The Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence

Established in 1985, the Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence brings regionally and nationally acclaimed artists to campus to work with students and the community in a dynamic atmosphere of unrestricted experimentation. Former recipients of this position include:

Ian Berry (2009-10) - Ian Berry is the Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs and Curator at The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College. A specialist in contemporary art, he has organized several exhibitions for The Tang Museum, including projects that combine antique maps, scientific equipment, Rube Goldberg cartoons, and Shaker furniture, with new works of international contemporary art.

Louise Erdrich (2008-09) - Louise Erdrich is the author of twelve novels as well as volumes of poetry, children's books, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her novel Love Medicine won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse was a finalist for the National Book Award. She lives in Minnesota with her daughters and is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore.

Lawrence Goldhuber (2007-08) - is a choreographer, dancer, actor, and performance artist who has worked in New York for more than 20 years.

The Second City Touring Company (2007-08) - The Second City Touring Company has been bringing laughter and joy to packed houses all over North America for over forty five years. Funny and fast-paced, The Second City is ideal entertainment for venues looking to reach both new audiences and old. Whether it’s a one night engagement or a sit down run, The Second City is always topical, highly interactive and sure to have audiences rolling in the aisles. http://www.secondcity.com/?id=touring/us

Mark Block (2007-08) - Talent Agent - The Block Agency is the Southeast's premiere and most selective modeling and talent agency. The Block Agency is focused on providing BOTH talent and clients the personal service they deserve and we will work our hardest to get talent paid as fast as possible. A brand new agency with young, fresh energy--The Block Agency is dedicated to placing the Southeast's top models and actors in the perfect roles. www.theblockagency.com

Annmarie Duggan (2007-08) -Lighting Designer - Annmarie Duggan’s recent design credits include: Animal Cracker, for the Skylight Opera, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Beauty and The Beast for Seaside Music Theatre, Daytona Beach, Florida; the York Theater production of Captain Louie in New York City; and The American Girls Revue, The American Girl Theatre, Chicago, Illinois. Duggan has designed lights for the world premiere of Sherry Landrum and George S. Clinton’s bluegrass musical, That Other Woman’s Child. Her work has been seen in theatres around the country, including Coconut Grove Playhouse, Worcester Foothills Theatre, Cumberland County Playhouse, The New Victory, Invisible Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, Little Theatre on the Square, Florida Studio Theatre, Northern Stage, Hampton Playhouse, Circa21 Playhouse, Music Theatre North, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Century Center, Carousel Theatre Stoneham Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre and New Jersey Center for the Performing Arts.

Karen E. Maguire (2007-08) - Karen Eterovich Maguire has toured her play, Love Arm’d, Aphra Behn & Her Pen nationally and internationally to the Bedlam Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Mission Theatre in Bath, England. Her new play about Jane Austen had a workshop in Stockton, CA, and Pace University, culminating in a performance in New York City at the renowned Players Club and at the Mission Theatre in Bath, England for the Jane Austen Festival and was invited back to a week long run to great acclaim. Maguire was praised in The New York Times as “wonderfully funny” for her performance in Twelfth Night with the Kings County Shakespeare Company. Her play, Pumpkin Fluff, was accepted for the Blue Roses Infusion Series, the Lab at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference for Playwrights in Valdez, Alaska, and for a reading by the Players Creative Workshop at the Players Club. Also in New York City, she appeared in Looking for the Pony, Andrea Lepcio’s play about breast cancer at Vital Signs, Strawberry and Samuel French Festivals. Maguire is currently managing Director for Blue Roses Productions.

7 Stages Inc.  - Bernard Koltes (2007-08) - 7 Stages is a professional, non-profit theatre company devoted to engaging artists and audiences by focusing on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. 7 Stages gives primary emphasis to international work and the support and development of new plays, new playwrights, and new methods of collaboration.
http://www.7stages.org/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?FILE=/about/index.html

Cantus (2006-07) - Cantus was founded in the fall of 1995 when a few college friends gathered on the campus of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. The Washington Post called the singers' sound "beaming and elastic" and referred to their music as "spontaneous grace." http://www.cantusonline.org/Concerts/CantusConcerts.html

Bodo Igesz (2006-07) - A career of over 40 years has taken Mr. Igesz across three continents. In the U.S. A. he is well-known for his work at the Metropolitan Opera .<

Tony Plog (2006-07) - The music of Anthony Plog has been performed in over 30 countries around the world. He is the recipient of numerous grants and commissions, including the National Endowment for the Arts ( for the American Brass Quintet), the Malmo Symphony ( Sweden ), Nick Norton and the Utah Symphony, the Summit Brass, the GECA Brass Ensemble in France, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the University of Texas at Austin, and the St. Louis Brass Quintet.

John L.Whitwell (2006-07) - is Director of bands, Professor of Music and Chair of the Conducting Area at Michigan State University, where he conducts the Wind Symphony and guides the graduate degree programs in Wind Conducting.

Lee Hoiby (2006-07) - is an American classical pianist and composer. He is one of the most notable living composers of classical vocal music.  http://www.leehoiby.com/

Linda Norlen (2005-06) – graphic designer and critic.

Michael Blumenthal (2004-05) – internationally renowned poet and memoirist, author of Against Romance and All My Fathers and Mothers.

Louis Fantasia (2003-04) – internationally prominent actor, director, producer, theatre critic and arts commentator.

Elizabeth Walton Vercoe (2002-03) – prominent 20th century composer.

Carol Scott-Kassner (2002-03) – nationally known author of music education literature.

George McCauley (2001-02) – acclaimed ceramicist.

David Bradley (2000-01) – African American scholar and novelist, author of The Chaneysville Incident.

Kelly Morgan (1999-00) – nationally prominent actor, director, producer, choreographer, teacher and administrator in stage, film and television.

Dalton Baldwin (1998-99) – internationally acclaimed pianist.

Matthew Harp Allen (1998-99) – ethnomusicologist.

Donna Loewy (1998-99) – vocal coach/accompanist.

David Holsinger (1998-99) – eminent band composer.

Frederic Goossen (1998-99) – nationally known composer/music theorist.

Cedric Dent (1998-99) – Grammy award-winning singer, pianist, arranger, conductor and producer.

Frances Whitehead (1997-98) – internationally acclaimed sculptor.

Carolyn Forche' (1996-97) – poet and global champion of the oppressed and downtrodden.

Elizabeth Van Dyke (1995-96) – multi-award winning actress and director.

Tim Gerber (1994-95) – music educator and co-author of the popular text, Music! Its Role and Importance in our Lives.

Jim Nutt (1993-94) – internationally distinguished painter.

John Haines (1992-93) – two-time Guggenheim Fellow, poet and essayist.

Howard Stein (1991-92) – internationally acclaimed thespian, playwright and author.

Ron Nelson (1990-91) – nationally known composer of choral, band and orchestral works.

Ted Orland (1988-89) – nationally recognized photographer/artist.

David Madden (1987-88) – southern fiction writer, playwright, critic and author.

Arthur Kopit (1986-87) – internationally acclaimed American playwright.