James T. Svendsen receives Madeleine Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities

Intermountain Catholic

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Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald (left), on behalf of Msgr. Joseph M. Mayo (center), rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, presents Dr. James T. Svendsen with the 2009 Madeleine Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities. Dr. Svendsen is an associate professor of Classics and Theatre at the University of Utah. IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — James T. Svendsen was presented with the Madeleine Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities at the 2009 Madeleine Award Dinner at the New Yorker May 10.

"People of excellence have far excelled in our ability to recognize excellence and prominence in this community, so it is again a pleasure to welcome you here on behalf of the Cathedral of the Madeleine," said Msgr. Joseph M. Mayo, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

"One hundred years ago the Cathedral of the Madeleine was just being finished as a building," said Msgr. Mayo. "One hundred years ago Zions Park was named a national park by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. One hundred years ago, the Salt Lake City Police force received their first motor bikes. I went to the city’s luncheon this week, and it was fun to learn of these events that happened in 1909. One hundred years is really quite an accomplishment.

"We are highlighting these events at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in very unique and beautiful ways with performances and speakers, and the events that will take place during the course of this year," said Msgr. Mayo. "I am sure Bishop (Lawrence) Scanlan (1891-1915) would be very proud to see everyone here tonight and to see the music program and the events that are a reality of his church. So as he lies in a restful slumber at the opening of the altar, we continue to do the work that he began."

"Dr. Svendsen, you are certainly an icon of all that our faith tradition stands for in terms of art, music, and architecture. You epitomize, and in fact dramatize those values in this community so very well," said Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald. "Your commitment to the Greek theater and spreading the good news about the arts and who we are, where we came from, and the rich roots and classical tradition, help humanize this community and beyond.

"So on behalf of the Most Rev. John. C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, the Cathedral of the Madeleine, and the Diocese of Salt Lake City, I present you with this award."

"I am honored and deeply moved to receive the Madeleine Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities," said Svendsen, the 2009 recipient. "I have been fortunate to find my niche here in Utah and have the opportunity to teach Greek and Latin language, literature and culture, and to share the world of ancient Greece with a wide array of audiences in Utah communities."

"First and foremost, I would like to thank the Madeleine Council for their generous award for the Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities and the Classical Greek Theatre Festival of Utah," said Svendsen. "I would also like to thank my wife Stephanie, my sons Paul and Alex, for their loyalty, patience, and support for all those days I was gone writing grants and drafting budgets, and all those weekends spent either at the Greek play or away on tour.

"I would also like to thank the Departments Literature and Theater for supporting the opportunity for me to develop a special niche in the humanities and the fine arts," said Svendsen. "My thanks to the Utah Humanities Council, the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, and to Arts and Parks for their continued financial and moral support.

"I am also grateful for the opportunity to create and foster The Classical Greek Theatre Festival of Utah," said Svendsen. "It is indeed rare for a professor to contribute intensely to two different departments in two different colleges, but the University of Utah and the state of Utah are rare landscapes where anything is possible.

"Theater is such a collaborative art, and I would be remiss if I did not thank the dozens of directors and designers and the hundreds of actors, many just beginning their acting careers, for contributing their imagination, talent, and effort in making the Classical Greek Theatre of Utah a success and a tradition in the cultural landscape of Utah and the West. It is rare for one to be rewarded for following one’s bliss, as Joseph Campbell phrases it, for pursuing one’s passion."

Svendsen is an associate professor of Classics and Theatre at the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D, in Classics from the University of Minnesota, where he specialized in Greek and Roman theatre and was actively involved in several stage, film, and radio productions. His favorite stage roles as an actor have been Talthybius in "Trojan Women," Enobarbus in Shakespeare’s "Antony and Cleopatra" and Pozzo in "Waiting for Godot."

Svendsen has received several University of Utah awards for teaching and a national award for Teaching Excellence in Classics from the American Philological Association. He is the author of several articles on Greek drama and the ancient novel and has lectured widely on those topics throughout the United States and abroad. His current research project is a book on letter device in the history of the theatre, a project that combines his interests in literature and theater production.

From 1971-1997, Svendsen, was an instructor and field director for the Aegean Institute, a summer institute in Greece, where he enjoyed Greek food, music and culture under the therapeutic Greek sun. He is the founding father and currently artistic director and executive producer of the Classical Greek Theater Festival of Utah, the annual production and tour of an ancient Greek tragedy with a broad outreach program to colleges and schools.