Called to help people see and hear God in music
By
NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer
William Carr, a pianist who has played three times at New York’s
Carnegie Hall — twice on the main stage — could teach anywhere,
with his extensive and impressive musical background, but he’s chosen
to remain in Catholic education.
That’s because he believes music and art cannot thrive without structure
— something he knows Catholic education offers.
Carr, a professor at Immaculata University, goes back to the school’s
motto, “Knowledge flourishes in virtue,” to explain what he
means.
“You can’t have art without discipline. [Catholic education]
teaches a sense of reaching for perfection,” he said. “We
won’t reach it in this life, but striving for it is important.”
Carr’s love for music was instilled in him by the Sisters, Servants
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who taught him in grade school.
“It was the sisters who encouraged music lessons. My brother took
lessons so I took them too,” he said. “They have been a great
inspiration since my childhood ... so it’s ironic that I’m
back teaching at their university.”
In a reciprocal demonstration of appreciation for the inspiration he now
brings his own students, Immaculata University has awarded Carr the Christian
R. and Mary F. Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award for Demonstrated
Excellence, for his creative, faith-filled and proven approach to teaching.
Carr went to Malvern Preparatory School for Boys before obtaining his
bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Temple University. He
earned a graduate scholarship in piano performance in the professional
studies program at the Julliard School of Music, and a doctor of musical
arts degree in piano performance from The Catholic University of America.
His postdoctoral work has included performance certificates from the Munich
Conservatory in Chamber Music and from the Liszt Weimar Conservatory,
for his studies with concert pianist Paul Badura-Skoda in Germany and
Austria. Add to that a master’s degree in international relations
and international business from The Wharton School of Business at the
University of Pennsylvania, and you see the impressive education and experience
he brings to his teaching at Immaculata.
Carr has performed all over the world, including his solo performances
at Carnegie Hall and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. He has also performed
with orchestras that include the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, the University
of Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Doctors Orchestra,
and the Philadelphia Classical Symphony Orchestra.
And he has given corporate seminars and recital presentations on creativity
in problem solving and strategic planning — combining the worlds
of music and business — at the graduate schools of business at Columbia
University, the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College, the Wharton School,
and more than 30 Fortune 500 corporations worldwide, as well as at several
national business conferences.
Carr served as an artist in resident at Cabrini College and Gwynedd-Mercy
College before he assumed a full-time teaching position with Immaculata
in 1993, where he teaches music and business at both the undergraduate
and graduate schools, in addition to his concert performances.
He’s also performed in some unconventional places for a concert
pianist — such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools.
“Music can be very uplifting — it can heal,” Carr
said, “so I do believe, as a performer, we should try to reach as
many audiences as possible.”
In fact, music is healing for his own soul, he said: “I find God
every day in my life when I practice.”
It is that experience of God that Carr tries to convey to others through
his music, even in this culture, which considers the purpose of music
to be merely entertainment, he said.
“As performers, the Romantic composers’ goal was to really
try to have people see and hear God in music,” he said. “That
is my goal, too.”
He said he subscribes to the Catholic perspective — “that
music and the arts can shape people’s minds and … formulate
a correct thinking in life,” and he notes as proof of that the Church’s
long history of appreciation for, promotion of, and commitment to the
arts.
And, for the opportunity to bring that perspective every school day to
a Catholic institution, Carr said, “I’ve been very blessed.”
CS&T
staff writer Nadia Pozo can be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.