A passionate curiosity about, well, everything. Add boundless energy and hard work. That may be the best way to describe this extraordinary couple.

Raised in the South (largely in Georgia), they met in the North, married and moved to Indonesia where Jim was doing fieldwork for a Harvard Ph.D. Much of their life and work has focused internationally, but they were shaped by childhoods filled with small towns and close family ties. Although they had not yet met, they shared one common passion: music.

Florence was born singing; she sang before she spoke. At age 3 or 4 she taught herself to play “My Country ’Tis of Thee” on the piano (with chords!) and when the local piano teacher found out, she asked little Florence to sing at her sister’s piano recital. Her debut led to Yale Music School, the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, and a lifetime of solo singing on stages around the world. She has performed — and still does — from New York to Tokyo in genres ranging from oratorio, Baroque opera and recitals.

Jim says he discovered two fascinating things when, at age 6, his father went off to invade Normandy on D-Day and he moved with his mother, sister, and aunt to live with his grandmother. There he made two discoveries: dinosaurs and music. His fascination
with the former was ignited by a book his father sent him from England. That little book sent him into the woods with a stone axe. His lifelong love of music was inspired by his aunt, a concert pianist. He had never heard classical music before and he vividly recalls the sound of those first few notes. “It blew me away when I heard her,” says Jim.

Jim and Florence Peacock have shared their passion for people and curiosity about the world for over four decades, exploring the rich texture and variety of the world’s cultures in everything they do, which is quite a lot. And although Jim has been named, among his many honors, a Citizen of the World by the International Affairs Council of North Carolina, the University and Chapel Hill claim the Peacocks among their most active, gracious and generous citizens.

The Peacocks are arguably our most faithful Memorial Hall patrons and they often bring guests from around the world. In addition, Jim, a UNC anthropology professor, regularly brings students to international performances. Mostly, students’ eyes are opened to a completely new world in a very immediate way when they experience music, dance and theater from another part of the world. Sometimes, the performance experience can be even more personal, as when a student raised in the Hare Krishna tradition attended the Ravi and Anoushka Shankar performance in October. For that student, the music represented much more than a learning experience; it was truly part of a highly personal and spiritual event. Jim appreciates the fact that Carolina Performing Arts performances can engage students on so many levels.

The couple’s curiosity about people from all over the world has put them in the center of Chapel Hill’s international life. The Peacocks work at many projects including, especially for Florence, the arts. But the high points, for them both, take place during performances. In addition to her work on the Carolina Performing Arts Advisory Board, Florence served on the Memorial Hall Transformation Campaign Steering Committee and says that the renovated Memorial Hall creates unforgettable moments. “I loved being involved with the Carolina Performing Arts Board,” she says. “Memorial Hall is a special place. As audience members, we really get to know the performers.” As a performer herself, she’s well aware of the importance of the “back and forth” between stage and audience and she says Memorial Hall creates that communication more fully than any other hall she’s ever been in. The relationship between performer and audience is so powerful. For all these reasons, the Peacocks have been generous and consistent supporters with their time, by opening their home for events, by bringing others to performances and through financial contributions.

Jim and Florence agree that they are thrilled by the reaction of Carolina Performing Arts audiences to what they have just experienced, “especially when the students are cheering from the balcony,” says Florence. “To me that’s Paradise.”