Billingsley Gift Of $1.15 Million To Establish World Center For Research In Ancient Asian And Mid-Eastern Music And Enhance University Of Arkansas Opera Program

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.- George and Boyce Billingsley of Bella Vista, Ark., have transformed their love of international culture into a $1.15 million gift to the University of Arkansas’ music department to help preserve music from cultures around the world.

The gift will establish the Boyce and George Billingsley Music Fund. This fund will become a quasi-endowment, in which the principal will be invested in the UA endowment and kept intact to the extent possible, but used as needed to support various music programs. Specifically, the fund will:

• establish an international music preservation program, the focal point of which will be the new World Center for Research in Ancient Asian and Mid-Eastern Music;
• develop and enhance the University of Arkansas opera program; and
• support other programs within the University of Arkansas Department of Music.

George Billingsley is chairman and chief executive officer of Pacific Resources Export Limited and president of International Tours of Northwest Arkansas. A 1957 UA graduate with a degree in history, he has always enjoyed the cultural heritage of other countries. He and his wife, Boyce, a 1955 graduate in finance and banking, have always harbored close ties to the U of A. They were both charter members of the Chancellor’s Society, contributed to the restoration of Old Main and have been active supporters of the Arkansas Alumni Association and intercollegiate athletics.

"Supporting the music program, particularly its international preservation and performance efforts as well as its opera program, seemed like a perfect way for us to integrate our love of the university with our passion for international culture," George Billingsley said. "We are particularly pleased to be able to support Professor Sarah Caldwell, who is leading both of these efforts and creating marvelous opportunities for students and faculty."

The gift will allow the University’s new World Center for Research in Ancient Asian and Mid-Eastern Music to bring aboard two distinguished scholars, Drs. Rembrandt Wolpert and Elizabeth Markham. Both have worked extensively with Dr. Laurence Picken, who pioneered the Tang Court music restoration project at Jesus College, Cambridge University. Dr. Picken is the remarkable scientist-musician who discovered music long thought to have been lost and with the help of his colleagues cracked the codes that enabled this music to be transcribed into Western notation, thus allowing the world to hear music that had rested unheard for over a millennium.

Wolpert and Markham will join the University of Arkansas faculty in March. They will continue their research with Sarah Caldwell, who has long been active in music preservation efforts and founded the International Music Preservation Program at the Library of Congress.

"We are excited at the prospect of continuing the discovery, preservation and performance of music that might otherwise disappear forever," said UA Chancellor John White. "The mark of a great university lies in lively and innovative scholarship. The arts in America exist in a very special partnership between the visionary philanthropist, the university, and the artist. We look forward to Rembrandt Wolpert and Elizabeth Markham joining Sarah Caldwell in this historic effort.

"A distinguishing characteristic of the University of Arkansas is the strength of support of alumni and friends like the Billingsleys," White added. "We are especially grateful to George and Boyce for making this possible."

G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor for university advancement, also praised the Billingsleys for stepping up quickly to support a one-time opportunity for the University of Arkansas. "It’s wonderful to have such ardent supporters as George and Boyce who acted on short notice to allow us, among other things, to bring two scholars who were being wooed by other universities to Arkansas. Theirs is an excellent case-in-point of how personal philanthropy can make a huge difference in advancing academic quality at the University of Arkansas."

Stephen Gates, chairman of the music department, said, "This is the first gift of its kind for music at the University of Arkansas. This will give us the flexibility to do many things we could not do before, by developing and enhancing programs of international importance."

Wolpert and Markham will first focus their attention on music from the Tang Period. This music, which spans the era from 618-906 A.D., was imported from the Tang dynasty in China to Japan by emissaries from the then-young state.

The uncovered repertory includes music from China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Turkish Central Asia, medieval Korea and seventh century Persia. Drs. Wolpert and Markham have been involved with this project since its inception, serving on the editorial board of the publication series, "Music from the Tang Court," of which six of a projected 24 volumes have been published. They will, at the request of Dr. Picken, continue this important work at the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Wolpert, who is a noted linguist, scholar and scientist as well as a musician, has developed a computer program that assists in the transcription of these ancient Asian manuscripts into Western staff notation.

"This generous gift of the Billingsleys will inaugurate a renaissance in music research for which they will be thanked for generations to come," Caldwell said.