to shape the "real" world is one of the
perennial issues which it confronts.
Thus the academic community seems
always to be in a state of crisis over
something.
But at the same time, the university
affords the individual ample
opportunity to withdraw, if he chooses
to do so, into his own private world of
contemplation, secure, at least
relatively so, from the harassments of
the market-place and the political
arena. It is from these private,
individual worlds that artistic creation
and all other valuable products of the
mind emerge. I am deeply appreciative
of the fact that the university provides
time and financial support for such
purposes. It is especially fortunate for
me that at this particular university, the
school of music happens to be one of
the finest in the world. I am free, here,
to experiment, to try new things, and to
use the exceptionally good facilities for
testing new ideas through live
performance.
If teaching sometimes seems to be a
drudgery for the composer, it also
provides a stimulus for him; after all,
the problems his students face are
similar to his own, and in helping them
to find solutions, he is led toward
solutions of his own problems. The
greatest rewards in a teaching career,
however, stem from the opportunities
it provides to identify outstandingly
gifted students and to share in the
wonder of their development toward
maturity and the achievement of
independence in fruitful careers.
I have saved the best news of all till
the last, the enormous richness and
variety of the cultural environment on
the university campus. There is no
( upper right) Thomas Holliday, opera direc-
tor and librettist, Latham and Dean Marceau
Myers examine the score of "Orpheus in
Pecan Springs" * (right) The composer pre-
sents the score of "American Youth Performs"
to Amnon Carter, Jr., patron of the Youth
Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth. and Charles
Abdoo, president of American Youth Per-
forms,. Inc.. Fort Worth, 1969

need, I think, to recount the wealth of
cultural opportunities provided by the
numerous concerts, exhibitions in the
art gallery and in the museum, plays,
dance spectacles, poetry readings,
visiting lecturers and artists; the
enormous store of learning available in
the library and in the Historical
Collection; or the plethora of research
conducted in the various laboratories.
Everyone knows that all of these things
are going on, and that interaction in
some form among the many disciplines
is a constant occurrence. Thus the
cultural life of the university is further
enriched in an endless chain reaction,
which extends not only throughout our
own campus, but to campuses all over
the world.
All of this convinces me that Virgil
Thomson was wrong. Teaching is not
the "worst mischief a composer can get
into," and I believe that the university
campus today is among the best
possible havens for the composer. I
also believe it doesn't really matter how