MC Music Professor James Sclater Retires After 40 Years
Mississippi College music professor James Sclater is retiring this spring after devoting four decades of service to the Christian university in Clinton.
Members of the MC family will say thanks to Sclater at a special concert in his honor Sunday April 11 at Provine Chapel. Friends, students and colleagues will perform his music that afternoon at 3 p.m. The event is open to the public.
As a composer, Sclater has written more than 125 works. His music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe and Russia. He's received yearly ASCAP awards for his music since 1991.
His performing experience includes membership in the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra from 1971-2000. Since 1998, he's also played in the chamber duo LYRICAS. He participates in the Mississippi Wind Symphony. The MC music professor is also a member of the Fondren Presbyterian Church choir.
MC colleagues like professor Angela Willoughby sing Sclater's praises.
"For 40 years, Jimmy Sclater has been an integral part of the musical life of Mississippi," Willoughby said. "As a composer, his compositions have touched the lives of so many and have honored his fellow artists, colleagues and friends," she said. "Most notably, he was commissioned to write a symphonic tribute to Eudora Welty."
The work was premiered for the award-winning writer's 80th birthday celebration by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra in her hometown of Jackson.
Sclater "has been a mentor, fellow performing colleague and friend to virtually hundreds of Mississippi musicians, including me," Willoughby said.
A native of Mobile, Sclater received his bachelor's degree in theory composition and master's in music from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He received his doctorate in music in composition from the University of Texas. He's served as coordinator of music theory at Baptist-affiliated MC since 1970.
Sclater "has brought a lot of honor to Mississippi College," said retired MC administrator Doc Quick of Clinton.
The Clinton resident is married to Ann Judy Davis of Columbia, Miss. They have one daughter, Patricia, who lives in Kansas City, Mo. His hobbies include photography, crossword puzzles, reading and cooking. With his wife, he plays for the Adult Day Care at Trace Pointe several days a month. His awards from Mississippi College include the Humanities Professor of the Year in 1998.
After the Sunday afternoon concert, there will be a reception at Anderson Hall in the B.C. Rogers Student Center on the Clinton campus.
For more details, contact MC music professor Nell Adams at 601.925.3924 or nadams@mc.edu. To congratulate Sclater on his decades of service, call him at 601.925.3445 or by e-mail at sclater@mc.edu.
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