Chuck Joseph came to Skidmore in 1985 as a member of the Department of Music. He chaired the Department from 1986 through 1991, whereupon he spent his 1991-92 sabbatical in Basel, Switzerland at the Paul Sacher Stiftung, home of the Igor Stravinsky archives. His research on the music of Igor Stravinsky was first published in his 1983 book, Stravinsky and the Piano (UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan). Since then his work has appeared in several journals including Music Theory Spectrum, The Journal of Musicology, The Journal of Music Theory, College Music Symposium, The Piano Quarterly, The Musical Quarterly, and in other journals, anthologies and numerous encyclopedias. Chuck delivered Skidmore's Moseley lecture in the spring of 1993. In 1995 Skidmore appointed him to the William R. Kenan Endowed Chair in Liberal Arts. Beginning with a 1998-99 sabbatical, his more recent interests have focused on Stravinsky's collaborations with the choreographer George Balanchine. During the 1999-2000 academic year, Chuck was named the Howard D. Rothschild Visiting Fellow at Harvard University's Theatre Collection. His most recent presentations on the Stravinsky/Balanchine ballets have been delivered at Lincoln Center, at the New York Historical Society, Oberlin College, The Manhattan School of Music, The Stravinsky Festival of the Kansas City Ballet, on National Public Radio, and as part of a documentary film produced by The George Balanchine Foundation. His most recent publications appear as chapters entitled "Diaghilev and Stravinsky," from The Ballets Russes and Its World (Yale University Press, 1999), and, "The Making of Agon," from Dance in the City: 50 Years of the New York City Ballet (Columbia University Press, 1999). Yale University Press has recently published his Stravinsky Inside Out (September 2001), and a second book, entitled, Stravinsky and Balanchine: The Journey of Invention, also from Yale is scheduled for release in the spring of 2002.

Several Links to some of Stravinsky's music:

Firebird 1

Firebird 2

Firebird 3

Firebird 4

Over his 15 years at Skidmore, Chuck has performed in concert and offered a variety of courses in the Department of Music, as well as teaching in the LS I program. He continues to teach an LS 2 course, Stravinsky and Balanchine: A Union of Minds, team-taught with Professor Isabel Brown and normally offered each spring term.

Chuck will serve as Associate Dean of the Faculty during the 2001-2002 academic year. His duties will include working with budgetary matters, space issues, new faculty orientation, Skidmore's pedagogy sessions, travel to read/represent, Filene Building Expansion, and endowed chairs. He will also serve on several committees including Benefits, Orientation, Numbers, and the Faculty Development Committee. Chuck will act as liaison from the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty office for most of the departments and programs from the arts, humanities, and pre-professional areas. He will also serve as Skidmore's Grants Officer for the humanities, arts, social sciences, and pre-professional areas.

Popularly known during his lifetime as "The World’s Greatest Living Composer," Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) not only wrote some of the twentieth century’s most influential music, he also assumed the role of cultural icon. This book reveals Stravinsky’s two sides—the public persona, preoccupied with his own image and place in history, and the private composer, whose views and beliefs were often purposely suppressed. Charles M. Joseph draws a richer and more human portrait of Stravinsky than anyone has done before, using an array of unpublished materials and unreleased film trims from the composer’s huge archive at the Paul Sacher Institute in Switzerland.

Focusing on Stravinsky’s place in the culture of the twentieth century, Joseph situates the composer among the giants of his age. He discusses Stravinsky’s first American commission, his complicated relationship with his son, his professional relationships with celebrities ranging from T. S. Eliot to Orson Welles, his flirtations with Hollywood and television, and his love-hate attitude toward the critics and the media. In a close look at Stravinsky’s efforts to mold a public image, Joseph explores the complex dance between the composer and his artistic collaborator, Robert Craft, who orchestrated controversial efforts to protect Stravinsky and edit materials about him, both during the composer’s lifetime and after his death.

"Charles Joseph offers a completely fresh portrait of Stravinsky, at times controversial, consistently fascinating."—Stephen Walsh, author of Stravinsky: A Creative Spring

"This book offers a fascinating and to some extent an unprecedented look at the man Stravinsky and his music. Both scholarly and extremely accessible, Joseph’s work should be a welcome addition to the library of not only Stravinsky lovers but all who find the creative process enriching."—Richard Danielpour

Charles M. Joseph, William R. Kenan Professor of Liberal Arts at Skidmore College, is also the author of Stravinsky and Balanchine: The Journey of Invention, forthcoming from Yale University Press.