20220925_Tribute to Clifford Madsen

Dr. Clifford K. Madsen

Clifford Madsen retired last spring after more than 60 years with the College of Music at Florida State University. At the time of his retirement, Madsen was the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Music, Coordinator of Music Education/Music Therapy/ Contemporary Media and taught in the areas of music education, music therapy, research, and psychology of music.

Madsen serves on various international and national editorial and research boards and is widely published throughout scholarly journals in music education and therapy. He has authored and co-authored many books and is perhaps best known for Teaching/Discipline: A Positive Approach for Educational Development , Experimental Research in Music , Competency Based Music Education , Applications of Research in Music Behavior , and Vision 2020: The Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education .

Dr. Madsen received the bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brigham Young University and the Ph.D. from Florida State University. He was appointed to the FSU faculty in 1961.

PROGRAM

Campus Echoes Char les Carter ( 1926–1999)

Overture for Winds Char les Carter

Concert Etude, Op. 49

Chris Moore, trumpet

Ale xander Goedicke ( 1877–1957)

Symphony No. 6, Op. 69 V incent Persichetti

I. A dagio - Allegro ( 1915–1987)

II. A dagio sostenuto

III. Allegretto

I V. FairestVivaceofthe Fair

J ohn Philip Sousa ( 1854–1932)

Hymn to the Garnet and Gold

Here’s a hymn to the garnet and the gold, ringing to the sky.

Here’s a song for the men and women bold, sing with heads held high. Striving e’er to seek, to know, fight for victory. Alma mater, this our song to you echoes “F. S. U.”

J. Dalton Smith

TRIBUTE TO CLIFFORD MADSEN

Timeline

Dr. Madsen performed a Master’s recital on trumpet and French horn at Brigham Young University in 1960 then moved to Florida State University to begin his doctoral studies. He has been at FSU ever since. Dr. Madsen ultimately chose Lew Pankaskie, a member of the music theory faculty, as his doctoral adviser. With professor Pankaskie, he conducted the first experimental dissertation in the College of Music titled “The Effect of Scale Direction on Pitch Acuity in Solo Vocal Performance.” At the time, this was a new and innovative idea — to apply experimental techniques to the study of education and its related fields. He received the Ph.D. in 1963 and decided to stay.

Dr. Madsen has played many roles at FSU, including graduate student (1960), instructor (1961), and professor (1964–2022). He served as a trumpet professor (applied brass) and band conductor (including concert band and Marching Chiefs), but ultimately he chose to focus on music education and music therapy with a special interest in research. When Dr. Madsen retired this spring, he had been affiliated with FSU in one way or another for 62 years. He remains the longest employed faculty member at FSU.

Achievements

Dr. Madsen presented his first research paper in 1960 and, as of 2017, had 376 peer-reviewed publications, not including teacher workshops. I counted 221 publications through 2018 (including some reprints); also films, reviews, and interviews. He has written at least 8 books, not counting numerous editions and translations. For Dr. Madsen, productivity is literally a way of life.

Over the years he created a research base for music education and music therapy when the idea of empirical research in music education and therapy was a new and sometimes controversial field. People have built on that base, replicated it, expanded upon it, even argued with it at times, but creating a new foundation — something from nothing — is a remarkable achievement.

Recognitions

Dr. Madsen became a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in 1988. This is the highest honor faculty can bestow on a colleague. Additionally, he has received two special commendations from the University Senate: one for 50 years of service and another for cumulative service. Dr. Madsen was first elected to the Faculty Senate in 1965 and has been a member ever since, much of that time on the Steering Committee, and always a strong advocate for faculty governance. He spent 41 years on the university P & T Committee, and essentially every governance committee in the university including presidential searches, University Budget Committee, various curriculum committees, Minority Affairs and Equal Employment committees, and many others.

Dr. Madsen’s recognitions beyond the FSU community have been substantial. In the state of Florida, Dr. Madsen has been inducted into the Florida Bandmasters Association and the Florida Music Educators Association Hall of Fame (2011). He has received numerous national recognitions as the first recipient of the Award of Merit from the National Association for Music Therapy (now AMTA) (1988), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for Music Therapy (2006), the Lowell Mason Award (among the first cohort in 2002), and he was the first recipient of the prestigious Senior Researcher Award from the Music Educators National Conference (now NAfME) (1988). Within the International Society for Music Education, Dr. Madsen was awarded the first life member of the ISME Research Commission, received a Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), and an Honorary Life Membership (2018). These awards and recognitions are only some of the many accrued across his career.

Teaching and Advising

All the while, Dr. Madsen was teaching the next generations of students including graduate and undergraduate classes every semester plus summers. Altogether, he has advised over 100 doctoral dissertations and served on many more plus countless master’s students. Further, he has profoundly influenced hundreds of students at all levels. Many would say that he changed their lives. He became a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in1989, among the university’s first group of recipients. He was also among the first group of recipients of FSU’s Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award in 2004.

Values, Contributions, and Impact

Over the years, the numbers of presentations, publications, and dissertations grew to very large numbers, but there was one thing that was not quantified: the countless hours Dr. Madsen spent mentoring students. Many bright students found their way to his office, but he also opened the door to those who were perhaps not at the top of the class, or who needed extra guidance, support, or encouragement. He was and is an outspoken advocate for the dignity of all people, and he has demonstrated many times the courage to stand up for individuals who look, act, or think differently.

These many hours of outside-of-class mentoring are not reflected on his annual Evidence of Performance report or C.V. but are offered generously as the consummate educator that Dr. Madsen remains to this day. One hour per day for 62 years amount to over 22,000 hours — which amounts to 943 days or 2.6 years — of nonstop mentoring. This is beyond teaching and formal advising. His students and mentees are placed among colleges and universities all over the world. Imagine the impact.

The fields of music education, music therapy, and higher education have been deeply affected by his sustained engagement. Florida State University and the College of Music would not be the same had he not been with us for the past 62 years. He has created a lasting legacy through his hundreds of students and former students who carry forward his Pleasemessage.join us in thanking Dr. Madsen for all he has done and wishing him satisfaction and fulfillment in his future endeavors, whatever they might be.

— Patricia Flowers

edited for formatting and length by Nickolas Doshier

Piccolo

Brenna Wiinanen

Flute

Samantha Donnell*

Kaitlyn BrennaAshleighCalcaginoWallaceMiller

Oboe

Luis EliJenniferGallo*McHenryBarrios

Bassoon Abigail Whitehurst

Alex EmmaleeLee Odom, Contra

E-Flat Clarinet

Ciara Solby

B-Flat Clarinet

Connor Croasmun

Maggie Watts

Marissa Stanfill

Jin JessicaYun

Pollack

Trey Burke Alex Vaquerizo

University Wind Orchestra Personnel

Bass Clarinet

Renzo DeCarlo

Alto Saxophone

Dawson Coleman*

Blake Adams

Tenor Saxophone

Parker Franklin Baritone Saxophone Collin Bankovic

Trumpet/Cornet Vito SawyerJamesJackVanceAngelaBell*King*GarvenLyonsPopperPrichard

Horn Leslie CoryTarreBriannaBellNayNelsonKirby

String Bass Gene Waldron

Trombone

Justin Hamann Will Roberts Bass Trombone

Carter Wessinger

Euphonium Jonah MichaelZimmerman*Chou

Tuba

Ramon Garavito, Jr.* Chris Bloom

Percussion Jacob LandonChristopherConnorDellWillitsBairdHolladay

Piano Sihui Liu Harp Alexandra Mullins

Graduate Assistant Nickolas Doshier

Program Manager

Chelsea Blomberg

* Principal/Co-Principal