In Memoriam: Kent Kennan
Austin’s master of counterpoint and composer of renown has died. Kent Kennan, winner of the Prix de Rome Composition Prize and educator in the UT School of Music for more than 35 years, succumbed to complications from kidney disease on Saturday, Nov. 1. Because of Kennan’s decision to forgo dialysis last year, his passing had been expected for some time, but he survived long enough this year to enjoy several musical tributes honoring his 90th birthday. Kennan, a Milwaukee native and graduate of the Eastman School of Music, rose to musical distinction in 1936, when he wrote Night Soliloquy for Flute and Orchestra, a work “known to every professional flute player,” as Jerry Young noted in a Chronicle profile of Kennan, and won the Prix de Rome. He spent three years in Rome, then came to Austin in 1940 as one of the first six members of the music faculty at the then-new College of Fine Arts. He left two years later to serve in World War II but returned in 1949 and stayed until retiring in 1983. At UT, he wrote Counterpoint and The Technique of Orchestration — widely considered the standard texts on those subjects since the Fifties — and earned a reputation as a fair and meticulous teacher and peacemaker in faculty politics. Unfortunately, he also stopped writing music. In retirement, though, Kennan returned to composing, reworking Prokofiev‘s Op. 94 Flute Sonata into a clarinet sonata and concerto for clarinet and orchestra, among other projects. Kennan’s achievements and influence are clear from the tributes paid him the last few years. In 2001, the College of Fine Arts granted him its highest honor, the E. William Doty Award. The following May, he was inducted into the first class of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame. This January, Peter Bay and the Austin Symphony saluted Kennan with a performance of a movement from a symphony he wrote in 1936 yet never heard live. Jerry Young wrote that the event “resounded as personal tribute from each musician on stage to a beloved and respected teacher/composer who helped shape American music.” The composer is survived by his half-brother, former ambassador to the Soviet Union George F. Kennan, and several nieces and nephews. His manuscripts, scores, correspondence, and scrapbooks reside in the Harry Ransom Center. Memorial contributions may be made to the UT School of Music scholarship fund, Hospice Austin, or First Unitarian Church, where a memorial service will be held Nov. 15.
Beutel Leaving Paramount
Just before press time, the Paramount Theatre announced that the man who managed the theatre out of a half-million-dollar debt and into the hearts of Austinites is leaving next January. Paul Beutel is calling it quits, saying he’s been restless for a while and wants to move on. After 18 years, one can hardly blame the guy, but it will hardly seem the same theatre without him, considering that Beutel has been a part of the Paramount since 1985, when he signed on as marketing director, and in his various capacities as general manager, business manager, season programmer, and general go-to guy, has been responsible for or deeply involved in much of the programming for which the theatre is so well known: the Tuna plays, Stomp, Austin Musical Theatre, Zach Scott‘s Rockin’ Christmas Party, and, of course, the Paramount Summer Film Classics series. Not to worry, says Greg Marchbanks, chairman of the Austin Theatre Alliance — i.e., the marriage of the Paramount and State theatres. He insists that the company won’t let Beutel slip away and plans to keep the Austin Arts Hall of Famer involved in future programs and campaigns. In the meantime, Beutel is working with current Paramount Events Manager Lietza Brass to manage the remaining season shows and finalize booking for the 2004-2005 season.
Kitch to Lead Arts for City
Score one for the soft-spoken negotiator. City Manager Toby Futrell has made her pick for the city’s new cultural arts program manager, and it’s the friendly and subdued Vincent Kitch, currently of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Yes, you read right — that’s Kitch, not Kinch, as I flubbed it in the story on the two finalists for Arts Tsar in last week’s Chronicle. In a release from the city announcing the decision, Futrell noted that “details of his transition into the position are still being finalized and will be announced as soon as possible.”
This article appears in November 7 • 2003.