students.”
Furze added, “She doesn’t necessarily tell the student what to do because composition is up to the composer at the end of the day … It’s a very guided process, instead of being told what to do, it’s really supportive in nature.”
Furze also spoke on Gilligan’s scholarship, “The amount of work that Dr. Gilligan is doing is that of a giant… so it really doesn’t surprise me.”
Benjamin Martins can be contacted at
bmartins@kscequinox.com
Charlotte King can be contacted at
cking@kscequinox.com
