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CCM Library the Recipient of the Papers of Genevieve White McGiffert
By Mark Palkovic, Head of the College-Conservatory of Music Library, mark.palkovic@uc.edu
The College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Library was honored recently to receive a
wonderful collection of archival material of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music graduate
Genevieve White McGiffert. The collection, donated by her husband, Michael McGiffert, of
Williamsburg, Virginia, focuses on Genevieve’s time at the Conservatory.
Genevieve White was born in 1926 in Procious, West Virginia, the daughter of teachers who
taught in rural, one-room schools. Growing up during the Depression, she was fortunate
to be taught by a local music teacher, Lucy Jackson, who had a diploma from the Juilliard
Institute of Music (now the Juilliard School of Music). With the support of Jackson and her
parents, Genevieve moved to Cincinnati at age 16 to attend the Conservatory, having graduated
at the top of her class from Clay County High School.
Genevieve received a Bachelor’s of Music degree in voice and piano in 1946 from the Cincinnati
Conservatory of Music and in 1949 received her Master’s of Music degree in voice. After
moving to Hamilton, New York, with her first husband, she taught in the local public schools
and earned her Master’s of Arts degree in education from Syracuse University in 1956. She later
moved to Denver, Colorado, with her second husband, Michael McGiffert.
Genevieve earned her Ph.D. in theater from the University of Denver. There, she chaired the opera and voice departments and
conducted full productions and workshop performances of 25 operas and musicals. For eight summers she directed the apprentice
program of the Central City Opera, and in the 1970s founded and led the Colorado Opera Theater, bringing one-act operas
to young audiences throughout the state.
In 1973 she and her husband moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, where she became very active in the musical scene working with
the Virginia Opera as well as teaching voice privately, producing and performing at Young Audiences programs, and serving on
the faculties of Christopher Newport College and Old Dominion University. Genevieve also served on the Virginia Commission
on Arts and Humanities and the Virginia branch of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. During the 1990s she was
Director of the Williamsburg Choral Guild, a group of 100 singers. In 2002 she founded Art Song of Williamsburg, serving as its
Artistic Director and presenting three concerts a season by outstanding young American and foreign singers.
Genevieve White McGiffert died March 15, 2007, in Williamsburg. Her papers include three large scrapbooks of programs and
press clippings and many photographs of her and her classmates at the Conservatory. Documentary material from the early years
of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before its merge with the College of Music of Cincinnati is rare, so we are particularly
grateful for this gift that will be a major benefit to researchers for many years to come.
University of Cincinnati Accreditation
Over the past two years, the University of Cincinnati has been undergoing a rigorous self study process in preparation for an accreditation
site visit from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) accreditation team in April 2009. Accreditation is the process
that takes place every decade whereby an outside organization certifies a college or university as meeting certain requirements
of excellence. It is a very important “stamp of approval” for the university. During this process faculty and administrators take a
close look at the entire university, documenting its strengths and its challenges in a written report.
The Libraries are represented in the accreditation process by Cheryl Albrecht, Associate Dean of Library Services, who is cochairing
one of the five self study writing teams examining the role of the university in these five key areas:
• Mission and Integrity
• Preparing for the Future
• Student Learning and Effective Teaching
• Acquisition, Discovery and Application of Knowledge
• Engagement and Service
Genevieve White McGiffert,
1960
By Cheryl Albrecht, Associate Dean of Library Services, cheryl.
albrecht@uc.edu
The self study is an open process, and the university community and its stakeholders will be called upon for input when the draft
of the full self study report is made available to the campus community in January. The report will be posted on the HLC/
Accreditation Web site at .
7 Source
vol. 8 no. 1 www.libraries.uc.edu/source
Photo provided