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Gallimore also paid tribute to the building’s namesake, Mary Duke Biddle, who was an ardent supporter of the arts and founder of the , and her daughter, , whom her mother “raised to continue that commitment to the arts,” the provost added.

“Mary Semans went on to serve as chair of the Biddle Foundation, which gave more than $650,000 towards the construction of a music building on East Campus to be named for her mother,” Gallimore said.

Gallimore also honored the music building’s architect, , who had previously designed the in Washington, D.C.

“And like the Kennedy Center, the Biddle Music Building opened to acclaim, instantly becoming an iconic part of the landscape and a powerful statement about the importance of the arts to this institution,” Gallimore said.

The grand celebration featured performances by current students, faculty and alumni, including excerpts of Duke alumnus Laurence Sherr’s “Blue Ridge Frescos,” with new faculty member Colin Fullerton on guitar, and selections of Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” performed by the Duke Symphony Orchestra.

Other selections included an interpretation of Duke graduate Chiayu Hsu’s (Ph.D. ‘09) “Taiwain Miniatures for String Octet” featuring the Ciompi and Larkspur Quartets, and Penka Kouneva’s (Ph.D. ‘97) composition “Earth” with the Symphony Orchestra and Duke Opera Theater.

A night of music was accompanied by a documentary commemorating the anniversary of the music building by filmmaker .

The celebration culminated with a reveal of a mural created in the Biddle Music building to commemorate its golden anniversary, by visual artist .

Robinson, resplendent in a Duke-blue gown, was commissioned by the Department of Music to create the work in the atrium of the building’s foyer. The mural honors Mary Duke Biddle and jazz icon, , the university’s first artist-in-residence.

“Like creativity, this mural has no end,” Robinson told the attendees following their appreciative applause when the work was unveiled.