Paula N. Culp Scholarship for Music Majors with Special Interest in Percussion
F. Jane Culp is a longtime friend and supporter of Goshen College. This scholarship has been established in honor of her daughter, Paula Culp.
Janet’s involvement in the college evolved from her interest in two distinct areas —- social work and music. However, it was an invitation to a concert given by music scholarship recipients in September 1984 that resulted in the formation of the Paula N. Culp Scholarship for Music Majors with Special Interest in Percussion. At this scholarship concert, Jane noted that no percussionists were represented. Given that her daughter, Paula Culp, is a talented and accomplished percussionist, Jane became interested in establishing a scholarship for students with like interests.
Jane speaks with some pride regarding her daughter’s numberable musical accomplishments. Paula is a faculty member at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She finds her work most satisfying and has enjoyed success with her students a number of them have auditioned for and been accepted into major symphonies or become college teachers.
Paula presents an impressive resume. Her musical accomplishments cover every aspect of the field of music. At different times in her life she has assumed the musical roles of student, teacher, ensemble and symphony member, writer, composer and soloist.
Paula owes some of her current success to the teachers she studied under. Her percussion teachers have included Harold Firestone, Jack McKenzie from the University of Illinois, Cloyd E. Duff, Cleveland Symphony timpanist, Paul Hirsh from the Mozarteum Orchestra, and Indiana University’s George Gaber.
In the course of getting her Masters of Music Education degree from Indiana University, Paula attended a number of fine music schools including Goshen College, Oberlin Conservatory, Aspen School of Music, and Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria).
As mentioned earlier, Paula is an affiliate faculty member of the University, of Minnesota. However, that isn’t the only place that Paula has taught percussion. Indiana University, DePauw University, and Oberlin were also schools which had students benefiting from Paula’s expertise.
Paula has symphonic experience with the Mozarteum Orchestra, the Indiana University Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera National Company and the Indianapolis Symphony. She currently performs with the Minnesota Orchestra.
Paula has played under some of the finest conductors today: Robert Kraft, Igor Stravinsky, Izler Solomon, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Fiedler, Antol Dorati. Rouer Sessions, Ernst Krenek, Howard
Hanson, Klaus Tennstedt, Neville Marriner, Erich Leinsdorf, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit and Stanislaw Scrowaczewski.
In addition to performing and teaching, Paula has enjoyed some success at writing about the field. She has had two articles published: ‘Common Faults of the School Percussion Section,’ Instrumentalist Magazine and “College Percussion Program,” Percussive Arts Society Bulletin.
Paula is also a composer. She premiered original compositions at the Contemporary Festival in Salzburg, Austria, at the Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, and DePauw University.
One may not readily think of a percussionist as a soloist, but this is not the case for Paula. She made solo appearances with the Interlochen University Orchestra under the direction of Clyde Roller. Paula performed a marimba solo with the Oberlin Wind Ensemble, and was the percussion member of a concert tour quartet that toured Germany, Austria, and Switzer land. The Aspen School of Music Recital Series hosted Paula as a solo performer, and she gave her faculty recital at DePauw University. She was featured playing a battery of percussion instruments in a Minneapolis Symphony concert (before it was renamed Minnesota Orchestra).
Looking over the aforementioned accomplishments it is no wonder that Paula Culp name appears in The International Who’s Who in Music. Her expertise in the area of percussion is obvious and unquestionable.
Jane Culp desire to establish a scholarship for percussionists naturally grows out of her daughter’s talents. However, it fits too with Jane’s interest in music. Jane has served as co-owner and business director of the Academy of Ballet and Related Arts in Elkhart (with branches in Michigan City and Goshen). She also served on the board of the Elkhart Symphony Society. At Goshen College Jane has been an active committee member of the college Artists Series. She was an early advocate for the John S. Umble Center.
Jane’s appreciation for the arts and her interest in social concerns precipitated her involvement with Goshen College. However, it is the warm and positive relationships that she’s developed with GC personnel over the years that she most appreciates. “I’ve had rewarding experiences with everyone I’ve met at Goshen College, including Lawrence and Harriet Burk holder, Ernest Miller, Carl and Evelyn Kreider, Roy and Ethel Umble, Mary Oyer, Lon and Kathryn Sherer, Dan Kauffman and Gordon Yoder,” said Jane.