The phone call that changes the direction of Robert Page’s life comes in 1975, when he gets an offer to become Head of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon. He has already established himself as a professional musician, working with the some of the world’s most esteemed choirs and orchestras, including the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras.
As he mulls over what to do, an old political term comes to mind: mugwump, meaning fence-sitter. “I couldn’t stay out of music,” he says. “My mug was on one side of the fence, and my wump was on the other. I’ve always straddled the line between academia and professional music-making.”
One of the reasons he takes the position at CMU is that it will allow him to be a mugwump: he can teach, work professionally, and put his efforts toward projects he’s passionate about.
“I don’t think there’s any other choral conductors alive today who spent 19 years with the Philadelphia Orchestra, 18 with the Cleveland Orchestra, and 26 with the Pittsburgh Symphony, while still teaching full time,” reflects the maestro.
Page’s work with choirs and orchestras worldwide spans a massive 44 discs and has earned him two Grammys and many other awards. The American Record Review has called him “a national treasure,” and in choral circles he’s known as the “Dean of American Choral Conductors.”
His mugwump days are ending; at the age of 85, he announced his retirement.
“I feel I’ve done what I wanted to accomplish here,” he says, “which is that we have a healthy choral program, we have a growing opera program, and a graduate conducting program. We have a wealth of people who are successful in the field, and not a day goes by without someone saying ‘thank you for being part of my life.’ That’s better than money.”
—Janet Jay (DC’07)
Related Links:
Honoring Maestro Robert Page
