The Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences was saddened to learn of the passing of two of our Fellows over the past year.
The tributes below have been taken from Seven Days.
William Craig Metcalfe, 1935-2021
William Craig Metcalfe died early in the morning of November 22, 2021 — the feast day of the patron saint of music, Saint Cecilia — at the Arbors in Shelburne. His last few days were peaceful, with his wife, Elizabeth, and children, Sue and Scott, at his side. He was 86 years old. A teacher, performer, director and entrepreneur in music and scholarship, Bill made enormous contributions to musical life in his adopted home of Vermont and was beloved for his warmhearted generosity and wit, the breadth of his interests and enthusiasms, and his persuasive knack for combining intellectual rigor with open emotionality.
Bill was born on July 17, 1935, in Toronto, Ontario, the only child of Myrtle Reva Craig and Robert Henry Metcalfe. He attended Lawrence Park Collegiate in north Toronto, where an inspiring music teacher helped kindle his passion for conducting. He then studied history, French and Spanish at Victoria College, University of Toronto, earning a BA in 1958. During his college years, setting the pattern he would follow for his entire life, Bill devoted much of his time outside of his academic work to music, composing, arranging, conducting and directing productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The pianist for those G&S shows was Elizabeth Auld; a romance soon blossomed. Bill and Liz were married in May 1958 between final exams and graduation. They departed that summer for Minneapolis, where Bill pursued graduate studies in history at the University of Minnesota, earning an MA in 1959 and a PhD in 1967. The couple moved to Burlington in 1963, when Bill joined the faculty of the University of Vermont as a professor of history and assistant director of the nascent Canadian studies program.
“Applied schizophrenia is what I’m all about,” Bill told a Burlington Free Press writer in 1995, typically poking fun at his lifelong eclecticism and a career divided between passions for history, Canadian studies, teaching and music. He taught at UVM for 35 years, serving along the way as chair of both history and music, as well as director of Canadian studies. He was a witty and engaging lecturer and a warm and convivial colleague with a gift for bringing people together and enabling them to do their finest work. Bill was the first editor of The American Review of Canadian Studies (1973-89) and editor or coeditor of two books, Understanding Canada: A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Canadian Studies (1982) and Northern Exposures: Research on Canada in the United States (1993). His role in shaping the field of Canadian studies was recognized by the Donner Medal in Canadian Studies, awarded in 1993 by the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, and an ACSUS Alumni Award in 2013.
But Bill loved music above all except his family. He was cofounder and codirector of the UVM Baroque Ensemble (1965-88), cofounder and frequent conductor of the Vermont Mozart Festival (1974-2010), and founder and conductor of the Oriana Singers (1981-2017). Bill, with characteristic idiosyncrasy, conducted with his left hand. He conducted more Bach, Handel, Mozart and Haydn than anything else, but his repertoire spanned centuries of music, from the Middle Ages and Renaissance through contemporary works, and he had a special fondness for English music from Purcell to Britten, including, of course, G&S. Bill was made a fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011 and, in 2015, together with Liz, was awarded the Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts by the Vermont Arts Council.
Bill was fascinated by geography and loved to travel with Liz; he loved good food and wine; he was an avid reader of mystery novels; he enjoyed nice watches and pens; he enjoyed life as much as he was able; he loved his family above all else.
Bill is survived by his wife, Liz; his son Scott, daughter-in-law Emily Walhout and granddaughter Anna of Watertown, Mass.; his daughter Sue, son-in-law Andrew Speno, granddaughter Erin and her husband, Brandon Stout, and grandson Benjamin Speno of Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; sisters-in-law Jan Lord of Guelph, Ontario, and Cathy Davin of Tucson, Ariz.; his late sister-in-law Susan’s husband, Jack Hansen, of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and their children Josh and Emily and their families; and his Canadian cousins, Alan McCormack and Trevor Metcalfe and his wife, Teresa.
Bill’s family is very grateful to the staffs of the memory care unit at the Residence at Quarry Hill and the Arbors in Shelburne for their gentle care for Bill in the last few years as he struggled with dementia. Donations in Bill’s memory may be made to the Vermont Youth Orchestra (vyo.org) or the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund (curealz.org). A memorial celebration of Bill’s life is planned for the spring of 2022.
[Originally published for Seven Days here]
Henry Nicholas Muller, III, 1938-2022
Henry Nicholas “Nick” Muller, 83, passed away peacefully at his home in Essex, N.Y., on May 31, 2022. Nick was born in 1938 to Henry Nicholas Muller Jr. and Harriet Kerschner Muller. Nick was widely regarded for his Vermont-history scholarship, as well as for his teaching and organizational leadership in higher education and the cultural sector. After earning a BA from Dartmouth and an MA and PhD from the Universityof Rochester, he taught history at the University of Vermont before assuming the presidency of Colby-Sawyer College. Nick later directed the state historical society of Wisconsin and served as CEO for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. He generously contributed his time to multiple organizations, including the Essex Community Fund, the Vermont Historical Society and Fort Ticonderoga, among other entities.
As an athlete, Nick competed at a high level — making the All-Ivy League soccer team in his junior and senior seasons at Dartmouth — and played softball, racquetball and numerous other sports. He was an avid sailor and die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan who loved word games, gardening and writing thoughtful letters to family, friends and colleagues.
Nick was married to Nancy Clagett Dutton and later to Carol Gray Muller, whom he was with until she passed in 2021. He is survived by two sons, Charles and Brook Muller; three step-children, Deborah Graisser and John and Tony Gray; and six grandchildren.
A gathering to celebrate Nick’s life will take place at the Essex CFES Center from 3-6 p.m. on September 21, 2022.
Those wishing to make contributions in Nick’s memory are encouraged to donate to the Essex Community Fund, the Center for Research on Vermont and the Vermont Historical Society. Gifts to the CRV can be sent to Richard Watts, Director, Billings Library, B-403, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt., 05405. For the Vermont Historical Society: Tori Hart, Director of Development, 60 Washington Street, Barre, Vt., 05641.
[Originally published for Seven Days here]