Giulio Ongaro is a scholar of musicology whose doctoral dissertation explored the singing chapel of St. Mark’s Basilica in 16th century Venice. But
that doesn’t mean his artistic mind longs to be anywhere other than in the here and now.
“We tend to look at the arts in history as if they were different from the present,” said Ongaro, Ph.D., who in April was named the new dean of the
College of Performing Arts (CoPA) at Chapman University
. “In fact, when you do the kind of analysis reflected in my research, which looks at where the arts and “society interact, it’s easier to see the connections that exist in the present.”
The dynamic nature of Chapman’s present is why Ongaro wanted to become the third dean in CoPA’s history.
“The quality of the college makes this opportunity very exciting,” said Ongaro, who since 2009 has been the dean of the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific. “No one can come to the Chapman campus and not feel the excitement. I was at USC when it really took off, and there’s a similar buzz.”
Ongaro replaces Dale Merrill, who was recently named dean of strategic planning, outreach and programming for the new
Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts
, which opens at Chapman in spring 2016. The Center is another example of the dynamism at Chapman, Ongaro noted.
“It’s an amazing facility,” he said. “I like that everyone on campus is looking at how we can leverage it to provide the best educational experience for our students.
It will be a great center of enrichment, which is what Mr. and Mrs. Musco intend.”
When Ongaro formally begins as CoPA dean Aug. 1, he plans to build on a culture of collaboration, he said. “I’ll come with ideas, but no leader can succeed
without building a consensus around those ideas and goals.”
One objective already is clear.
“The basic point about any vision has to be excellence,” he said. “With small things and big things, we will work to improve every day.”
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