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The Roy Harris Story

From the beginning of the 1940s until the mid70s, the Harrises' lives were largely centered around the various educational institutions on whose faculties they served. Following a brief period at the Music School of Henry Street Settlement in New York (194041), the couple held positions at Cornell University (194143); The [sic] Colorado College (194348); Utah State Agricultural College (194849--now Utah State University of Agriculture and Applied Science); George Peabody College for Teachers (1949-50-now part of Vanderbilt University); Western Kentucky State Teachers College (now Western Kentucky University-they commuted there two days a week during the Peabody period); the Pennsylvania College for Women (1951-56-now Chatham College); the Royal Conservatory of Music at the University of Toronto (Summer55); Southern Illinois University (1956-57-Harris went there alone); Indiana University (1957-60); the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico in San German (1960-61); the University of California, Los Angeles (1961-70); the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA (1963-64-on leave from UCLA; during this period Harris also accepted the post of conductor of the Stockton Symphony Orchestra but was evidently unable to fulfill his duties because of illness); the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (Fall63); and California State University, Los Angeles (1970-76). The composer's and Johana's periods of residence at a given institution did not invariably coincide; for example, she joined him at Indiana University for only one year (1960) and remained at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico until 1962. Johana also taught at separate institutions from time to time, among them Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA (1935) and California Institute of the Arts (mid60s). Some of the couple's most important positions were funded partially or entirely by grants from such organizations as the Carnegie Corporation of New York (Cornell), the El Pomar Foundation (The Colorado College), and the Andrew W. Mellon Charitable and Educational Trust (the Pennsylvania College for Women/Chatham College). During the Harrises' careers as educators, he was generally given the position of Composer-in-Residence with the rank of Professor, while Johana was appointed either Artist-in-Residence or Pianist-in-Residence with the rank of Professor or Assistant Professor. The composer sometimes started at a new institution as a Visiting Professor or Lecturer (sometimes on leave of absence from his current position), later becoming a regular faculty member.

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