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May 2009 : Elizabeth Honor & Emory Music Faculty Works

Elizabeth Hornor, Director of Education, Carlos Museum

The Carlos Museum at Emory has spent the past academic year immersed in the culture and history of ancient Egypt with two major exhibitions: Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharoahs at the Civic Center (closing this weekend!), and Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in the Carlos, which has been extended through July 26, 2009. In addition to these two major exhibitions, the Carlos hosts an impressive permanent collection of Classical, Ancient Egyptian, Near Eastern, Ancient American, African, and Asian art, as well as a collection of works on paper from the Renaissance to the present.

All of this keeps the education department at the Carlos Museum very busy coming up with new and exciting ways to engage audiences and teach them about ancient cultures and civilizations. Recently the Carlos introduced Carlos Conversations, a series of podcasts that use works of art in the Carlos Collection to spark conversations between distinguished members of Emory’s faculty, which were voted "Best Use of New Technology for Exploring Ancient Ideas" in the 2008 "Best of Atlanta" issue of Atlanta Magazine.

Elizabeth Hornor, Director of Education for the Carlos Museum, is an alumna of Emory University (College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) and has a wealth of experience in museums and education. Before working at the Carlos Museum, she taught elementary aged children for several years at The Children’s School in Atlanta, before moving to Galveston, Texas where she was the education director and then the director of an arts center. She then returned to Atlanta to work at the High Museum and then came to the Carlos Museum. Hornor recently sat down to talk about how she stays creative, her experiences the Carlos, upcoming exhibitions, and more.

Q:     I understand that you have a knack for bringing ancient subjects to life. How do you keep these topics lively and relevant for today’s audiences?
A: I read an enormous amount of things like The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books, and I am constantly amazed at the number of artists, writers, dancers, etc. who find their inspiration in the ancient world. For example, I was just reading this week about the dances that Martha Graham choreographed based on four Greek myths. More importantly, I feel extraordinarily fortunate to be at a university museum where we have the rich resource of the faculty. I think the best part of my job is brainstorming with faculty and learning from them. Through their work they are able to bring their perspectives to the collections and take those very quiet works of art in the galleries and bring them to life.

Q: What inspires your creativity?
A: I think in my work, I am inspired by those around me. There is such terrific energy on the part of the faculty and I’m always thrilled at their willingness to share their time and expertise. I’m also inspired by the collections at the Carlos Museum because I love the way that from the earliest times human beings took materials from the earth and made works of art that expressed their humanity. Those works are often the only tangible remains we have of past civilizations. I find that basic impulse to create very meaningful.

Q: How did you first get into museum work?
A: I was a 19-year-old undergraduate at Emory majoring in art history and at that time many of the faculty members were involved in museum work. Also, many of the graduate students in the department were employees at the High Museum and it seemed like the most exciting thing in the world. From that time I knew I wanted to work in a museum. I’m one of those lucky people that has their dream job.

Q: What will be the next wave of exciting upcoming exhibitions planned at the Carlos?
A: In the fall of 2009, Walter Melion in the Art History Department will curate a beautiful exhibition called Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century, which consists of engravings and wood cuts. We’re working with Eric Nelson and Stephen Crist of the Music Department to do some music programming from the period and with religious scholars on campus to look at works of art as the focus of religious contemplation in many faiths. In the spring of 2010 we have a gorgeous exhibition of Indian jewelry called When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection. Not only will viewers of this exhibition be dazzled by the rubies, gold, and pearls but they will see that the pieces are much more than simply personal adornment; there is religious significance in the materials, the iconography, and even the making of these jewels. They have movement and sound. We are so lucky to have great faculty in Indian religions who will help the university and Atlanta communities by contextualizing these objects.

Q:     What are your future aspirations for the Carlos Museum, both on campus and in the wider community?
A: One of the things that always drew me to art history is that it has a bit of everything; it is politics, religion, history, and that’s the way I see the programming at the Museum. To really understand a work of art, it helps to bring in all these other areas, and in working with the University we’re trying to make the Carlos a real center for that sort of interdisciplinary study both for the University and for Atlanta. I also think that the Carlos can be a wonderful portal for the community into the University and the strengths of its faculty. Of course, we still struggle with people who don’t know we exist or that don’t know a university museum is accessible to the public. I’m proud of what we do and though we can always do more, I’d like more people to know about what we do already.

Q: Is there a particular experience of working with patrons at the Carlos that sticks out in your mind?
A: One time a student group was looking at some of the ancient American effigies in our collection that were found in tombs. Something about these really touched a young girl in the group whose grandmother had just died. She went back to her class and recreated our chancay female effigy vessel by cutting the shape out of paper and stuffing it to make it three-dimensional and buried it with her grandmother. On the days when you question whether or what you do has an effect on people’s lives, the fact that that work of art helped a child deal with her grief was very meaningful.

Q: What do you think the two Tutankhamun exhibitions and the related events on campus did for the community?
A:Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharoahs gave Atlantans an opportunity to appreciate the complexity and artistic refinement of Egyptian art on a grand scale. Some of the pieces in the exhibition were just breathtakingly beautiful. Of course, what we hope is that the people who visited that exhibition and didn’t know about us will discover the Carlos Museum. Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun is such a great compliment to the other exhibition. There are many objects in the Golden King show that are in the Burton photographs, which allow you to see the objects in their original context in the tomb. Plus, the photos really give you a sense of the work of archaeology. The other thing that really stands out in the Burton photos is the sense of capturing moments in time. There’s a beautiful photo of the doors to one of the golden shrines that are still wrapped with rope and sealed from when the burial took place. Once the photo was taken the seal was taken off, the ropes undone, and the doors opened, so that particular moment now only exists in the photo. The two exhibitions, the Atlanta Opera’s performance of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten as part of the Candler Concert Series in the Schwartz Center, and Philip Glass’ visit to campus were a dream come true in terms of the type of arts programming that can happen when departments in the University and other arts institutions in town work together.

Q: Just for Fun: What’s your favorite piece in the Carlos’ collection?
A: My favorite piece is an ancient Greek red figure vase that depicts the myth of Aktaion. It is this unbelievable elegant, beautifully painted scene that actually depicts that pregnant moment just before an act of great violence. If you know the story of Aktaion there are certain clues that you can see that indicate what is about to happen, and of course the Greeks who used this krater would have known the story. A few years ago, Emory faculty Ron Schuchard and Peter Bing gave a reading of Ted Hughes’ translation of Ovid’s telling of the myth of Aktaion. Having those two fabulous performers read the story as people looked at the elegant image on the vase was a real highlight of my time at Emory.

Music Faculty Recordings, Publications, and Premieres

Emory College Department of Music faculty and artist affiliates produced a wealth of research and projects - recordings, publications, premieres, and compositions - from May 2008 through the present.

Faculty

Emory’s University Organist and Professor of Organ Timothy Albrecht released Timothy Albrecht Records Bach Live. American Organist (October 2008) described the recording as “energized, electric performances... Lisztian virtuosity...some of the most riveting, exciting and joyful performances of Bach...”

Professor of Composition and Electronic and Computer Music Steven Everett presented two papers at international conferences in East Asia, released one CD of compositions for soprano and live electronics, premiered five compositions, participated in lectures including a Creativity Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, and was selected by the Provost’s Office for inclusion in the University’s list of Great Scholars, Great Work.

Kevin Karnes, Assistant Professor of Music History, published Music, Criticism, and the Challenge of History: Shaping Modern Musical Thought in Late Nineteenth-Century Vienna (Oxford University Press, available at Emory Library and amazon.com) as part of the American Music Society Studies in Music series. He co-edited two publications on Baltic music, contributed an essay to Soviet Musicology and the “Nationalities Question”: The Case of Latvia, and translated an essay by the Latvian Academy of Music’s Martin Boiko.

John Lennon , Director of Graduate Studies and Professor of Composition, composed one world premiere, arranged for one publication, and recorded two albums. He premiered, At the Sound of Light for guitar quartet in Italy, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, and Spain. His biographical information was requested to be included in a new publication on American composers for Scarecrow Press. In spring 2009, he received five commissions for compositions, published eight arrangements, recorded three albums, and won two awards including the Traynor Competition (one of four winners) for the viola da gamba quartet, As She Sings.

Director of Choral Studies and Associate Professor of Choral Conducting and Literature Studies Eric Nelson, the Atlanta Sacred Chorale, and Director of Undergraduate Studies Deborah Thoreson, piano, recorded the CD Hear My Prayer (available here).

Kristen Wendland, Senior Lecturer of Music Theory, wrote “The Allure of Tango: Grafting Traditional Performance Practice and Style onto Art-Tangos” (College Music Symposium, December 2008). She received the Winship Award for Senior Lecturers to work on the music theory and analysis sections for a new on-line music appreciation project for Prentice Hall, due to appear fall 2009.

Director of Jazz Studies Gary Motley recorded Renaissance - A Tribute to Oscar Peterson (available here). The album’s original compositions include many with instrumental parts performed by Motley using innovative technology.

Artist Affiliates

Martha Bishop (viola da gamba) composed Waterfalls (publication pending by Fountain Park Music Publishing Company) for harp and string orchestra, which was selected by the Texas Orchestra Director's Association's Executive Board for a 2008 reading where it was performed by orchestra and harp clinician Jaymee Haefner.

Adam Frey (euphonium) produced two new recordings for euphonium and piano, one of which includes Director of Wind Studies Scott Stewart on saxophone. Selections on Beyond the Horizon – Vols. 2 & 3 (available here) increase the number of works and arrangements commissioned specifically for Frey to more than seventy.

Elisabeth Remy Johnson, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) principal harpist, and Christina Smith, ASO principal flutist, released the duet CD Encantamiento (available here).

Photo Credit: Harry Burton (British, 1879-1940). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Archives of the Department of Egyptian Art. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Edited by Jessica Moore
Communications Coordinator
Arts at Emory

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