Music and Technology at Delaware: A retrospective

By Larry Peterson

Off-Campus Recognition

Certainly the most prestigious award to acknowledge the work of our faculty was the Cinema Industry’s Gold CINDY Award in 1986for the laserdisc series. We were the first recipients of the GOLD award (first place). The same year the University of Nebraska gave us their Merit Award, also for the laserdisc series funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. This series was, at a minimum, a triple-award winner because the project itself was funded by a grant from the NEH. The original series produced four 12-inch two-sided laserdiscs and included performances of students and faculty in our Department, the University of Michigan, Curtis Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory and artists and staff at the Metropolitan Opera as well as the early-music group Ars Musica,. The conversion to DVD includes two DVDs that contain about 3/4s of the materials originally on laserdisc. Theory faculty received a number of FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education) grants from the Office of Education in Washington DC for the conversion.

In 1991, Peterson received Second Place in the Masters of Innovation Award, a national competition sponsored by the Zenith Corporation, for his multimedia lessons for the teaching of opera. In 1995, Peterson had the honor of having his Interaction With Music Series featured in an all-day conference in England, sponsored by the University of Lancaster where Peterson was a Visiting Professor.

Various books and CD ROMS have cited the work of Peterson and Hofstetter. For example, 101 Success Stories of Information Technology in Higher Education: The Joe Wyatt Challenge, edited by Judith V. Boettcher, featured the multimedia work of Hofstetter and Peterson. Peterson’s work was cited in two other sources: Teaching with Technology: Seventy-Five Professors from Eight Universities Tell Their Stories, edited by David G. Brown and Technology Tools for Today’s Campuses, edited by James Garner Ptaszynski. Usually in these books devoted to multiple academic disciplines, the University of Delaware is the only institution represented in the field of music! Hofstetter and Peterson have frequently been consultants for multimedia projects at other universities and both professors have presented keynote speeches in this country and abroad about their multimedia work.

Murray’s work with the WW Norton texts has received favorable reviews by Education World ("A" rating review) and American Library Association review of Internet Resources (positive review) among others. Murray’s work was even named Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Explorer Hot Site of the Week in February of 2000! Murray’s Online Tutor receives more than two million page calls (“hits”) per month during the fall and spring semesters, and over one million per month in the summers. It is important to note that the History of Western Music is the leading textbook in an ever-growing field, and is the only music history text with electronic listening guides. As this article is being written, it appears that, according to Peterson, the UD DVD series will accompany future editions of the Joseph Kerman music appreciation book.