Russell Schulz-Widmar (born Russell E. Schulz; 29 July 1944) is a composer, author, and conductor, and a former Professor of Liturgical Music at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. For much of his career he lived in Austin, Texas and upon retirement he has divided his time between Berlin, Germany and Dallas, Texas. He is married to Hubertus Schulz-Wilke.

Biography

Born into a family of German and Dutch immigrants, Russell Schulz grew up northwest of Chicago, near the village of Hebron, Illinois. He graduated with honors with a B. Mus. from Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. He received his M. Mus. from the School of Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and his D.M.A from The University of Texas at Austin. He also studied at the Royal School of Church Music in London/Croydon. In 1988 he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Valparaiso University. In 2012 The Seminary of the Southwest awarded him the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters.

In 1971, while he was a student at The University of Texas, he and his wife Suzanne Widmar took over as co-Directors of Music at University United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas.^[1] In 1993, Schulz left University United Methodist Church to take a position as the Director of Music at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin, Texas. He remained in the position until July, 2008.

In 1974 he became Organist/Choirmaster at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest (now The Seminary of the Southwest) and later became Professor of Liturgical Music there. From 1975 to 1985 he was also Visiting Lecturer at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. From 1978 to 1985 he was a member of the Standing Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church, served on the Executive Editorial Board of that commission, and chaired the hymn music committee of the Hymnal 1982. In 1979, 1981, and 1983, on behalf of the Standing Commission and funded by the Lilly Foundation, he arranged biennial conferences for music professors/directors of music at the 10 US Episcopal Seminaries. From 1999 to 2001 he was a member of the Task Force for founding of the Armstrong Community Music School of the Austin Lyric Opera. Also at ALO, he served many years on the Triangle-on-Stage Committee. He was founding President of the Austin Boys' Choir and was a member of the founding Board of Directors of Conspirare: Craig Hella Johnson and Company of Voices. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Capital City Men's Chorus and also the Austin Choral Union. He served on the faculty of the Evergreen Conference in Evergreen, CO, and then from 1980 to 1987 he was Dean of that conference. He served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, and from 1987 to 1989 he was President of the Society. At the University of Texas he served on doctoral committees, served as faculty at conferences, lectured periodically at the School of Architecture, served on CAPO (Committee for the Advocacy of Pipe Organs) and also on the Advisory Board of the Center for Sacred Music.

He has had a lifelong interest in ethnomusicology, particularly in the study of music as a lens into a culture. He interviewed and photographed hundreds of people in such diverse cultures as the former East Germany, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Russia, Egypt, Kenya, India, Australia, the UK, Mexico, Brazil and Chile.

Selected publications

References

External links

• Bio and Photo at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest web site