Last modified: Monday, April 2, 2012
Jacobs professor Schwartzkopf, veteran Singing Hoosiers director, receives IU's Distinguished Service Medal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Jacobs School of Music professor Michael Schwartzkopf has received Indiana University's Distinguished Service Medal from President Michael A. McRobbie, presented during a March 31 farewell concert with the Singing Hoosiers.
Jacobs School of Music professor Michael Schwartzkopf has received Indiana University's Distinguished Service Medal.
Schwartzkopf, who has led IU's "ambassadors of song" for the past 17 years, will retire from the university in May.
"Whether working in the classroom as one of our nation's most acclaimed choral instructors or performing on the stage, Michael has served Indiana University, its alumni and its friends exceptionally well during his tenure with the Jacobs School of Music," McRobbie said. "His choral and conducting skills are in demand around the world, while his leadership of the legendary Singing Hoosiers has forged and strengthened relationships with countless students and alumni. His tireless commitment to the university and his dedication to teaching and mentoring serve as an inspiration to us all. We wish him well in his retirement."
The Distinguished Service Medal, created at McRobbie's request, is presented in recognition of sustained contributions and tireless commitment to the university. The medal is a reproduction in silver of the IU seal surrounded by an image of the trailing arbutus, IU's official flower. It joins three other IU medals: The University Medal, the President's Medal and Thomas Hart Benton Medal.
Previous recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal are William C. Cochran, Bruce L. Jaffee, Kathleen McNeely, John F. Walsh, Bart S. Ng, Stuart Green, Robert Meadows, John Hobson and Larry T. Swafford.
Schwartzkopf is the Pam and Jack Burks Professor of Music at the Jacobs School of Music. He joined the Jacobs faculty in 1995.
In demand as an adjudicator, lecturer, clinician and festival conductor, he has conducted choirs throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. He has also performed in numerous venues in Europe and the U.S. in a wide variety of styles including popular music, musical theater and the entire spectrum of classical music.
In recent years, he has served as chair of the Jacobs Music Education Department, interim chair of the Jacobs Choral Conducting Department and president of the Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association. He is a member of the Alliance of Distinguished Rank Professors at IU, and he received the Singing Hoosiers Distinguished Alumni Award in 1993.
