Truth be told, Tom McHugh has had his fair share of painful exit interviews during his lifetime. But unlike many going through this institutional departure ritual, in McHugh’s case, it has always been his employers who have used this opportunity to plead with him one last time to change his mind.
That happened when he left a tenured position in the Education Department at Washington College in the late 1970s, and later when he became the youngest tenured faculty member to opt out of Vassar College’s exceedingly generous benefits program in the 1990s. And it happened once again a year ago when Tom gave notice to the Mainstay, which he had founded and directed since leaving higher education in 1995.
Perhaps like other gifted performers, Tom McHugh has always had a perfect sense of timing, and after twenty years of leading the Mainstay to a remarkable level of recognition and distinction, he decided it was time to bring in new leadership.
What that doesn’t mean is Tom heading to retirement nirvana in Florida anytime soon. Instead, as he discusses with the Spy, he has already made arrangement to create a mentoring program for young musicians in the Kent County Public School system.
During his most recent exit interview, McHugh talks about what his vision was for the Mainstay, his love for music, particularly jazz, and his desire to keep playing the songs he loves for quite some time.
This video is approximately six minutes in length
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