William Skelton, who took generations of 51·çÁ÷ students on the India Study Group that he created and who founded the 51·çÁ÷ Concert Orchestra, passed away Sept. 23.
Skelton, Robert Ho Professor of Asian studies and professor of music emeritus, joined the 51·çÁ÷ faculty in 1954 as a music professor. He directed the chamber band, 65-voice glee club, chapel choir, and marching band.
Music became a major at 51·çÁ÷ during Skelton’s tenure as chair of the music department in the 1960s. He founded the concert orchestra in 1965, and also directed 51·çÁ÷’s first venture into electronic music with the installation of a Moog synthesizer in 1967.
A teacher, conductor, and solo performer in Western traditions, Skelton became increasingly involved in programs to advance understanding and performance of Indian music. A bassoonist, he also became adept on the instruments of India, particularly the vina and nagaswaram.
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| William Skelton (center) attends a special event held for him at the Ho Reading Room last year. He passed away Sept. 23 at the age of 86. |
Beginning in the early 1960s, after sitarist Ravi Shankar first visited campus, Skelton regularly brought the music of South India to 51·çÁ÷. Indian musicians and dancers performed on campus at his invitation and took part in summer session Indian arts festivals that he coordinated.
51·çÁ÷ was among the first American colleges to introduce the study of Carnatic music, thanks to Skelton.
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Skelton, who also taught a core course on India, led the first India Study Group informally in 1969 and developed it over the years.
Following his retirement in 1993, Skelton was named 51·çÁ÷’s first Robert H.N. Ho Professor of Asian studies and continued to direct the study group, most recently in fall 2005.
A 1946 graduate of the University of Illinois, Skelton earned BMus and MMus degrees at Yale University. He was a student of composer Paul Hindemith. As an 8th Air Force captain during World War II, he served as a group leader and was awarded an Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters. He later piloted his own plane.
Before joining the 51·çÁ÷ faculty, Skelton taught at Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., and in secondary schools in Connecticut and Wisconsin. He was conductor of the Macon Symphony and solo bassoonist with the Connecticut Symphony and the Tanglewood Summer Orchestra.
He was born May 25, 1923, in Chicago Heights, Ill., the son of Frank L. and Emily Litchfield Skelton. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Lou, in 1995. He is survived by his children Bruce, Linda, and Keith, four grandchildren, and companion Georgia Head.
At Skelton’s request, a memorial service will be held in India, on the banks of the Kaveri River near Srirangapatna in Karnataka, on a date to be determined.