{"id":609,"date":"2010-04-29T14:17:18","date_gmt":"2010-04-29T14:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hub-dev.bates.edu\/commencement\/?page_id=609"},"modified":"2015-03-19T16:20:23","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T20:20:23","slug":"address-by-thomas-jefferson-t-j-anderson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/annual\/y2005\/honorands\/thomas-jefferson-anderson\/address-by-thomas-jefferson-t-j-anderson\/","title":{"rendered":"Address by Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presented for Doctor of Music by Barry A. G. Greenfield ’56, Trustee<\/strong><\/p>\n

unedited transcript<\/em><\/p>\n

President Hansen \u2014 I say that because you are now truly my president \u2014 members of the Board of Trustees, distinguished platform guests, members of the faculty, members of the graduating class, families and friends, ladies and gentlemen: Greetings on this significant occasion, and thank you for this honor from this illustrious college.<\/p>\n

You entered Bates as freshmen and were soon traumatized by the events of 9\/11.\u00a0Its shadow extended over this class and over the entire world as well. We were forever changed by this tragedy.\u00a0Yet there is hope.\u00a0This phenomenal alteration in the way we live and interact with peoples makes us focus on the importance of the arts.<\/p>\n

Recently, at the PEN “World Voices: The New York Festival of International Literature,” 125 writers from 43 countries gathered.\u00a0Wole Soyinka and Salman Rushdie addressed the subject \u201cThe Power of the Pen:\u00a0Does Writing Change Anything?\u201d I paraphrase this to ask, \u201cThe Power of the Arts: Does Art Change Anything?\u201d And of course, since I am a composer, I would mention the power of music.\u00a0I believe all artists are documenters and interpreters of the human experience. They are re-creators of culture. This unique paradigm enables humanity to\u00a0experience the depth of our existence through poetry, literature, music, dance, art and architecture. All of us are cultural anthropologists.<\/p>\n

About 20 years ago, a Russian goodwill ship docked in Boston.\u00a0Local citizens were invited to view the ship, and my wife and I with many others took advantage of the invitation. When we arrived on one of the decks, to my surprise, a band was playing “Mack the Knife.”\u00a0I took out a piece of paper and wrote a variation of this particular tune.\u00a0When the band stopped I presented the music to the trumpet player.\u00a0He recognized the manuscript immediately and we both began to sing from this manuscript.\u00a0After we finished we both smiled at each other. He took a medal off his jacket and gave it to me.\u00a0I have often thought about the way people of different cultures communicate, not only with words, but also with the language of music.<\/p>\n

Not only do we transmit cultural ideas through our art forms, but there is power to effect peace.\u00a0You, the Bates Class of 2005, have inherited a great legacy. From\u00a0the songs of Pete Seeger to\u00a0John Lennon\u2019s “Give Peace a Chance” (sung at the Music and Peace Conference of the World in 1969); from Beethoven\u2019s Missa Solemnis<\/em>, with its focal point on \u201ca prayer for inner peace and outer peace” \u2014 Dona nobis pacem \u2014<\/em> to Benjamin Britten\u2019s War Requiem<\/em>, to Arnold Schoenberg\u2019s Friede Auf Erden<\/em> (Peace on Earth<\/em>), the emphasis is on human aspirations towards peace.\u00a0From the Negro spiritual, \u201cI ain\u2019t gonna study war no more\u201d to John Coltrane’s recording in Japan, \u201cPeace on Earth,\u201d in 1956, to my former student Tracy Chapman, to Sting, to Bono \u2014 the human cry continues. The message is clear.\u00a0I urge you all to tune in.<\/p>\n

Whatever your discipline may be, and whatever your dreams, if life is to be fulfilling, the arts must play a part of it. In a global society, what better way to communicate?<\/p>\n

In your lifetime, you will make a significant choice.\u00a0If you cling to the \u201cemancipated education,\u201d the concept developed by Dr. Benjamin Mays, an illustrious alumnus of Bates College, that you have received, I\u2019m sure that the elements of truth, understanding, love and justice will prevail.\u00a0I wish you the blessings of all the world\u2019s religions. I also sincerely hope that the joyous celebration that comes with understanding be with you forever. Peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presented for Doctor of Music by Barry A. G. Greenfield ’56, Trustee…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":594,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_dimp_site_id":"","_dimp_override_contact":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-609","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3905,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/609\/revisions\/3905"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}