¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ

Longtime ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ music professor G. William Bugg will present his farewell vocal recital this Saturday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Brock Recital Hall.

The free public event, Sponsored by Michael J. and Mary Anne Freeman, caps a distinguished career of more than three decades.

Bugg, who joined ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ's faculty in 1977 and became a fixture of Birmingham's arts community, will retire from the university at the end of this semester.

"For the past three decades Dr. Bill Bugg has represented ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ on stages from Brock Hall to Carnegie Hall," said School of the Arts dean Joseph Hopkins.Ìý"As director of ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ Opera and as a leading figure in the National Opera Association, he has made an impact on the art of opera in Birmingham and across our country".Ìý

Bugg is happily without immediate post-retirement plans, having worked since the age of 10 when his baker father started him chopping cherries for cookies. " I want to see what not working is all about for awhile at least," Bugg said, though he admitted that period might last "five minutes or so".

As the familiar baritone departs the ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ faculty, he is certain of at least one thing. "I will remain intensely interested and committed to ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ and ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ Arts," Bugg said. "I hope I have the wisdom and self-control to stay out of the way and let the good things that are ahead for ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ come to be".