Zander Quits Music Dept.; Sources Point to Conflict

Patricia A. Zander has submitted her resignation from her position as preceptor in Music and co-instructor of Harvard's only performance course because of the Music faculty's lack of support for performance, an informed source said yesterday.

The source said the resignation protests the "wide-ranging problem" of "the whole place of a teacher of performance in an academic institution like Harvard."

Zander herself was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Lack of Support

"Teachers who are artists rather than academics will never feel able to flourish in an academic environment unless they are given the support of their colleagues," the source added.

The resignation follows recent conflict between Zander and Leon Kirchner, Rosen Professor of Music and co-instructor of Music 180, Music Department sources said yesterday.

Lynn Chang, a teaching assistant in Music 180, said Zander's dissatisfaction with the Music Department began last year when, of the two Music 180 sections, her section contained the students that were "left over."

Kirchner emphasizes lectures and analysis while Zander supports individual instruction of students, Chang said yesterday.

Yo Yo Ma '76, cellist in Music 180, yesterday said "there is some question as to how the course is run" and conceded that there are "inevitable personality conflicts" between Zander and Kirchner.

Zander is resigning because of Harvard's "'if you don't type it, it's not important' type of attitude toward music performance," Keith C. Cheng '76, a student in the course last year, said yesterday.

Dubious

Zander has long taken a "dubious view of the Music Department's emphasis on musicology and the Department's slowness to change," John F. Major '77, a Music 180 student, said yesterday.