In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

1 The Young educator L ittle is known about Arthur Judson’s earliest years. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, on February 22, 1881, the second of Francis and Mary (née Myers) Judson’s two sons. His mother was a native Ohioan, and his father, a Civil War veteran, came originally from New York. His father worked for the postal service in Dayton, and young Arthur grew up in a modest working-class home. Exactly what role music played in the household is not known. Judson’s only recorded statement about his musical youth came in a rare 1950 interview, when he commented, “For some unknown reason I became interested in music and was still more interested when my father said he couldn’t afford to pay for lessons. I then went out, made my own money, and proceeded to study violin.”1 It is significant that Judson, the future music businessman, learned about the relationship between music and money at an early age. Music became an early passion of Judson’s, and he showed promise. He studied violin throughout adolescence with a teacher from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. After completing high school, his musical skills captured the attention of Ebenezer M. Thresher, a Dayton businessman and chairman of the Board of Trustees for Denison University. Denison, a small Baptist school in Granville, Ohio (twenty-seven miles east of Columbus), needed a string teacher, and Thresher invited Judson to audition. The nineteen -year-old violinist impressed the trustees and the campus in general and was soon hired. His initial charge was to teach violin and to organize a student orchestra.2 Judson remained at Denison for the next seven years (1900–1907), rising to the rank of professor in 1902 and becoming dean of Doering_Text.indd 15 12/10/12 3:06 PM 16 . DiscOVerinG THe AuDience, 1900–1921 its Conservatory of Music in 1904. By all accounts, he injected “new life” into Denison’s musical environment.3 During his tenure, music went from being an extracurricular diversion to a viable academic program. Although Judson was hired as a string specialist, his duties at Denison soon expanded beyond performer and teacher to include other musical perspectives : choral conductor, music scholar, administrator, and even audience member. These early years exposed Judson to the complex relationships that can exist between musician, music, and audience. Many of the issues he confronted would resurface later in his management career. A Violinist for a new era It is without question that Judson’s musical skills won him the Denison job. His auditions were characterized as “brilliant” and the work of “an undoubted artist.”4 But in addition to these highly refined musical skills, Judson was also a perfect fit for what was effectively a new era at Denison. The all-male school was becoming coeducational. This change had actually been in the works for several years, but it became official the same week that Judson was hired. The mechanism for this change was a merger between Denison and Shephardson College, the local women’s college, and the union was touted with great anticipation. Coeducation meant obvious economic benefits (e.g., increased enrollments, opportunities to share resources), as well as an opportunity for the school to position itself among the region’s more progressive institutions.5 The merger had particular significance for music because musical studies had traditionally been part of the female, not male, education in Granville. Denison, which began in the 1830s as an all-male seminary, featured theology, classical studies, philosophy, math, and science. Music was part of religious and recreational activities, but it had no official presence in the men’s curriculum prior to 1900. Conversely, female education in Granville had included musical study since at least the 1860s. Not only was music required of all female students, but by the late 1890s, Shephardson College had even developed its own small conservatory, complete with instruction and practice facilities and a seventy-five-seat recital hall.6 This issue of gender is apparent in some of the earliest records of Judson’s activity at Denison. For example, in his first week on the job, he held an organizational meeting for the new student orchestra. Although both male and female students attended the meeting, the student paper made special note of the fact that “quite a number of enthusiastic young men” were there.7 Indeed, recruiting men into music ensembles became an ongoing objective Doering_Text.indd 16 12/10/12 3:06...

Share