From QC Student to Chair of Aaron Copland School of Music

When Professor Michael Lipsey graduated from the Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music (ACSM), he had his heart set on two things: becoming a professional musician and becoming a music educator at the university level. He accomplished both of these goals by becoming a professional recording artist for Sony Classical recording and as a full-time professor at ACSM. His percussion sextet, Talujon, has been described by The New York Times as an “adventurous percussion group,” and his work as a percussionist has led him to teach both masterclasses at The Juilliard School and lectures at QC ACSM. In 2019, Professor Lipsey was appointed the director and chair of Aaron Copland School of Music.

The Knight News sat down for an interview with Lipsey to discuss his experiences working as a professional musician and the recent string of Grammy award-winning faculty and alumni from ACSM.

Q: What was your experience like working with Sony?

A: It’s always a fun experience. You’re playing with very talented musicians. You get to work with great engineers and other great musicians.

Q: You worked with amazing ensembles like the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and the contemporary classical music organization Bang on the Can. What was your experience like working with those two groups?

A: It’s wonderful. I mean, [Bang on the Can] are Pulitzer Prize winning people. You know, musicians that play with Paul Simon and Sting. It’s a very different world.

Paul Simon, a sixteen-time Grammy Award winner, graduated from QC in 1964. His song “He Was My Brother” was released that same year and is a tribute to the civil rights activist Andrew Goodman, who was a classmate and friend of Simon. Simon received an honorary doctorate from QC in 1997 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award with Art Garfunkel in 2003.

Q: What’s it like being chair of Aaron Copland School of Music?

A: It’s a very time-consuming job. I was asked to do it at the right time in my life. When I had little kids, it might have been much more difficult to do. It’s very much a seven-day a week, 24-hour a day pursuit.

Q: In 2024, two QC professors, Professor Luis Perdomo and Professor Mark Dover, won Grammy awards at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards show. This is a huge honor for both musicians involved. What was your experience like working with these two professors?

A: Both of them are excellent. I’m very proud to be the chair of a department with as many excellent faculty as we have. The nice thing about our department is that, not only are they really great artists, but there’s a really elevated sense of community. All the faculty get so involved and are so interested and most of them really like each other. Genuinely like each other. They work together in so many various ways, whether it’s on curricular matters or performances. I’m very proud to work with all these people. It doesn’t surprise me that people are getting Grammys. They’re excellent musicians.

Perdomo, who graduated with a master’s degree from ACSM in 2000 and won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album twenty four years later, recalled seeing Lispey during his time as a student at ACSM.

“I really appreciate him saying that. I remember him from my days when I was a student here,” Perdomo said. “I always remember him coming from the percussion room practicing. He was always practicing all the time. That was really inspiring.”

Q: Reflecting on your success as both an educator and performer, what advice would you offer aspiring musicians?
A: Try to get as much information from everybody as you can.

Q: As a final thought, if you were to talk to the eighteen year old version of yourself at Queens College, what would you say? Would you do anything differently?

A: You know, I’m pretty happy. Queens College has been good to me. I think I’ve been good to it. I really enjoyed my whole time here as a student, as an adjunct, teaching at the preparatory division, as a professor and as a chair. I’m really blessed to be surrounded by a lot of good people who work hard. I wouldn’t change too much.