‘Jeopardy!’ champ is self-described ‘specialized generalist’
by Prufer
Professor Donald Sloan has an impressive, 17-page resume of accomplishments in his field.
He has composed many works of symphonic, chamber and choral music, as well as scores for films and plays. He has been feted as the Ohio Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year (1998); he’s won the Young Composer Award (1986); and he’s had three recordings of CDs that feature his compositions. He was active in the field of computer music standards, and he is working on his third choral piece, this one for Coastal Carolina University’s Concert Choir, which will premiere in early 2015.
Sloan has four degrees and one certificate from five different higher education institutions, including the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France. The degrees are in music, music composition, systems science specializing in artificial intelligence, composition and solfege, a music education method that teaches pitch and sight-reading.
What is ... ?
But what people notice first on his vita is the last line: He was a three-time champion on the game show “Jeopardy!” 18 years ago in 1996.
“It changed my life in one day,” says Sloan, who is professor of music and director of the master’s degree program in liberal studies at CCU. “It has been useful to me professionally as it demonstrates broad knowledge in different disciplines. It’s a conversation starter whether at a job interview or a party.”
An early proficiency in mathematics and science helped form his broad knowledge base, but it also helps that Sloan is interested in everything, reads everything, knows how to figure the betting odds and is fast on his feet.
“It was incredible to be on the show with people who have the same penchant for broad knowledge,” says Sloan. “You have to keep your wits about you. My background in music helped a lot, too, in helping me deal with the performance aspect of a game show.”
His two deepest fears were both realized -- a “spectacular opponent who would buzzsaw me,” which happened, and board subjects such as the New Testament or saints (he’s Jewish), children’s literature (as a child he read adult literature) and European monarchy (not his thing). But, even with all that, he won three games and came home with $36,000 winnings before taxes.
With the prize money, the Sloans bought and restored a 1925 Steinway (“we call it the Jeporday Steinway”), paved the driveway, paid some bills and donated to charity.
“The ‘Jeopardy’ experience speaks to who I am,” says Sloan, whose degrees in composition and music theory are as specialized and technical as it gets. “At heart, I’m a generalist.”
Growing up genius
The generalist grew up on Long Island, N.Y., where he began guitar and music theory lessons at the age of 15.
“Music was a struggle for me, but it was the antidote for the expectations everyone had for me,” says Sloan, who had high IQ scores but was “very undisciplined and a behavioral problem.”
He taught himself classical guitar, which turned out to be “the kind of challenge that was emotionally satisfying.” Music also brought him out of his shyness and introversion.
He went on to study music composition because it was “something I thought I could do,” especially when invited to study with Nadia Boulanger in France – which turned out to be “a transformative experience” for the young scholar. He also studied at Cornell University with Karen Husa, and he worked with Henri Dutilleux and Robert Levin. Upon returning to America, he completed his formal education at the University of Michigan and at the Eastman School of Music.
Sloan came to CCU in 2008 after 16 years on the faculty at Ashland University in Ohio, where he was professor of music, chair of the music department and director of the theory and composition programs. Here, he has served as professor of music, chair of the department of music for four years and now director of the new liberal studies program.
Composing, however, will always be his first love, and he’s currently working on a choral piece for the University’s choral concert in the spring, inspired by Shakespearean works and dealing with unrequited love. It might be called “Two by12th.”
When asked his favorite composer or period, Sloan says he “likes them all,” but especially the late Romantic period with Sibelius and Mahler, as well as the modern period with Bartok and Stravinsky. But, he adds, he listens to a lot of jazz, especially bebop.
Hearing a piece he has composed being played or sung, Sloan is always surprised at how it sounds.
“You have your idea of how it will sound, but it’s never exactly how I imagined it. The work has its own existence.”
Sloan is married to Renee Jackson, also a musician, who plays piano and teaches piano, violin and a movement therapy called the Alexander Technique.
“If you write a novel, you can talk about what it’s about,” says Sloan. “Music tends to be more abstract. It has no less impact, but it’s hard to put into words how it makes you feel. And, it makes different people feel differently.”
