Jacobs At 100: Celebrating A Century Of Beautiful Music

When Barzille Winfred Merrill accepted the position as head of the IU Department of Music in 1919, he hoped to create a music school that would serve as both a “solace for the soul” and a sophisticated conservatory—all in rural Indiana.

As the IU Jacobs School of Music celebrates its centennial in 2021, let’s reflect on some of the accomplishments that helped make Merrill’s vision a reality.

1921: Department of Music becomes School of Music

1942: Metropolitan Opera Company visits IU for the first time, performs Aida

1950: The Singing Hoosiers, IU’s Grammy-nominated choral ensemble, forms

1968: David N. Baker founds the Jazz Studies Department

1975: Change survey ranks IU’s School of Music first in the nation

1982: Leonard Bernstein spends six weeks at the school working on his final opera, A Quiet Place

1994: U.S. News & World Report ranks IU’s Master of Music program first in the nation (alongside Eastman and Juilliard)

2003: Steinway company says IU Bloomington has the single largest gathering of Steinway pianos in the world

2006: School of Music takes on its new identity as the IU Jacobs School of Music, in recognition of a $40.6 million gift received in honor of Barbara B. and David H. Jacobs

2018: Jacobs School of Music celebrates 70 years of Opera and Ballet Theater

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You can join the centennial celebration by naming a seat in the newly renovated Musical Arts Center, or by contributing to the IU Jacobs School of Music Dean’s Fund, which provides unrestricted support for students, faculty, and programmatic initiatives.

To learn more, contact Daniel Morris, senior director of development, at 812-855-1850 or morris63@indiana.edu.

This article was originally published in the 2021 issue of Imagine magazine.