Osvaldo Golijov Named Loyola Professor of Music at Holy Cross

World-renowned composer Osvaldo Golijov, a member of the faculty at the College of the Holy Cross since 1991, has been named Loyola Professor of Music. The announcement was made by Timothy Austin, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the College.

Golijov is the fifth Holy Cross professor to hold the title since the professorships were established by the College in 1991. The criteria for conferral are a scholarly record of national and/or international prominence; a teaching record that meets the highest standards of excellence; and a service record that has significantly advanced the mission of the College.

Golijov’s works — known for blending influences from many musical traditions to reflect the multicultural modern world — include the widely acclaimed retelling of the St. Mark Passion, the opera Ainadamar, song cycles (notably a set of folksongs titled Ayre), chamber music, and film scores. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and was named Musical America’s 2006 Composer of the Year.

In January and February 2006, Lincoln Center presented a festival called “The Passion of Osvaldo Golijov.” His music is performed around the world, including, in recent seasons, at Washington’s Kennedy Center, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Paris’ Theatre de la Ville, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and major festivals in America and Europe. He has been commissioned by orchestras and music festivals internationally to compose new work, and is the recipient of grants from, among others, the Guggenheim Foundation, Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition to an impressive record in the classroom at Holy Cross, Golijov has a strong commitment to both his students and the College’s mission. “Teaching at Holy Cross is an amazing experience,” he said in one interview, “because it has led me to discover Christianity in a completely different way than I experienced it as a Jewish minority growing up in Argentina.” In the fall of 2005, he was instrumental in bringing soprano Dawn Upshaw (for whom he has written many works) and Venezuelan conductor Maria Guinand to work with music students and perform with the College Choir a concert of sacred Latin American music.

On August 18 at Lincoln Center, under Golijov’s auspices, 16 Holy Cross students will be first “outside” singers ever to join conductor Guinand’s acclaimed Schola Cantorum de Caracas in performing Golijov’s St. Mark Passion. Schola Cantorum is the only chorus in the world that has performed the monumental work. The performance is part of Lincoln Center’s 2007 Mostly Mozart Festival, of which Golijov has been named the first composer-in-residence.

Holy Cross’ Loyola professorship was established in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Ignatius and the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Jesus. Four other Holy Cross faculty members have received the professorship: David O’Brien, Loyola Professor of Catholic Studies (1991), John Esposito, Emeritus Loyola Professor of Middle Eastern Studies (1991), Bernard J. Cooke, Emeritus Loyola Professor of Systematic Theology (1992), and Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., Loyola Professor of the Humanities (1994).