Keeping with tradition

When a member of the IU School of Music faculty retires, they are honored with a send-off concert. Retiring Professor and Chair of the Piano Department Henry Upper received this Tuesday night. An audience packed Auer Hall to bid farewell to the professor and thank him for 30 years of music and memories.\nHenry Upper came to IU as a doctoral student in 1962, joining the music school faculty in 1970 and receiving his doctorate in 1972. He became a professor of music in 1980, and during his 30 years at IU has held numerous positions at the music school, including director of undergraduate studies, associate dean and director of development. He officially retired in July of 2000 but has stayed on to oversee his successor's transition.\nIt was an evening of piano music. Sometimes, two pianos were playing at once, and sometimes four people were playing together. A dozen members of the music school faculty were present to play a dozen different pieces, ranging from the whimsical to the deeply moving. A wide range of composers of the last 250 years were represented from the well-known Mozart to the more obscure 20th century composer Jean Françaix. \nAssociate Professor of Music Emile Naoumoff performed his own composition "Valse pour Nadia for Four Hands" with the help of professor Evelyne Brancart.\nHalfway through the show, several of Upper's colleagues and friends joined on the stage to share some favorite memories, at which point he was presented with a watch. Keeping with the jovial spirit of the evening, "It wasn't gold" -- it had Mickey Mouse on it.\nThe second half of the show saw increasing piano acrobatics, as professors Leonard Hokanson and Edmund Battersby and graduate student Anastasia Antonacos performed Carl Czerny's "Variations Brillantes on a Theme from Norma by Bellini for Six Hands" -- all three on the same piano. The three pianists and their respective page-turners were reaching over, under and around each other in a rollicking performance that threatened to collapse into chaos but never did.\nWhen he finally stepped up to the microphone at the end of the evening, Upper was almost overwhelmed with emotion.\n"I can't ever remember being speechless ... But I really am," Upper said.\nThe professor eventually found the perfect words to sum up his career and end the evening.\n"I love this school and I'm very proud to have served," he said. "Thanks"