In Memoriam

Trevor Cushman

Trevor Cushman died July 9, 2003 at Tippett Home in Needham, MA after a 2-year battle against brain cancer.

Prior to his illness, he was Executive Director of the Louisville Ballet. He had also held similar positions with the Hartford Stage, Hartford Ballet, and Salt Lake City's Ballet West.

He began his post-Yale career as a teacher in Westport, CT. From there he went on to posts with the Ford Foundation, the New York City Chancellor's Office, Yale Development Office, and president of the McDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH.

He is survived by his daughter, Daisy Harrison of Tucson, AZ; a brother, Peter Cushman of Point Reyes Station, CA; and a sister, Joan Shaw of Marblehead, MA.

(submitted by Joan Cushman Shaw)

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Remembrance of Trevor Cushman at our 40th Reunion

by Chris Getman

Trevor transferred from Stanford in the fall of 1961 and was assigned to Pierson College. He was a History of the Arts and Letters major, a ranking scholar, and graduated summa cum laude His senior dissertation on Mahler was recognized as the best paper on music in any school at Yale in 1964 and included excerpts from an interview with Alma Mahler, whom he tracked down in Germany.

While Trevor had a powerful intellect and understood a great deal about music, he also had a great sense of humor and a facile way with words. His tongue-in-cheek letter to the Yale Daily, during the time when Yale was considering going coed, really stirred things up when he suggested that Yale admit women but confer upon them a "Spinster of Arts" degree.

He began his career after Yale as a teacher, but soon became involved in working for the arts, assuming positions at Lincoln Center the Salt Lake City Ballet, the Hartford Ballet where he moved to be closer to his daughter, Daisy, the Hartford Stage Company, and finally the Louisville Ballet. He was a very persuasive advocate of the arts and had a major impact on all of the organizations for whom he worked.

After he died of a brain tumor in Louisville, his vast collection of records and discs was given to Ursula Academy, which established the Trevor Cushman Music Library in his honor.