AN INTERVIEW WITH LARRY MAXEY - The University of Kansas

Q: Probably not if you are teaching classes. Where did you play recitals? Was this at
colleges?
A: Colleges and universities. This is where my network was. I was programming for
audiences who knew something about music, rather than just general audiences, for
whom you would program quite differently. I was programming really straight classical
concerts and the university was the most logical place to perform.
Q: Was that places in this country?
A: Also I have played in Costa Rica and Lithuania, Portugal, in addition to what I did in the
Army. So I have gotten out of the country some too.
Q: Are those good audiences too?
A: On, yes, wonderful. In Costa Rica they are just hungry for live music. I went down there
as a member of a trio twice and then twice more as a member of the Kansas woodwinds.
Especially when we got out of San Jose and into the countryside, the people flocked to
hear live music. So they were very appreciative.
Q: Has the music department changed during the years you’ve been here?
A: I think the university has changed.
Q: The university has gotten a whole lot bigger.
A: I would say that the music department has gotten somewhat bigger. Structurally, it has
changed a lot. When I came we had a very arcane system in which every little area in
music had its own department. There was a department of music theory, a department of
music history, a department of wind and percussion. They all had two, three, four or five
faculty members in them. It was very unusual and very ineffectual.
Q: I would think so.
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