Next Tues., Nov. 22, is the feast day of Saint Caecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians. Since 1948, SJU professor of music and concert pianist Willem Ibes has been performing in a concert for her feast day.
Wim Ibes first came to St. John’s as a scholarship student from the Netherlands. According to Ibes, he applied for the scholarship simply because he wanted to hear a famous pianist that wouldn’t play in Europe after the war, and Ibes hoped to have that opportunity in America. He began learning to play the piano when he was twelve years old and has been playing ever since.
Ibes also studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and in Paris, under the internationally renowned Marguerite Long. Apart from music, Ibes has also studied philosophy and psychology at Nijmegen University in the Netherlands. In 1957, Ibes was invited to return to St. John’s as a professor of piano, piano literature, music history, and form analysis.
Ibes expressed how fortunate he feels to have had the opportunity to teach at CSB/SJU, and said, “I enjoy the students as much and even more than when I started!” Every year since he started teaching, Ibes has continued to perform for the Saint Caecilia concert. This year’s concert is special because it is Ibes’s last. Ibes will be retiring at the end of this academic year.
Ibes is truly a man of many talents. His extensive and diverse education aside, he is also passionate about Zen meditation. He started practicing Zen meditation in 1970, and has shared his passion with others.
Ibes has taught multiple three-week long, intensive meditation sessions for students at CSB/SJU. On his website (willemibes.com), Ibes said, “Greatly influenced in my own work by Lao-tsu’s Tao Te Ching and the Zen masters I wanted to express my gratitude and admiration for their wisdom and started teaching and performing in the Far East, first in Japan in 1989 and the following year in main land China as well.”
He has returned to the area almost every year since 1989.
Ibes has touched many lives throughout his amazing career, including that of Jim March, a professor of music at Morningside College in Iowa. March met Ibes when he was a student at Saint John’s in 1972, and Ibes has been a mentor and friend to March ever since.
While at SJU, March looked forward to the student, faculty, and guest recitals because Ibes was always so supportive and often invited students over to his house afterwards to play music together. March has attended many Saint Caecilia concerts, and hopes to come this weekend. He feels that Ibes’s music is very accessible, regardless of music background, and that he is a communicator with music – “[Ibes] compels people to watch and listen to what he’s involved in, which connects him with the audience.”
Father Bob Koopmann has also been very close to Ibes throughout the years. Fr. Bob met Ibes in the 1960s, when Fr. Bob had Ibes as a professor, and was truly inspired by him. “Wim helped me to take a chance in my career. He told me I could do whatever I wanted as a musician.” The music parties that Ibes had at his house are a special memory for Fr. Bob as well. He felt that Ibes helped “draw [the students] together as a community.” Fr. Bob feels that Ibes has made many lasting contributions to the CSB/SJU community, such as the type of relationship that exists between faculty and students on these campuses – according to Fr. Bob, Ibes has been a “pioneer in the way the faculty at St. John’s and St. Ben’s are close to their students.” Fr. Bob has also attended almost all of the Saint Caecilia concerts since the 1960s, and the reception after this weekend’s concert is Fr. Bob’s “gift to Wim, to celebrate Wim and what he’s given to St. John’s and St. Ben’s.”
This year’s Saint Caecilia’s concert will take place on Sun., Nov. 20, at 4:00 pm, in the Stephen B. Humphrey auditorium – the very same stage where Ibes played his very first Saint Caecilia concert, which also happened to be his professional debut. The concert will feature pieces by Bach, Faure, Schubert and Liszt.