How did a music-obsessed boy from Lubbock, Texas and a girl with a knack for math from Larned, Kansas end up championing the arts at one of the nation’s great universities? The answer says a lot about the power of music, a force that has certainly changed the course of these two lives.
Susan grew up in a very small town and was 14 years old when it first occurred to her that she might play the organ. “Someone’s grandson was visiting from out of town and he was 14,” she says. “He played the organ postlude at church and it struck me that I could do that!” She began taking organ lessons despite telling her high school guidance counselor she wanted to be a pharmacist, the best job she could imagine for someone who was good at math.
James, on the other hand, was a child prodigy, falling in love with the organ at about age five. His childhood home was filled with music; his mother was a trained singer and music teacher. On Saturdays, he accompanied her to rehearsals at church and fell in love with the fantastic and powerful sound of the organ. He started piano lessons before he started school, but his goal was always to play the organ.
The two met at the University of Kansas, and with six bachelors’, masters’ and doctoral degrees in music performance between the two of them, they knew music would play a major role in their professional lives. Early in her career, Susan took a full time organist-choirmaster position at a Richmond, Va. church. As James’ career in higher education administration developed, he moved from Kansas to Penn State, where they were married. Later moves took them
to the Universities of South Carolina and Nebraska. At each university they observed and evaluated the institution’s performing arts presenting program, learning lessons James would apply at Carolina when he arrived in 2000 as the University’s 9th chancellor.
It may be hard for us to remember a time when the arts weren’t as valued and vibrant at the University as they are today, but that was the case when the Moesers arrived in Chapel Hill. At the beginning of his tenure, James faced many urgent challenges. He took a very visible role in the campaign for public support for the higher education bond referendum, and early on made some critical investments in Carolina’s science programs. The bond bill contained the base funding for Memorial Hall, with significant additional private funds to be raised. He knew that if the bond passed, the hall would be the very first building to be completed. So while he was working on many important and urgent university issues, he was thinking about what to do about the arts.
Susan and James candidly admit that they were shocked to see how limited the performing arts presenting program was when they arrived. They could not believe that an institution of Carolina’s national and international stature had such a small and underfunded program. While the Student Union had done a good job of managing a program with limited resources, Carolina had never invested in the arts to a significant degree. If there is one thing James Moeser understood, it was that the arts do not pay their own way through ticket sales alone, and that significant university investment, as well as robust private giving, is critical.
But would the lessons learned in places like Lawrence, State College, Columbia and Lincoln apply to Chapel Hill? After all, those college towns are not part of a larger metropolitan area enlivened by lots of performing arts competition. James’ way of answering that question was to hire consultant and university performing arts presenter Ken Foster to conduct a study. The resulting advice was that this area could financially support an ambitious, major performing arts program that would bring artists of the highest caliber to the region. “In the back of my mind,” he says now, “I knew that the renovation of Memorial Hall presented us with a tremendous opportunity to fill a vacuum at UNC, in the Triangle and in the state.”
The next step was to commit university resources, engage the leadership of major donors and find the right person to lead the new program. With the hall’s renovation under way, Emil Kang was hired as the University’s first Executive Director for the Arts. The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust provided significant funding in the form of a challenge grant to establish a permanent endowment. Five and a half years after the first notes were played at the reopening of Memorial Hall, the series continues to grow and achieve new successes. It is something both Moesers are very proud of.
Early on, they established a pattern of giving personally. They named two seats during the Memorial Hall renovation campaign, urging other former UNC chancellors to join them. Next time you have a moment, see if you can find Chancellors’ Row which honors all living former chancellors who made gifts to the campaign. The Moesers continue to buy their tickets and make annual donations, never missing a chance to support Carolina Performing Arts in any way they can.
In addition to personal financial support, James now co-teaches a first year seminar with Emil Kang based on the series. He also serves on the CPA National Advisory Board, and this year launched a small series of pre-performance lectures for members of the Carolina Performing Arts Society.
In the spirit of not saying “no” when Carolina Performing Arts turns to the Moesers for help, on April 16, they will perform on a custom-built organ in a private home at Governors Club at a dessert reception fundraiser for Carolina Performing Arts. (Space is extremely limited for this very unusual event; if you would like an opportunity to attend, please contact Melchee Johnson at (919) 843-1869.)
So why are they so generous with their time, ideas, leadership and giving? They appreciate the level of the performances brought to the community, taking pride in the fact that over 30% of the audience is comprised of Carolina students. They also like seeing the wide variety of people who attend various performances. “They don’t all look like us,” they say with pride.
But for the Moesers, it comes down to the performance experience and their love of music. They clearly enjoy the classical programming, music they have studied and taught throughout their lives. But they have grown a great deal, too, expanding their interests to performances they had not previously sought out. “Our taste has clearly changed since the series began,” Susan says. “If you looked in our CD player at home to see what we play while making dinner, you would see jazz and world music in addition to classical.” Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser adds with a smile, “Carolina Performing Arts has gotten us out of our comfort zone, and that’s a good thing.”