Empire State College



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O

H

 …

It’s Magical

It’s Magical

(continued on page 6)

Deddy Tzur ‘97 – immersed in music as a 

conductor, musician and composer


E M P I R E

It’s Magical

(continued from page 5)

 

Working with mentor Mel 



Rosenthal, he took photography 

and visual arts as well as liberal 

arts and music.

 

Like most modern composers, 



Tzur uses a variety of media 

to discover the voice of his 

composition. Sometimes he 

enjoys composing in his head 

then writing out the music on paper 

as composers of yore, or maybe just 

sitting at the piano and tinkling keys. 

More often than not, though, his work 

is done on the computer, creating 

sound design and arranging sequences 

via software.

 

He doesn’t remember an exact 



moment when he felt that he fi nally 

“broke through” as a working 

composer, although he points to his 

work on the soundtrack for the series 

Pensacola: Wings of Gold, with James 

Brolin. He created music for The New 

Addams Family (ABC Family), and 

Digimon (Disney). For fi lm, he has 

composed for Richie Rich’s Christmas 

Wish (Warner Brothers), Casper Meets 

Wendy (20th Century Fox) and Three 

Days (ABC Family). For his work in 

television, Tzur was recognized with a 

Telly Award and International Monitor 

Award.

 

He’s also composed for, and 



conducted the Seattle, Jerusalem and 

Tel Aviv Symphony Orchestras, plus 

he created a CD for clothing retailer 

BCBG-Max Azria.

 

Currently, he is scoring an indepen-



dent fi lm, King of Beggars, set in 17th 

century Russia. His web site notes 

that the score “integrates gypsy 

and Eastern European overtones 

with classical orchestral composi-

tion to create a rich, dramatic 

musical setting.”

 

Although he loves composing 



music, doing it commercially 

can be hard. He needs to drum 

up business, fi nd clients, and get 

himself out there – what he terms 

“typical Hollywood schmoozing.” 

But the opportunity to work with a 

creative team – a TV producer, fi lm 

director or creative director for a 

game, makes it all worthwhile. Usually 

the creative team will view a work 

together, and, based on the general 

guidance of the director or producer, 

Tzur will begin to devise a score, some-

times having to go back to tweak his 

work if something is not exactly as the 

client envisions. But all the effort pays 

off, he says, when he stands before 

the orchestra, baton in hand, and the 

music he’s imagined begins to fi ll the 

room ... then, “Oh, it’s magical!” 

m

Tzur in the midst of his self-made magic.



Breaking Out

(continued from page 1)

At Empire State College, we have wonderful opportunities 

to encourage students’ creativity. An emphasis on exploring 

ideas, rather than fi nding or parroting back the “right” 

answers; the chance to make intellectual connections to life 

experience; to investigate a particular interest or question in 

a one-to-one tutorial; to bring students and faculty together 

in residencies such as at the Adirondack/Environmental, 

Women’s Studies and the Keep Mills Symposium to explore 

specifi c issues and concepts, and residencies are all chances 

to enhance creative as well as critical thinking. There are 

constantly other opportunities being cooked up, such as the 

Northeast Center’s teach-in on creativity, FORUM East’s 

Creativity in the Workplace study, creative writing courses, 

interdisciplinary studies that bring divergent disciplines 

together to study an idea, and the many faculty members 

who are engaging their students with questions that invite 

investigation and divergent thinking. The fact that we are 

an institution which consistently asks students to demon-

strate their learning through writing (which we now know 

is an important tool not only for thinking as well as expres-

sion but also for discovery), assures students the occasion 

to synthesize new knowledge with experience and previous 

learning – to discover exciting, unpredictable connections, 

and to engage in deep thinking.

 

The Romantic poet Keats coined the term “negative capa-



bility.” He was referring to the desirable capacity to hold 

(or tolerate) “uncertainties, mysteries, doubts,” enabling 

unconventional juxtapositions of facts and concepts that 

lead to imaginative insight and suspended judgment. In 

other words, allowing people to resist the rush to resolu-

tion – a particularly troubling, and accelerating, condition 

of contemporary life. In an era of escalating capabilities for 

nuclear annihilation, an enhanced focus on “negative capa-

bility” – and its resulting opportunity for creative outcomes 

– could be not only a useful tool for better pedagogy, but, 

on a grand scale, a lifesaving one. 

m


  E M P I R E  

7

hat exactly does a 



Broadway producer do? 

“That’s a hard question to 

answer,” said Jennifer Manocherian 

’74. Manocherian, who has produced 

or co-produced such Broadway hits 

as “Caroline and Change,” “Ma 

Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Stomp,” 

“Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “The 

Crucible,” “Damn Yankees” and 

others, then went on to explain: “A 

lead producer reads a lot of scripts, 

sees workshops, acquires property, 

options plays and puts together a team. 

 

“The producer hires a director, who 



is a key person, and you have to make 

sure he or she is on the same page,”she 

continued. “The director then hires the 

designer, does the casting and every-

thing else, so it is essential that the 

director has the same vision.”

 

After the director, the second most 



important person the producer brings 

on board is the general manager to 

oversee the business end of the produc-

tion, she explained. Once a show is 

up and running, the producer is the 

one who keeps an eye on the selling 

and marketing of the show, ensuring 

it is run like a business that will, it is 

hoped, earn its investors’ money back 

and more. Because, of course, one very 

important thing a producer does is 

raise money.

 

Occasionally, a producer may be 



brought in at the 11th hour, right 

before an opening, and is responsible 

for anything from raising money to 

sitting in on meetings to offering in an 

opinion.

 

Manocherian, the mother of fi ve 



children, and wife of an Iranian-born 

businessman, came to producing later 

in life. Growing up in Connecticut 

as the daughter of a working mother 

– albeit a mother who worked at 

home writing successful cookbooks 

– Manocherian began college at 

Barnard, even though having a career 

wasn’t in her sights at the time. Like 

many women of her generation (she’s 



“I think only people in the theater know what a 

producer is. The public does not know. It knows a 

writer writes, an actor acts, and a director tells them what 

to do. A producer raises money. Well, he does, and in some cases that’s all he does. But 

the workers in the theater know that this is not the real thing. A producer is a rare, para-

doxical genius – hard headed, soft hearted, cautious, reckless, a hopeful innocent in fair 

weather, a stern pilot in stormy weather, a mathematician who prefers to ignore the laws 

of mathematics and trust intuition, an idealist, a realist, a practical dreamer, a sophisticated 

gambler, a stage-struck child. That’s a producer.”

– Oscar Hammerstein II

Defi ning Her 

Life as a 

Producer

Jennifer Manocherian ’74

fi nds success in 

second career on 

the Great White Way

(continued on page 8)


E M P I R E

67) she left college early, at 20, after marrying her husband, and 

immediately started a family. She wanted to fi nish her degree 

– her parents didn’t look kindly on not having a college educa-

tion – so she enrolled at Empire State College, in Manhattan, 

attracted to the fl exibility. She went on to earn her master’s 

degree to become a family therapist, where she specialized in 

divorce mediation. 

 

Manocherian worked nearly a decade in that fi eld before 



being drawn to theater. She had always enjoyed a good play or 

musical, and began investing small amounts in shows before she 

eventually got involved in producing. She took a job with a lead 

producer where she’d “show up in her offi ce every day. Part of 

the deal was to learn from her,” she said. She discovered that 

she had the knack for raising money – fi rst among people she 

knew and then other investors. “I started by doing outreach to 

everyone I knew who could possibly afford to invest and raised 

money that way – basically from people who were supporting 

me, not necessarily theater buffs. I have moved past them, as 

loyalty only goes so far – unless you got them into a cash cow 

of a show, at which time they became addicted. Over the years, 

I have come to know people who are theater buffs – not so 

much individual investors, as fellow producers with whom I 

partner to raise money.”

 

Making plays, after all, also is a business, and someone 



who has a track record of making money for investors will 

fi nd others willing to go in on a show. However, the opposite is 

also true: if a producer has had a string of shows that have lost 

money, it may be hard to scare up capital.

 

For Manocherian, the decision to switch careers in mid-



life has been a stunning success. “Caroline and Change,” a 

pre-Civil rights era drama about the relationship between a 

black housekeeper and the young child of the household, was 

a critical and popular success, and garnered a nomination for 

a 2004 Tony Award for best musical, as well as a Drama Desk 

Award nomination for outstanding new musical. “Thoroughly 

Modern Millie” won both a 2002 Tony for best musical and 

Drama Desk Award for outstanding new musical. That same 

year, “The Crucible” was nominated for a Tony for best play. 

A number of other projects have been nominated for Tonys and 

Drama Desk awards over the years.

 

Manocherian reads scripts and goes to plays in workshop 



to fi nd properties that she responds to. Then she puts on 

her businesswoman’s hat to determine whether the property 

has a chance of commercial success. If not, she has to pass. 

(Noncommerical scripts by good playwrights likely will be 

produced by nonprofi t theaters, sometimes with corporate 

sponsorship, she explains).

 

Manocherian is the fi rst to admit that although it’s hard 



work, much of what she does depends on dumb luck. For 

example, one of the fi rst plays she produced ran off-Broadway 

in a cabaret. It had been open for two weeks before The New 

York Times came to review it. Although a show has reserves 

to keep it up and running until the reviews or good word of 

mouth gets out, by two weeks, the reserve was depleted, and 

what was needed was a resuscitation by means of a glowing 

review in a make-or-break outlet like the Times. So the 

critic showed up and wrote a glowing review. Unfortunately, 

the review came out on a Saturday before Memorial Day 

(Saturdays are notoriously the least read paper of the week) 

and was placed in the social pages, not theater. So not very 

many people ever saw the review, she said, and the show closed 

shortly after. “That was just bad luck,” Manocherian said.

 

Citing a more recent example, Manocherian noted that 



“The Woman in White,” which drew raves in its London run, 

closed because of the misfortune of its leading lady’s diagnosis 

of breast cancer just as the play was opening. Besides being at 

the whim of fate, “you’re at the mercy of a few critics.” Some 

shows are “critic proof” with strong word of mouth – she cited 

“Mama Mia,” “Jersey Boys” and “Wicked” – however, “very 

few shows are like that. If The New York Times pans your 

show it’s over.”

 

So what can be done to buffet the winds of fate? “First you 



must make a smart choice in terms of projects, attract a good 

team and a great director. Then it takes good reviews, a good 

business strategy, a good marketing strategy,” and, yes, “dumb 

luck.” 


m

Defi ning Her Life



(continued from page 7)

Tell us your story!

We are seeking contributions for 

future issues of the magazine. Are you in:

 the food industry?

 law enforcement or 

fi re services?

 science, math or technology?

If you are, please contact Hope Ferguson, 

editor, at Hope.Ferguson@esc.edu.

2005 DONORS REPORT

Dear Friends,

Sincerely,

David L. Smith

Chairman, Empire State College Foundation 

Board of Directors

As the newly elected chairman of the Empire State College Foundation Board of Directors, 

I was delighted to learn that I would have the honor of introducing the 2005 Donors 

Report. First, I would like to recognize and thank the thousands of alumni, employees 

and friends who made gifts in 2005. The college is literally exploding with 

activity, from our new and exciting construction and renovation projects, to 

new program developments in the area of science and mathematics and the 

recent honoring of founding President Jim Hall. All of this activity requires 

an ever increasing demand for resources, and the recently announced capital 

campaign, Learners First: The Campaign for Empire State College is off to a 

terrifi c start thanks to all of you.

While this report focuses on the campaign, it should not be forgotten that 

the campaign ultimately represents the means by which we are seeking to 

accomplish one objective: providing a range of quality educational oppor-

tunities to adult students. Today “nontraditional education” and “online 

learning” are common alternatives to the classroom-based approach to 

education. However, when Empire State College was founded 35 years ago 

by then SUNY Chancellor Ernest L. Boyer, these terms had rarely been heard. 

Fortunately, Chancellor Boyer recognized the need for a new kind of insti-

tution and Empire State College has been providing fl exible instructional 

alternatives designed to meet the needs of working adults ever since. Today, 

with nearly 17,000 students enrolled, Empire State College is helping more adult learners 

than ever before.

Empire State College’s ability to expand and evolve to meet the needs of an ever-changing 

society is largely a due to the generosity of our alumni, employees and friends. Not only 

do your contributions provide direct support to help with the development of the college’s 

new programs and initiatives, they also serve to demonstrate to the world that Empire 

State College graduates recognize the importance of this distinctive institution.

On behalf of the Empire State College Foundation Board, I want to express my sincere 

thanks to each and every person and group listed in the following pages for your 

support of the college and its students. Your continued support is inspiring to us all.

David Smith

 

1



THE EMPIRE 

SOCIETY

Our sincerest gratitude 

is extended to the 

members of The Empire 

Society. With their gifts 

of $5,000 or more, 

these donors contrib-

uted 67 percent of the 

$1,054,033 received 

by the Empire State 

College Foundation. 

We are honored to have 

the support of these 

donors listed below.

Adirondack Trust 

Company

Morton Bahr ’83, ’95 

Frederick W. Baum 

Helen M. Baum 

Kathryn G. Boyer ’78 

Phillip B. Catchings 

Charitable Leadership 

Foundation

Communications Workers 

of America

Phyllis E. Dake Foundation

Phyllis E. Dake

Michael T. Dennis and 

JeanAnn Parish 

Bailey and Elaine Geeslin 

Sheldon L. Gleason ’77 

Doris Goldberg 

Price Chopper’s Golub 

Foundation

Colleen and Lewis Golub 

Stewart W. and Willma C. 

Hoyt Foundation, Inc.

John ’99 and 

Geri ’02 Huber 

James ’79 and 

Christine ’93 Karcher 

Alan and 

Marlene ’91 Kaufman 

Roger L. Kresge 

Foundation

Carol Kresge Polakovich 

Richard and Beth Liebich 

Long Island Community 

Foundation

Joseph ’80 and 

Laurel Anne Mancino 

The Masie Center

Elliott and Cathy Masie 

Stephen Keep Mills ’89 

New York Community 

Trust


Barbara A. O’Connell ’76 

A. Lindsay and Olive B. 

O’Connor Foundation

Richard Lounsbery 

Foundation

Roslyn Savings Foundation

David and Lynn Smith 

Stewart’s Shops

Susan and John Turben 

Family Foundation

Susan ’72 and John Turben

Monte and Hilda Trammer 

Verizon Foundation

T. Urling and 

Mabel ’79 Walker

 

THE HOUR 

SOCIETY

Gifts of $2,371 - 4,999

Robert B. Carey 

Community Foundation 

of Herkimer and 

Oneida Counties, Inc.

Annette and 

James Del Rossi ’96 

The Desmond

Joy, Mccoola and 

Zilch, Architects 

and Planners, P.C.

Joyce E. Elliott 

Gannett Foundation

Robert ’96 and 

Carol Johnson 

Conrad and Virginia Klee 

Foundation, Inc.

James and Lynn Malanson 

Joseph B. Moore and 

Beth Chiquoine

THE SCHOLAR

SOCIETY

Gifts of $1,181 - 2,370

Anonymous

Dina Beaumont 

Fernand Brunschwig 

Leslie G. Cohen 



Brenda L. 

Copeland ’92, ’94 

James Cornell ’02

John J. Corrou ’94 

Linda Rodgers Emory ’77 

GE Foundation

Hugh B. Hammett 

Hewlett Packard Company



Susan T. Hollis 

Jeremy Jones 

James W. Lytle 

William and 

Shirley McClary 

Claire M. Olds 

Chad ’99 and 

Catherine Roberts



Rodgers Family 

Foundation, Inc.

Edward G. Saueracker 

Claudia Shacter-

deChabert ’90 

Hugh Leo Walsh 



Virginia Weiss ’88 *

David C. Yamada ’99 

EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE

2005 Recognition Societies

The Empire Society 

$5,000 +

 

Recognizes those donors who contribute 



$5,000 or more in one fund year.

The Hour Society 

$2,371 - $4,999 

 

This society provides a unique opportunity for 



individuals to make a contribution equivalent 

to the cost of operating the entire college – its 

centers, units and programs – for one hour.

The Scholar Society 

$1,181 - $2,370

 

Donors in this category provide the funds



which represent the tuition and fees for a

half-time student at Empire State College.



The Kindred Society 

$563 - $1,180

Donors at this level are recognized for providing 

funds representative of the average cost of

childcare during a term for those students juggling 

their career and family responsibilities while 

pursuing their degree.



The Academic Society 

$390 - $562

 

Donors in this society provide the funds 



which represent the average cost of books 

and supplies for a full-time student for 

one 16-week session.

The Distinguished Alumni Society 

$170 - $389

Recognizes those donors who contribute 

$5 for each year since the college was 

founded in 1971.



The Mentor Society 

$114 - $169 

 

Established to recognize the unique and 



signifi cant relationship between student 

and mentor, donors at this level provide 

the funds which represent the average cost 

for a student to meet with his/her mentor 

three times.


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