On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of David Wessel's passing, CNMAT's ex-officio Associate Director, Richard Andrews, shares his reflections:

I had the distinct privilege of working with David Wessel from September 9, 1996 until his untimely passing on October 13, 2014. I started as an administrator and eventually became CNMAT’s Associate Director as well as Executive Director of the Eco Ensemble. I retired from CNMAT in June of 2021.

As most everyone who knew or worked with David will acknowledge, he was an exceptionally gifted and generous person. He was also quite unlike any other academic supervisor or creative catalyst I have known. David was anything but a traditional “boss” to those of us who worked with and for him. David was collaborative, supportive, and open to novel suggestions or solutions to the many challenges and opportunities CNMAT faced over the years. He offered genuine engagement with everyone who worked with him, including researchers, staff, grad students, undergrads, post-docs, visitors, and a wide range of academic colleagues in music composition and performance, music technology, music perception/cognition, computer science, engineering, and many other fields. David also cultivated connections with corporate executives in the commercial music and audio worlds. His innovation, curiosity, and common interest with leaders produced a number of key industry relationships and multi-year research projects.

One of David’s key strengths was his encouragement of people around him to create, implement, and assess their own ideas and innovations. He enabled and supported professional development for his staff, including enrolling in graduate degree programs and launching innovative workshops and courses. With his backing and participation, we collaboratively developed projects involving research, international exchange, fundraising, communications, and relationship building within the university and beyond. David produced a remarkable number of concerts, lectures, artist talks, and other events at 1750 Arch Street.

David’s social side was just as engaging and inspiring. He was constantly planning the next CNMAT barbecue, post-concert reception, or lunchtime excursion to China Village, Cancun, or one of the established (or newly discovered) Indian buffet spots on University Avenue. After-work beers with David at Triple Rock became a regular occupational hazard. Business travel with David was an exceptional treat, with some memorable gatherings in Paris, Lyon, Beijing, and other foreign and domestic destinations.

There are hundreds of individuals whose contact with David brought tremendous rewards in their intellectual and creative pursuits, along with the extraordinary impressions he left in their personal relations with him as a friend. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have known and worked with David for over 18 years -- his memory and influence continue to guide me to this day.