I have enjoyed a long association with the School of Music at UNCSA and their Dean Brian Cole with residencies since 2016. But in the early summer of 2019 a major new opportunity came my way. Brian Cole was invited to become the Interim Chancellor (a position in which he was recently confirmed) and he called me to ask if I would be interested in helping him out by becoming the Interim Dean of the School of Music. That took a bit of reorganization but somehow, I made it work and I flew over to Winston-Salem at the end of July 2019 to work for a year in this role. Brian was very supportive and gave me various projects to complete during my one-year contract. This in turn helped me with structure and the creation of priorities. But no one mentioned that I would be the Dean during the COVID-19 pandemic!!! That really became the focus of my year. It was intensely challenging and required a great team and an amazing faculty to make the whole improvised business of moving everything to online learning work effectively. I am delighted to say that we had the right team and we pulled all the pieces together to provide the students with something of great educational value. We also managed to create a strong plan for the future. And I must confess……. I learnt a great deal!!!
“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Tony Woodcock, who provided excellent leadership to the School of Music as interim dean over the past year. His expertise and wisdom benefited every one of us, and his presence enriched our campus. We will miss him, and we wish him well in all future endeavours.” Brian Cole Chancellor