‘Music is magic.’ Teacher marks 20 years as performing arts chair at William Jewell College

Teachers deserve the greatest respect. By imparting their wisdom and experience to their young charges, they profoundly influence the values and direction of society.

One teacher who has had a particularly outsized influence on Kansas City’s cultural life is Ian Coleman, who is celebrating his 20th anniversary as chair of William Jewell College’s performing arts department.

For the past two decades, the soft-spoken, English-born professor has been training and mentoring movers and shakers in the world of classical music. These include Harriman-Jewell Series Executive Director Eryn Bates Kemp, well-known local flutist Mary Jamerson, and Sarah Dresser, cultural affairs manager for Columbia, Missouri.

The performing arts department at William Jewell College is highly regarded locally and nationally for having one of the finest music programs for a college of its size. It even has its own performing arts series, presenting top-notch performances that the public can enjoy throughout the year. While he inherited a very fine program with a distinguished history, Coleman and his team deserve much credit for its current high standards and impact on the community.

Coleman’s musical journey began in Bristol, England, as part of a not-so-musical family.

“My dad had played piano growing up and my mom played flute, but neither of them were still doing so when I was a boy,” Coleman said. “They appreciated music, but we didn’t particularly attend concerts or anything, so I’m not really sure where my love for music came from. It was just sort of innately there.”

Coleman says that when he was 6 or 7, he told his parents he wanted to play the piano and asked if he could have lessons. His parents granted his request.

“What was interesting and somewhat unique is that my piano teacher also insisted on teaching music theory, and that was really the game-changer for me,” he said.

One day, Coleman had a fateful encounter with a flyer posted on a wall at his college in Bath.

“It said that there were these competitive exchange scholarships to the United States,” he said. “It had three places listed. One was a university in Virginia, one was the University of Kansas and the third one I can’t remember. You applied for three exchange scholarships, but you ranked them one, two and three. I ranked the University of Kansas first because it was the only one that mentioned music.”

Coleman got the scholarship and ended up in the exotic state of Kansas.

“The only thing I knew about Kansas was ‘The Wizard of Oz’ because they show that every year at Christmas in England, and I had seen it multiple times,” Coleman said.

Through extreme diligence and hard work, Coleman was able to complete his master’s degree in only two semesters. After that, he was offered a scholarship to complete his doctorate at the University of Kansas.

“I’d never considered getting a doctoral degree,” Coleman said. “I never considered much beyond teaching in an elementary classroom. But being a musician, and someone is offering you money to do something, I said, ‘Yes, I’ll stay on.’”

After getting his doctorate, he taught for two years in Manhattan, Kansas, before getting a professorship at William Jewell College. When the head of the school’s music department, Don Brown, retired, Coleman took over the position.

“I’ve done it now for 20 years,” Coleman said. “I started chairing in 2004, and here we are in 2024.”

In the past two decades, Coleman has expanded and built on Brown’s legacy. When Coleman joined William Jewell College, it was staunchly Baptist. But the college split with the Missouri Baptist Convention in 2003 and has since become much more ecumenical.

“There was less need to be training organists and church choir directors,” Coleman said. “We retained our focus on music education, but we shifted a little bit more to music performance and towards trying to provide students with music education experience, so they could go out and teach and do really well. We have great results with that program. We have 100% job placement for graduates who want to go into teaching.”

One of those graduates is Stewart Duncan, assistant teaching professor of musicology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance.

“In the classroom, Dr. Coleman pivoted between humor and hard work in a way that I loved,” Duncan said. “He showed us the value of thinking deeply and knowing when to change course. In one case he returned from a conference so excited about a new method that he changed our whole semester plan on the spot.”

Coleman’s students also appreciate that he gives them space to find themselves. Anna Albinson began her career at William Jewell College as a history major, but after two weeks, she thought she’d like to get a music degree. With Coleman’s serious approach to music, one would think he would reject her sudden change of plans.

“I did not sugarcoat things,” Coleman said. “I told her that it would be hard and she’d have to do a lot of catch-up. If someone has a desire to do something, we’ll try it. What transpired was that she was phenomenally hardworking, very focused and really did want to study music.”

Albinson ended up at Oxford University, and graduated with a Ph.D. in music composition. She is currently working with a music publishing company in St. Louis.

“Dr. Coleman was always amazingly generous with students, and was never too busy to help a student figure out a tricky music theory puzzle, or explore some new musical idea,” Albinson said. “He opened up a new world for us and showed us that music is magic.”

Right before the pandemic, the music and theater departments at William Jewell College merged into the department of performing arts, of which Coleman is now the chair. Both departments got on famously before the merger, but now are able to collaborate and help each other produce even more high quality productions. These shows feature some of the area’s most talented musicians and theater people, and they are available for the whole Kansas City community to enjoy.

“Art is not something that we put on a shelf to admire, but is something that we interact with and that challenges us and inspires us,” Coleman said. “I try to encourage the department and the students to embrace that. Wherever I might end up, I hope that will be the driving force. Art is real and vibrant and effective and impactful, and we should take it seriously because it is a serious pursuit and not just a nice add-on.”

For a complete list of all performing arts department events at William Jewell College, go to jewell.edu/performing-arts-calendar.

French Organ Music Festival XII

French organ music is a different sound world from the more familiar German organ repertoire. Less concerned with form and structure and more concerned with color and opulence, French organ music sounds especially wonderful on the Ruffatti organ at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The 12th annual French Organ Music Festival will take place at the cathedral from 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 25. Mario Pearson, the cathedral’s principal organist, has once again lined up a stellar roster of musicians who have a special affinity for this rarefied music.

Highlights include Brent Stull accompanying a vocalist in music by the late 16th/early 17th century composer Jehan Titelouze, Trevor Good performing the Symphony No. 1 by contemporary composer Rachel Laurin and Thomas Vozzella playing works by Jean Langlais and Charles Tournemire, who wrote some of the most exquisite music in the organ repertoire.

The festival will conclude with the phantasmagorical music of Olivier Messiaen performed by Kurt Knecht.

2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 25. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 416 W. 12th St. Free. kcago.com.

2 pm: Brent Stull with solo cantor

2:30 p.m. Trevor Good

3 p.m. Thomas Vozzella

3:30 p.m. Beth Loeber Elswick

4 p.m. Andrew Morris

4:30 p.m. Kurt Knecht

You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.