FALL 2008 / Volume 8 - Issue 1
 |  | 
Amber Soika, a senior at Solon High School, auditions for Kent State's first talent-based scholarship.
Famed alumnus supports students with musical promise
BY BRIAN THORNTON, ’97
he atmosphere in the lobby of Kent State’s Wright-Curtis Theatre felt more like a hospital waiting room than the entranceway to a vibrant performing arts space. On this late March day, the sun beamed brightly through the large windows onto chairs arranged in typical fashion around the perimeter of the room. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, interrupted only by footsteps, the far-off voices of boisterous students and the occasional whispers of anxious conversations.
The occupants of the chairs included high school seniors, parents and siblings. Kallie Loudon, a dancer from Paris, Ohio, claimed to be more excited than worried. Trombonist John Eric Johnston huddled with his father and admitted his nerves were on edge. Pianist David Jaramillo stood alone in the corner, the language and small-town Ohio environment surely a change for the Ecuadorian.
Nine students would pass through the lobby doors into the theatre, where they would find a lone chair on the empty stage washed in a pale, white light. For 18 minutes, they would face a panel of six university judges who were crowded behind a small table piled with papers. After an eight-minute audition followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session, they could exit to the reassuring arms of their parents and families.
At the end of the day, one would emerge with the golden ticket — the school’s first talent-based scholarship, a full-tuition award renewable for his or her entire Kent State career. But the pressure of the day was amplified by the students’ benefactor: not an anonymous donor, but one of the university’s most famous alumni — Eagles guitarist and rock ’n’ roll superstar Joe Walsh.
hen Joe Walsh arrived at the Kent Campus in 1965, it was like returning home. Walsh’s family had lived in Columbus in the mid-’50s, a period he remembers as full of big fields, vacant lots to play in and great rock ’n’ roll — a time of life that formed who he would be as an adult.
But after three years, the family packed up and moved to a third-floor apartment in New York City, and life took on a much faster pace.
“Thank God for Ohio,” Walsh says, “because I had enough grasp on the real world from living in Ohio not to judge everything on living in New York City.”
He picked Kent State as an escape from New York and New Jersey, places he found claustrophobic. Like so many freshmen, he settled in to his residence hall.
“Everybody wants to know if that’s my room on the third floor of Manchester Hall,” he says, laughing. “And yes, it is.”
Despite his smooth transition back to Ohio, the Vietnam War and the threat of being drafted hung over Walsh’s head.
“During my freshman year, my exemption came through,” he says, “so I didn’t really have to worry about going full time after my freshman year. And much to my amazement, I got active in music.”
The draft deferment allowed Walsh to focus on the School of Music, and in downtown Kent, he found a thriving arts and music scene. He began playing gigs at various clubs, but didn’t see a need to major in music because, for the most part, he was teaching himself.
Still, he was excelling at his music theory courses, and found a mentor in Dr. Hugh A. Glauser, 1967 Distinguished Teaching Award recipient for whom the school is now named.
“He came down one time and heard us play and said it was the biggest goddamn bunch of noise he’d ever heard,” Walsh says. “But he really liked it.”
The group was improvising and creating a free-expression sound of its own.
“In terms of composing and writing, [Glauser] saw that I had a lot of promise,” Walsh says. “And he forgave us for the noise … and the long hair.”
Outside of music classes (where Walsh was getting straight A’s), Glauser gave the young performer additional theory training and became an inspiration.
“He still is a role model for me,” Walsh says, “in the way he worked a class, the way he taught, and his patience and care with everybody in the classroom.”
Dancer Kallie Loudon says she plans to attend Kent State regardless of the outcome of the scholarship auditions.
“We achieved an amount of success that I never dreamed would happen,” Walsh says.
Soon thereafter, he moved to Colorado to pursue a solo career. Five years later, The Eagles came calling, and the rest is rock ’n’ roll history.
“In terms of a career, I got one,” Walsh says. “And that was a direct result of my time at Kent State.”
Over the years, Kent State has honored its member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1986, Walsh was the school’s homecoming grand marshal, and in 2001, he received an honorary doctorate and spoke at commencement.
Walsh also has continued his connection to the university with support for the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. In 2003, he endowed his first scholarship at the school. This year, he decided to become the first contributor to a new kind of student aid — one that’s not based on need or academic achievement, but talent.
“I couldn’t have gotten a scholarship based on my academic ability, but I blossomed at Kent State,” Walsh says. “And I just think there may be some other people at Kent I could help. I’m looking for people with a born gift at something …
“And if they’re in a creative community like Kent and Kent State, and I can help them stay there until they blossom, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
t Wright-Curtis Theatre, the auditions were over, but the judges were just beginning their work. The committee acknowledged the difficulty in making a decision among multiple disciplines.
“We talked a lot about how we were comparing apples to oranges and pears to grapes and everything else,” says Dr. John Crawford, associate dean of the College of the Arts. “Because this is a performing scholarship, we paid attention to the connection to the audience and how the student communicated and expressed the art.”
Artist's rendering of the Kent State University Tuscarawas Performing Arts Centre.
Ultimately, the judges selected David Jaramillo, the pianist who traveled all the way from Ecuador to audition, and whose goals include starting the first music college in his home country.
“It was a really tremendous performance that he gave,” Crawford says. “He played some selections by Prokofiev, and it was so clear to everyone on the committee that he had talent and commitment to his art. He really drew you into his playing.”
Jaramillo will attend Kent State this fall as the first recipient of the Joe Walsh Scholarship for the Performing Arts. But Crawford sees the talent-based grant as having an effect far beyond Jaramillo’s academic career.
"When you’re surrounded by people of high technical ability and artistry, it really inspires everyone else to reach their potential as performers,” he says. “I think these scholarships bring the standard of the college up even higher."
|
|
|
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ROE GREEN GIFT TO THEATRE
