Education
Biography
In Memoriam
June 11, 1944 - August 12, 2023
We in the Newcomb Department of Music are saddened by the passing of B. Michael Howard, the former Albert and Linda Mintz Professor of Music, Professor Emeritus, and long-time Artistic Director for Summer Lyric Theatre, integrally involved since the first season in 1968. Michael began his teaching career at Tulane in 1978, and was made Assistant Professor in 1979. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1986. During his time at Tulane, he taught Choir, Voice, and Musical Theatre Workshop. He also mentored and advised graduate students in the MFA program. He finished his tenure as Artistic Director of Summer Lyric in 2014 and fully retired from teaching in 2019.
Michael was a theater visionary whose shows were clean, nuanced, and fueled by deep human experience. A consummate musician, he helped make Summer Lyric Theatre and Musical Theatre Workshop known for meticulous attention to fine singing. As a multi-talented theatre practitioner, his sensibilities about blocking, hair and makeup, costumes, and lighting created impactful experiences for generations of students, performers, designers, and audience members.
He is survived by nieces and nephews, students, mentees, colleagues, and friends. We extend to them our deepest condolences.
Acting Credits
The “Cultivated” Tradition
Amahl and the Night Visitors (Balthazar), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi), L’histoire du soldat (the devil), The Merry Widow (Popoff), The Three Penny Opera (Mr. Peachum), and many others
The “Vernacular” Tradition
Annie Get Your Gun (Buffalo Bill), Anything Goes (Sir Evelyn), La Cage aux Folles (Zaza), Camelot (King Pellinore), Dames at Sea (the captain), Damn Yankees (Mr. Applegate), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Senex), The King and I (Sir Edward Ramsey), The Man of La Mancha (Don Quixote), The Mikado (the Mikado), The Music Man (Harold Hill), Oliver (Fagen), The Pirates of Penzance (the pirate king), The Sound of Music (Captain von Trapp), and many others
Conducting Experience and Credits
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, Washington, D.C., The White House, Washington, D.C., and many other venues
The “Cultivated” Tradition
The Beggar’s Opera, A Ceremony of Carols (Britten), Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Gloria (Vivaldi), Jesu, der du meine Seele (J.S. Bach), Magnificat (Pergolesi), Magnificat (Vivaldi), Mass in G (Schubert), The Merry Widow (Lehar), Messiah (Handel), Requiem (Faure), and many others
The “Vernacular” Tradition
Camelot, Gypsy, The King and I, The Pirates of Penzance, Side by Side by Sondheim, and many others
Artistic Directing Experience and Credits
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Pops Concerts, Six Flags Over Texas and Georgia, Dallas, University of Missouri, Columbia, and many other venues
Annie Get Your Gun, Brigadoon, Cabaret, La Cage aux Folles, Carousel, Company, Dames at Sea, Follies, Hello Dolly, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mame, The Man of La Mancha, The Mikado, The Music Man, Oklahoma, Oliver, The Pirates of Penzance, Side by Side by Sondheim, The Sound of Music, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, Sweeny Todd, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and many others