By Stephy Mahoney | Staff Writer
Baylor’s School of Music Dean Gary Mortenson announced his retirement in late January after serving almost nine years as dean. Next academic year will be his last year as dean, with a full retirement following in the summer of 2025.
Dr. Bradley Bolen, senior lecturer in piano, said after working alongside Mortenson, he has seen the school improve tremendously in many ways.
“He worked out a program where we finally have a good budget to replace our instruments at regular intervals,” Bolen said. “When I first came here I don’t think we had bought two pianos in twenty years, and when he joined the office he made us a yearly budget that has allowed us to help the students and invest in some fine instruments.”
Mortenson accomplished many things throughout his years at Baylor, namely his Semper Pro Musica competition that will continue after his departure. Mortenson said the competition is scheduled to happen every other year; the last one he will put together will take place in 2024.
“The whole goal is to choose the top three soloists and top chamber group in the school and then present them at Carnegie Hall in New York City,” Mortenson said. “It’s a life-changing experience for the students who win. I’m very proud that I created that.”
Bolen said it’s beneficial for students to have a competition like this so they stay motivated and shoot for something beyond Baylor.
“The programs he established, especially … among the whole music school where students compete and the winners go to Carnegie Hall: that will continue because of his legacy,” Bolen said. “It’s been a real asset and motivating for the students to have something to shoot for like that.”
Mortenson also said he is extremely proud of not only of the students’ carefully skilled crafts, but of their academic rigor and dedication.
“I always go to concerts not worried about anything other than just being able to enjoy the quality of the performance. I have to honestly say has not always been able to do that during my 40-year career, but during my time here that has been completely true,” Mortenson said. “I just sit back and enjoy the quality of our students who are so talented and dedicated to their crafts. It shines through in their performance.
“On the academic side, part of our secret sauce in the school of music is that our academic courses are taught by experts in the field,” Mortenson said. “Teachers with great integrity and the students get a great grounding in theory and history and that shows up in the quality on the performance stage.”
Mortenson said he feels lucky to have continued the legacy that was handed down to him by the past deans and to have worked with this kind of leadership to give the students the best possible education they can.
“I firmly believe what’s so special about a Baylor education is the way that we can walk into the faith component and talk about things in an open fashion that you really can’t talk about the same way at publicly supported institutions. That’s distinctive of Baylor,” Mortenson said.
Mortenson served for 13 months as interim provost for administration. He said he is extremely proud of this accomplishment seeing this was a time when Baylor was making a lot of important decisions.
“I worked with Gary Carini and I think we worked together as a great team in order to get Baylor there,” Mortenson said. “We were planting seeds we were hoping would germinate with the new provost and it couldn’t have worked out better.”
Mortenson ended his final thoughts of appreciation for the entire Baylor staff and especially Provost Nancy Brickhouse.
“I think the world of Provost Brickhouse,” Mortenson said. “She was exactly the right leader at that time to get us over the threshold and where we are today.”
