David Henderson
Assistant Professor and Chair of Music

In the summer of 2000, the power went out at David Henderson’s home in Oklahoma, stopping all three of his fans. With the temperature climbing to 116 degrees, he decided that that was his last year of teaching at the University of Oklahoma.

Five years later, he’s continuing to lead the modernization of the music department at St. Lawrence, “making our curriculum suit who we are now,” he says. “We’ve added courses in music technology, ethnomusicology, historical musicology, and performance, and we are redefining the requirements for the major and minor.”

The changes affect more than just the students. “I developed as a musician, especially by directing the Special Productions Ensemble, a course that focused on, and performs, a different style of music, from Baroque to Latin, each semester,” he explains. The course has evolved into a Rhythm and Roots Ensemble and a Wind Ensemble. Simultaneously, Henderson works with the Asian studies and film studies programs, helping to bring Asian music to campus and offering two specialty film courses, World Cinema and Music Video.

Indicating his belief that music should be enjoyable as well as educational, he recalls one of his most memorable experiences at St. Lawrence: “Finding enough people to start a Nepali drumming ensemble, and finding enough Nepali students to be amused by our efforts.” Regarding his adjustment to a different climate, he says that in North Country winters “One can always put on more clothes.”
--Chinasa Izeogu ’05