Ulffers named School of Music Director
The East Carolina University School of Music welcomed Christopher Ulffers as director beginning January 2, 2014. Ulffers replaces Christopher Buddo, who was named Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication in June 2013. The School of Music is one of the four schools that comprise the college.
Ulffers came to the School of Music in 1992 and has served continuously since, both as associate director and professor of bassoon. Ulffers’ duties as associate director included undergraduate admissions and scholarship administration, the assignment of faculty loads, course scheduling and assets management for the Fletcher Music Center.
“I am thrilled that Chris will be leading our school,” said Buddo. “His years of service as associate director have prepared him well to take on the challenges of directing the School of Music—he has worked with all levels of university administration and is uniquely qualified to advocate for our outstanding school, and he possesses the vision to carry the school to new levels of excellence.
“Thank you to Scott Carter for his strong and dedicated leadership during the interim period. His service as interim director kept the School of Music functioning at the highest level and has positioned us well for moving forward.”
In addition to teaching bassoon, Ulffers taught a variety of courses in music history, music literature and music appreciation prior to his administrative appointment. In 1997 he was the recipient of the Robert and Lina Mays Award for Teaching Excellence awarded by the ECU Alumni Association.
“It is with great humility and honor that I become the next director of the School of Music,” said Ulffers. “ECU has been and will continue to be a beacon of musical excellence in the region, and I am well aware of the tradition we have to uphold.”
Ulffers has been published in The Opera Journal and he presented papers at the ECU Conference on Renaissance Studies and the Conference on Renaissance Studies at Universitá degli Studi di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
He has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, was a bassoonist and staff librarian with the National Repertory Orchestra for five summers and was on the artist/faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC. He is currently the principal bassoonist of the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle and has appeared several times as concerto soloist. He has also appeared as concerto soloist with the ECU’s wind ensemble, symphony orchestra and chamber singers. Ulffers’ appearance with the Chamber Singers at the 2009 New Music@ECU Festival featured the American premiere of the Bassoon Concerto by Norwegian composer Egil Hovland. This performance led to the first commercial recording release of this work in 2010 on the Gothic recording label, distributed by Naxos. He was contrabassoonist with the Virginia Symphony and Virginia Opera from 1993-2003, appearing with the orchestra at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and on several recordings. He is frequently called upon as an extra musician by orchestras throughout the region and he performs regularly with the North Carolina Symphony in educational, pops and classical series concerts.
He received a Bachelor of Music from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1989 and continued his studies as a graduate student at Indiana University where he received a Master of Music degree in 1991.
He resides in Greenville with his wife Beth and their three children.