This past week, New College welcomed Dean and Professor of Music and Opera Studies Michael Burden to Sarasota, and the United States, from Oxford’s College of St. Mary’s or as it has always been referred to “New College.” During a simple reception hosted in the Cook Hall parlor, faculty and staff were invited to come, meet and mingle with Burden while enjoying light snacks and beverages.
“I don’t have anything formal arranged [for my visit],” Burden said. “But I’m most excited to have one on one conversations with the people I’ve met who are working, lately, in my area. That’s always been the great thing about the exchange [program], being able to talk to everybody.”
Burden works as both a researcher of Operatic studies but is also very involved in creating and directing performances. He added that there is less crossover in the two than one might originally expect.
“My work is a combination of directing opera and the scholarly research,” Burden said. “But not all research leads to performance, they influence the other and they interact but performance isn’t the result of research.”
Although he always wanted to go into research, Burden admits he sort of fell
into the directing aspect of his career.