6 ARNOLD D. PICKAR, whose Portland State career began in 1963, died November 29, 2022, at the age of 95. A professor of physics, Professor Pickar was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 24, 1927. He joined the U.S. Merchant Marine as World War II was winding down and in 1948 graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy. In 1951 he completed a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University and received a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1951. Upon his retirement from Portland State, he was promoted to professor emeritus. He was an active member of Mazamas and scaled many of the Cascade Range peaks. He was a member of the First In memoriam: Arnold D. Pickar, 1927-2022 Unitarian Portland, which he joined when he moved to Portland. He remained deeply involved with the church for the rest of his life. Professor Pickar is survived by his wife of 51 years, Ann; daughter, Jennifer; and son, David. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, at First Unitarian, 1211 SW Main Street, Portland. TOMÁŠ SVOBODA, the French-born Czech composer who served Portland State for three decades as a professor of music, died November 17 in Portland. He was 82 years old. In an article in Oregon Artswatch following Professor Svoboda’s death, Brett Campbell wrote, “With the passing of Tomáš Svoboda last week, Oregon contemporary classical music loses its most powerful voice, and one of its most generous musical mentors… (T)he esteemed composer and pianist enriched Oregon arts through a wide range of evocative, moving compositions and the generations of students he taught and composers he inspired with his high artistic standards.” Professor Svoboda was born in Paris on December 6, 1939, to Antonin and Mila Svoboda. He spent the war years in Boston, where he began his musical education on the piano at age three. In 1946 his family returned to Prague, where he continued his music studies. He entered the Prague Conservatory in 1954 as its youngest student. In 1962, after graduating from the Prague Conservatory, he entered Prague’s Academy of Music. His family fled Czechoslovakia for the United States in 1964, and two years later—after marrying his fiancé, Jana Demartini, who also escaped Czechoslovakia—Professor Svoboda enrolled at the University of Southern California as a graduate student. He received a master’s degree with honors in 1969 and moved to Portland the following year with his wife and young son, Martin, to join the music faculty of Portland State, where he taught composition and music theory. He retired from In memoriam: Tomáš Svoboda, 1939-2022 full-time teaching in 1998 and was promoted to professor emeritus. Professor Svoboda composed more than 200 works, including six symphonies; orchestral, choral, and vocal works; and diverse works for large and small ensembles, string quartets, and solo instruments, especially piano. There have been more than 1,200 performances of his music. But in his Oregon Artswatch remembrance, Campbell pointed out that Professor Svoboda’s contribution transcends his compositions. “Along with his many PSU students, Svoboda played a crucial role in founding one of Oregon’s most vital artistic institutions, Cascadia Composers, and fighting to guarantee that it welcomed a broad range of composers and styles,” he wrote. “His open-minded, anti-elitist stamp ensured the organization’s continuing growth, vitality and inclusiveness.” In the same article, Bryan Johanson, professor emeritus of music at Portland State, said, “One memory I will always cherish is Tom playing piano at my wedding. It was 1989 at the First Unitarian Church. Tom played Handel, Gibbons, Bach and improvised some very lovely entrance and exit music. After the ceremony Tom came to Victoria and me and apologized for ‘dropping fist-fulls of notes. The floor beneath the piano will need to be cleaned.’” In 2012 Professor Svoboda suffered a major stoke. According to his website, tomassvobada.com, “(Although) he never lost his positive outlook on life, sense of humor or determined efforts to recover enough to compose again, it was not to be.” A celebration of life with music will be held in 2023. PSU Digital Archives Gallery PSU Digital Archives Gallery 1979 1964 RAPS SHEET n JANUARY 2023
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