Jim Ludwig's Swan Song

by Jeffrey Huberman

Jim’s surprise appearance in M’nake Me an Offer, 1986After nearly 40 years of exceptional and visionary service to our university, James Ludwig, Associate Dean of the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts announced his retirement from Bradley effective at the end of the current semester.

"Imagination," Jim noted in his book, The Theatrical Imagination, "is in the choice." The original attribution belongs to Stella Adler, but the action and the proof of its validity belongs to Jim. Since 1968 he has have been making choices for the students, faculty, staff, and patrons of Bradley University that transformed an extracurricular activity into vital definitive programs that draw international recognition for their excellence and creativity. In so doing, James Ludwig became the leader who captured the imagination of his colleagues in demonstrating daily how to exceed expectations, break the bonds of mundane status quo, and play with exuberance on a world-class stage.

His achievements are extraordinary. James Ludwig took theatre making from the makeshift Carousel Theatre behind Avanti's Restaurant to Neumiller Chapel and then to the Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts, which he developed, designed, and programmed.

Jim and his partners, Jeff Huberman and Joan WilhelmHe produced over twenty seasons of record-breaking theatre that played to over 150,000 patrons from all sectors of our community. He recruited outstanding faculty and staff who reflected his dedication, high standards, and integrity, and he gave them every resource they needed to do their best work. He coauthored two editions of a successful textbook. He was the producer and artistic director of over 150 theatrical productions.

He secured the substantial endowment that is the Iben Lectureship that has brought world-class theatre artists to our campus for over twenty years. He is a U.S. Navy veteran, and his advanced degree from the University of Illinois is in Scene Design. He is, like the greatest theatre people in history, a great collaborator, having produced theatre, opera, and gallery exhibitions with virtually every major arts organization in our community as well as with renowned institutions like Yale University, the Moscow Art Theatre School, the Rustavelli National Theatre of the Republic of Georgia, and the Shakespeare Theatre Trust in London.

Jim Ludwig and the Irish Ambassador to Russia in Red Square on St. Patrick’s Day in 1993James Ludwig had the major hand in inventing and deploying modern international higher education at Bradley: His expedition classes to London are intense educational and cultural immersion; the Global Scholars International Option, which he created, has become the model emulated by all of the other colleges on our campus; he mentored a literal corps of faculty to develop new study-abroad projects, thus extending the reach of the Slane College to global dimensions; and because of his leadership, the renowned Moscow Art Theatre became our partner, and the Globe Theatre bears our University's imprint.

James Ludwig is the best administrator in higher education I have ever known. In nearly forty years at Bradley he has served brilliantly as Director of the Division of Theatre Arts, Acting Chairman of the Department of Theatre Arts, Chairman of the Department of Theatre Arts, Producer of the University Theatre, Chairperson of the Department of Art, Director of the Global Scholars International Option, and Associate Dean of the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts. And all of this leadership was not so much by the appointment of supervisors but by the request, consent, and devotion of his colleagues. Wisdom, integrity, fairness, high standards, good humor, joy, exaltation, exuberance, wit—and if I may so—imagination, creativity, and communication are the hallmarks of his leadership.

Past and present theatre chairmen, Jim Ludwig and George BrownJames Ludwig challenged and empowered me—as he did for many others who have had the good fortune and privilege to be his partner—to make choices for the good: for the good of our students, for our colleagues, for the University, and for ourselves.

He has been and always will be a source of pride and a model for emulation by the very best and brightest at Bradley University.

Jim Ludwig's Swan Song

Provost Peter Johnsen, Jim, and Stephen Heinemann Every semester at the conclusion of the University Theatre's famous Study Day Lunch, Jim Ludwig sent off the new Theatre Arts graduates by reading his favorite poem. "The Wild Swans at Coole," by William Butler Yeats is an evocative embrace of beauty, grace, tranquility, adventure, and the excitement and wistfulness of dramatic exits. No one can read this poem with Jim's love of that graceful avian species or with his high hopes and good wishes for his student's success in art and in life. So, we chose a different denoument for Jim's exit.

Our friend and colleague, Music professor Stephen Heinemann, composed music for Yeats's "Wild Swans," and at the Slane College Awards Banquet on May 2, 2007, we surprised Jim with the premiere of his swan song, performed by soprano Kristin Bell, Phillip Kleven on violin, Stephanie Falash on viola, and Daniel Wessler on Cello. Dr. Heinemann describes the experience of composing, performing, and recording this song:

Bradley student performers — soprano Kristin Bell, violinist Phillip Kleven, violist Stephanie Falash, and cellist Daniel Wessler When Dean Jeffrey Huberman approached me about creating a musical setting of William Butler Yeats's poem "The Wild Swans at Coole" as a retirement gift for James Ludwig, I was honored and pleased to do so. The poem, Jim's favorite (and now among my own), evocatively fuses an appreciation of life's beauties with a melancholy for their evanescence. I have tried to capture this duality in song; the result is my first strictly tonal piece in many years (jazz compositions excepted), tinged with an Irish accent in its treatment of Yeats's intricate prosody.

I gratefully acknowledge Jeff Huberman, for bringing all the pieces together; the Bradley student performers — soprano Kristin Bell (whose voice was an inspiration), violinist Phillip Kleven, violist Stephanie Falash, and cellist Daniel Wessler — for their dedication in bringing the composition to fruition, both in live performance and in the recording made the night before the premiere; and finally, Jim Ludwig, who, among his many legacies, introduced me to London and Paris. I hope that this music at least partially repays the favor.

Related Media

• Download the sheet music for Stephen Heinemann's composition, The Wild Swans at Coole.
• See a photo gallery with all the photos featured in this article and more.
• Listen to a podcast with Jim Ludwig, Stephen Heinemann, and the performance of "The Wild Swans at Coole."