Faculty

At a ceremony on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) awarded the Centennial Medal to Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus in the Department of Art History, and Robert Zimmer, PhD ’75, University Chancellor; President Emeritus, both of the University of Chicago.

Museums and libraries, shopping malls, art and design, illustrated children’s literature, world’s fairs, and P. T. Barnum are all institutions woven into the fabric of American life—and all have had the depth of their cultural significance brought to light by Neil Harris. An expert on visual and material culture, and a founder of the academic discipline of cultural history, Harris has shone a light on those who may not have been considered significant creators of culture but who in fact were responsible for many important historical developments in American society.

Starting on April 1, the Korngold Festival at the University of Chicago will celebrate Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music and discuss how his life and work show a transformational change from composing late-romanticism in classical music in Vienna to Hollywood film music in Los Angeles.

The 10-day festival, titled Korngold Rediscovered, features a myriad of events held at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts on the Hyde Park campus. It includes musical performances, a symposium of lectures and panels, the American premiere of Korngold’s final opera, and a film screening, finally concluding with UChicago Presents’ performance of the French string quartet Quatuor Diotima on April 10. Ticket prices vary depending on each specific event. 

“Korngold was a very talented composer who could create songs, operas and concertos starting at the age of 11, but he was not considered a genius in Vienna,” said Philip V. Bohlman, the Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music at UChicago. “Like Joseph Haydn, Korngold was groomed to be a musician from his earliest years. The most fascinating part of his life and work is how he makes the transition to America and to Hollywood film music.”