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Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Fraternity for the Advancement of Music in the Community, Nation, and World.
Triangle VOLUME 115
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A samples from the original score of Octet by Henry Woollett.
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FEATURES
8 A Second Chance After more than 100 years, Woollet’s Octet is resurrected by Ian Wiese 12 We Got Rhythm! By Ellen Ritscher Sackett with Ann Geiler A St. Louis Area Alumni chapter project 18 An Accompanying Career: Music in Partnership by Ann Gibbens Davis 23 Welcome back Alpha Gamma! The chapter is reinstated at University of Southern Mississippi
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President’s Message: Forging Ahead by Rosemary Ames
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Alumni Corner: Convention Plus by Marcus Wyche
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Musings: Seize the Day by Ian Wiese
Fraternity Mission Statement: Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Music Fraternity is a coeducational fraternity whose aim is the advancement of music in the community, nation, and world through the promotion of musicianship, scholarship, and music education, with emphasis on service through music. EDITOR Ellen Ritscher Sackett editor@muphiepsilon.org DESIGN & PRODUCTION Paul Wilson thetriangle@muphiepsilon.org Send all material for publication to: Ellen Ritscher Sackett, editor@muphiepsilon.org or by mail to 10921 River Road College Station, TX 77845 All materials submitted for publication become the property of Mu Phi Epsilon. Requests for return are accepted and must be accompanied with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Electronic transmissions are preferred. Photos must be the original digital file and as high resolution as possible. Images copied from social media are not acceptable. Please include photographer’s credit information. All photographs are published courtesy of the contributor unless photographer credit is provided. Deadlines for submissions: Fall — August 15 Winter — December 1 Spring — February 15 Summer — May 1 Change of address, renewals, notice of deceased members, requests for extra copies and subscription requests should be sent to: Mu Phi Epsilon International Executive Office 4011 N Pennsylvania St #100 Indianapolis, IN 46205 toll free: 888-259-1471 fax: 888-855-8670 email: executiveoffice@muphiepsilon.org The Triangle is published 4 times per year by Mu Phi Epsilon, International Professional Music Fraternity. Member, Professional Fraternity Association. (ISSN 0041-2600) (Volume 114, Issue 4) Subscription price is $20.00 per year. Single copies are $8.00. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the United States of America.
DEPARTMENTS
22 Applause & Encore: Member and Chapter News
POSTMASTER: Send all changes of address to: Mu Phi Epsilon, 1611 County Road, B West, Suite 320, St. Paul, MN 55113.
24 Final Notes: Compiled by Ann Gibbens Davis and Ann Geiler
© 2021 Mu Phi Epsilon. All rights reserved.
26 District Directors Directory 27 Executive Officers Directory
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PRESIDENT’S M E S S A G E
ROSEM ARY AM ES, IN T ER N AT I O N A L P R E S I D E N T, O M E G A , B OSTO N A LU M N I P R ESI D ENT@ MU P H I E P S I LO N .O R G
FORGING AHEAD t is hard to believe that, as we round the corner into spring, we find ourselves facing the same questions (and no easy answers) that we wrestled with last year regarding whether or not to proceed with the convention! It reminds me of the movie, “Groundhog Day”, where the same day plays over and over. The past year has been a challenge for all of us, but I choose to believe that we have come through the year stronger, maybe even smarter, than we were before. After surveying our members, it became clear that few of us are quite ready to jump on those airplanes and fly off to Dallas for an in-person convention this July. Having a convention with no attendees does not sound very enticing. So once again, we have negotiated with the hotel in Grapevine, Texas, and rescheduled our in-person convention until July 19–22, 2023. (Notice it really will be 2023!) In the meantime, we have something exciting in the planning stages — the first all-virtual Mu Phi Epsilon convention, this coming summer, July 21–24, 2021. Yes, mark that on your calendar right now and plan to join us and fellow Mu Phi’s across the country, as we virtually come together to celebrate our music and friendships. By now, many of you may have attended virtual conferences and most surely virtual meetings. We are working to plan and execute a fabulous virtual event full of the usual convention music, presentations, workshops, and business and know you will not want to miss a single minute. This past year has held so many surprises for me. We were all worried a year ago about how Mu Phi could continue without our members being together in person. How would our collegiate chapters rush? How would they hold meetings? How would they perform rituals if they were not together? It has been amazing to see that we need not have worried at all. What creative and energetic collegiates we have! Collegiates have continued to rush, train, and initiate new members at a staggering rate. As the rituals were updated to include virtual options, we have discovered that ceremonies can be performed with reverence and meaning and be special Mu Phi moments for all. I have been especially impressed by virtual rush week activities! What creativity. More and more of our collegiate chapters post their successes on social media, and it is a joy to read and share their triumphs.
Alumni chapters have been amazing as well, continuing to teach, perform, and present wonderful musical concerts that reach much farther than just a local chapter. Alumni members coast to coast can come together with amazing results. When Haley Stevenson accepted the position of social media director, she had no idea that the pandemic would throw her into the fire! She has helped guide Mu Phi’s social media presence and encouraged us to keep the connection with each other and music. What a jewel she is. Haley will be posting updates regarding the convention and how you can be a part of everything. As we dive deeper into the planning for our first virtual convention, you will be learning more about how you can participate and join in the business, education and fun. Keep in mind that this is our first time doing this, and we will be learning as we go, so be patient. We are committed to bringing a valuable experience for all members and hope that you will encourage all your members to set aside the dates, from July 21–24, 2021, to be part of the adventure. As always, remember our common bonds of Music, Friendship, and Harmony, and reach out to fellow members, friends, and family to receive and give support.
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A LUM N I C O R N E R
BY MARCUS WYCH E, T HIR D V IC E P R ES I D E N T/A LU MN I A DV I S O R D E LTA D E LTA , WAS H I N GTO N DC ALUMNI A LUM NI A DV I S O R @ MU P H I E P S I LO N .O R G
CONVENTION PLUS re you excited for convention? In these changing times, Mu Phi Epsilon is doing something unprecedented — facilitating an all-virtual international convention. The preparations are well underway. If you have not decided on convention, I encourage you to register and attend. Our Mu Phi “family reunion” is inexpensive and requires no travel. True, in-person interaction deepens fellowship and fraternal bonds in a unique way. But with the right balance of technology, acclimation, and imagination, I believe a virtual convention experience is a singular (and fun!) opportunity for more members to engage and connect with Mu Phi as we conduct business and facilitate convention programs. The pandemic has forced our society and Fraternity to approach our 21st-century world differently and adapt. To think outside the box. To innovate. After the pandemic, a higher percentage of our labor force will telework; our schools and colleges are bound to increase remote instruction; artists will continue to find savvy ways to perform and display their work to far away audiences; social movements and political campaigns will blend old-school organizing with lightning-fast dissemination of information and calls to action. I imagine future conventions and Mu Phi gatherings looking different. Online elements — live-streaming, virtual chats and workshops, et cetera — will likely become regular features of our conventions and district conferences. Members will regularly, even casually, videoconference across districts and provinces. Chapters will shift recruiting to prospective members with skill sets in computer science, online sound design, and social media. The horses have left the barn. The game has changed and will continue in ways we cannot predict. Will all this happen overnight? No. Is all of it inevitable? Probably. Do we have to embrace every change? No. But, looking beyond the pandemic’s “great pause” in our world, there will be tools and methods we can use to complement and enhance our in-person music and service, so as to keep pace with the practical needs and realities necessary to keep our Fraternity relevant and thriving. Change, like human interaction, can be uneasy, with outcomes for good or ill. But with change and a modified 4
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normalcy comes opportunity. The all-virtual convention will have our Fraternity’s signature trappings of workshops, music performances, and official business. It’s likely we’ll have an almost entirely new International Executive Board, but I don’t expect any controversial issues or earth-shattering changes in policy. Rather, I estimate the focus will be on resetting our fraternal GPS. All the same, I imagine this convention will signal the beginning of new directions in how Mu Phi goes about what it does. Departures over time in how we’ve traditionally done things may, for us, be the most radical outcome of all in this age of change. As a closing thought, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the International Executive Board for its dedication, expertise, and collective wit and wisdom; the Alumni chapters and District Directors for your patience, support, and work at the local levels; and you, the members, for your loyalty to Mu Phi Epsilon and embodying the ideals of Music, Friendship, and Harmony. Looking forward to “seeing” you at the convention!
MUSINGS IAN WIESE , B E TA , B OSTO N A LU M N I , I A N W E I S E .CO M
SEIZE THE DAY I get it. The world right now has been completely turned upside down. COVID-19 forced us all indoors, sitting on computers using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet day in and day out, going to classes while our schools stayed completely closed. We hid in our holes, practicing our instruments or using tools like Easy Virtual Choir or different video editing suites to make virtual performances. If you got lucky enough, maybe you were able to work with some of your close friends or housemates to perform in ad hoc ensembels through GroupMuse on Zoom. Music, at least how we knew it, stopped. That’s all starting to change now. With the vaccine rollout moving along across the U.S., by summer, we should all be on track to return to in-person school come Fall 2021. We will see our friends again, sit with our colleagues in classes, and perform in orchestras, wind ensembles, choirs, and chamber groups. With this return to normal comes a great opportunity for Mu Phi Epsilon, should you, as collegiate members, seize it. We as musicians and friends crave connection and being a part of a large group. Mu Phi Epsilon is a large group of musicians and friends, all working in harmony to further the causes of music, education, and therapy, beginning with our own community and extending through the rest of the world (sound familiar?). I see this as a match that needs to be made, not only for Mu Phi Epsilon as a fraternity but for all of us as musicians and colleagues. When we are back in person again, drive up your membership. Bring in new students at your schools to your chapters. Go out into the community and volunteer as much as you possibly can. Perform a Mu Phi Epsilon recital at your schools; if you can, make it a benefit concert to whatever charity you want to donate to (you will get lots of support if you donate to frontline workers). Make Mu Phi a presence at your school, for the first time if not once again. The end of COVID lockdowns presents a unique opportunity for all of us to expand our chapters, gain new friends, and bring music back with a lion’s roar.
I know it’s been tough. It’s been tough for me, for you, for all of us. If we put our minds to it, though, we can get back to normal, or something even better than what was once our normal. I know we can do this. Will you join us all in this good cause? Mu Phi Epsilon as a whole will thank you for it if you do. Other musicians will thank you. You, in time, will also thank you for your work. We can do this.
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The Mu Phi Epsilon
2021 Virtual International Convention Wednesday, July 21 Saturday, July 24, 2021
Zoomin
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At this time, the Fraternity is working on a revised schedule and fee structure. It is our hope to get this information published and communicated with the membership as soon as possible. Please check the website regularly for updates. On behalf of the IEB, thank you for your patience and support. 6
Rosemary Ames International President MuPhiEpsilon.org
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Elise Coolidge Hall was among America’s first prominent female saxophonists.
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BY I A N W I E S E
Second Chance Woollett’s Octet is resurrected over a hundred years after it was composed
School archives, amidst documents and pictures pertinent to the school along with random odds and ends, sometimes turn up unique and unusual gems of pieces that never got a chance. New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, has many such of these pieces as part of the Elise Coolidge Hall Collection. Saxophonists know this name immediately, but the rest of the performance crowd might not know just how influential and important Hall actually was and the legacy she left behind for the development and propagation of the saxophone as a serious instrument. It was in this collection that I found one excellent but unknown piece for an unusual instrumentation, and over time I gave it a second chance at life: Octet for oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, and string quintet by French composer Henry Woollett.
Radnofsky-Couper Editions published the Woollett Octet in 2020.
ELISE HALL Discussion of this piece cannot come without discussing the woman for whom it was written: Elise Coolidge Hall, arts patron and among America’s first prominent female saxophonists. She was a daughter of the elite Coolidge family from Boston. Born into wealth and passionate for the arts, a change in her life pushed her into active performance. While away from Boston in Santa Barbara, California, after marrying noted surgeon Richard Hall, Elise Hall began to suffer hearing loss, and her doctor recom-
mended taking up a wind instrument in order to blow out the tubes in her ears so that her hearing would not degrade further. While in Santa Barbara, Hall began her musical training; she could only find one musician in the area, however, and he played an instrument seen as only a novelty at the time: the saxophone. Upon her husband’s death, Hall and her children returned to Boston and performed in amateur socialite music circles. She began studying the saxophone with prominent Boston-based SPRING 2021
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oboist George Longy, who was principal oboe for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (now most known as the namesake of Longy School of Music at Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts). Longy founded a group of musicians in Boston known as The Longy Club, which gave performances of newly commissioned and previously established French music throughout Boston (although their programs consisted of French and non-French music). Hall used her wealth to further the arts, and she especially used this opportunity to commission new works for the saxophone. She worked with both The Longy Club and an organization that she herself founded, the Boston Orchestral Club, to cultivate a library of serious music for the new instrument.
viola, violoncello, and double bass.
OCTET
The piece follows a symphonic structure of a sonata-allegro first movement, an adagio second movement, a scherzo ternary form third movement, and a rondo-like fourth movement. The first movement echoes Beethoven in its use of C minor to establish an intense mood followed by a more lyrical and less intense second theme that develops progressively throughout. The second movement reduces the instrumentation to the string quintet with small solos from the alto saxophone, using major seventh chords and other harmonic extensions to create a beautiful yet aching melody. As the alto saxophone enters, Woollett contrasts the material with melodic fragments that play with the difference between C major THE ELISE HALL and C minor, harmonically COLLECTION AT Elise Coolidge Hall used her wealth to further the arts, and expanding the piece without the NEW ENGLAND she especially used this opportunity to commission new need for chord extensions. The works for the saxophone. CONSERVATORY third movement returns to C These compositions represent a breadth of Boston-area minor and contrasts it with A-flat major, creating a relatively basic composers that Hall was friends with along with the music of but harmonically adventurous ternary structure; it also represents European composers, both minor and major. Arguably the most some of the most active material for the woodwinds compared to famous of all these pieces is Rhapsodie for Orchestra and Saxophone the other two movements. The last movement, after starting very by Claude Debussy. Although Hall never performed this piece (it quietly and intensely with the alto saxophone, clarinet, and viola, premiered 18 years later to mixed reviews), it entered the standard accelerates into a dance-like allegro, occasionally recalling earlier repertoire for saxophonists. Several of these other works, however, movements to give the piece a sense of completeness and finality received only one performance and then were shelved. before ending rather abruptly. Woollett was the most harmonical Among these pieces was one by a lesser-known composer ly adventurous in this movement, exploring whole-tone scales as named Henry Woollett. Woollett was both a composer and a method to move between distant keys and delineate changes in musicologist that founded a satellite school of the Schola Canthe form. torum in Le Havre, France. He studied piano with Raoul Pugno Woollett delivered the score and The Longy Club performed it and composition with Jules Massenet, but primarily, but we know for the first time on New Year’s Day 1912, in the heart of Boston him today primarily for his pedagogy and his articles on music at New England Conservatory of Music’s Jordan Hall. According during his lifetime. Hall commissioned him to write a piece for to the program, the large newly commissioned work opened the her and The Longy Club for a performance in Boston during the evening concert and joined Five Pieces, Op. 83 of Max Bruch for 1911-1912 season. Woollett composed a lengthy four-movement clarinet, viola, and piano and 3 Aquarelles Hollandaises by Chrissuite for eight players, representing three woodwinds and a string tiaan Kreins for 10 woodwind players and tubular bells. Reviewers quintet: oboe, clarinet in B , alto saxophone in E , two violins, generally took favorably to the new piece, especially praising the 10 MuPhiEpsilon.org
lyricism and expressiveness of the second movement. Interestingly, one reviewer for The Boston Globe published on January 2, 1912, described the piece as having “nothing ‘ultra’ in it, but…[having] a way of avoiding the commonplace, which is at once stimulating and restful.” After that, there were no more recorded performances of the Woollett Octet. The piece’s manuscripts and parts entered the Hall’s private collection and never were performed again to the best of our knowledge. After Hall died, her heirs placed her manuscript collection on loan to New England Conservatory, intending on retrieving it after an untold amount of time. Eventually, however, New England Conservatory assumed ownership of the manuscripts permanently, establishing The Elise Hall Collection of Saxophone Music by 20th-Century Composers.
THE PERFORMANCE EDITION Come 2018, I, as a student of New England Conservatory, enter the picture. As part of a class assignment, I had to appraise the quality of a manuscript from the NEC Archives that had a modern-edition score to compare it with. This assignment introduced me to the materials that were part of the Elise Hall Collection, for I appraised Ballade Carnavalesque for flute, oboe, alto saxophone, bassoon, and piano by composer and turn-of-the-century Boston Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Charles Martin Loeffler. While perusing the archive listing, I happened across a piece near the end of the listing that appeared to never have had a modern score created. I began to investigate and discovered a copyist score and seven of the eight parts for Octet; interestingly, the saxophone part was missing in its entirety, while thankfully still being represented on the score. I examined the copyist manuscript and determined that, at least by the quality of the first movement, this piece would be interesting to explore further. I then requested and received a PDF copy of the manuscript. From there, I worked diligently to engrave about half of the first movement in a notation software to get an idea of whether or not I should continue with this unknown piece. Pressing play on the notation program’s playback software confirmed my suspicions: Not only was this wild card manuscript good, it was really good. I then completed the first movement and began the first half of the second movement before unfortunately having to put the piece down to focus on my own compositions and studies. Then came COVID-19. All of our musical responsibilities collectively ended overnight. Suddenly, I had as much time as I wanted, in between reduced intensity classes and a loss of commissions that freed up my composition time. I had the chance I did not exactly know I wanted but deep down knew I needed. Within a week, I spent night after night meticulously engraving the remaining second movement and the entireties of both the third and fourth movement, even as the copyist hand changed and became quite messier than the initial copyist. Before I knew
it, I had the whole piece engraved, and after purchasing a license for NotePerformer, I listened to the piece that had not been heard in more than 100 years. Suffice to say, it was a magnificent experience. I am proud to say that out of the dustbin of history, I was able to give the work another chance at life. Once complete, I communicated with the archive curator and saxophone professor at New England Conservatory, Kenneth Radnofsky, and showed him the final product. Radnofsky then offered to publish this newly created performance edition with his publishing company, Radnofsky-Couper Editions, which he did in 2020. Now, 109 years after its inception, Octet by Henry Woollett can receive performances by a new generation of saxophonists. By the time of publication of this article, it will have had its online premiere as part of saxophonist Megan Dillon’s second doctoral recital at New England Conservatory supported, in part, by the Boston Woodwind Society. After all this time, it will finally receive the audience it so richly deserves. To hear this piece and purchase either a digital or print copy, please visit the Radnofsky-Couper Editions website at rceditions. com.
Ian Wiese (Lambda, Beta, Boston Alumni) is a multi-faceted composer based out of Quincy, Massachusetts, whose works are a “captivating mix of busy and sparce,” according to Boston Musical Intelligencer. Ensembles including loadbang, Imani Winds, Box Not Found, Kalliope Reed Quintet, and Sputter Box have performed his music. Recently, Wiese was awarded prizes in the 2021 NEC Merz Trio Competition, Nightingale Ensemble Young Composers Commissioning Program, 2020 Mu Phi Epsilon International Convention Call for Scores and Musicological Research Competition, 2019 Mu Phi Epsilon Original Composition Competition, Ball State University Xenharmonic Music Alliance Call for Scores, and Ithaca College Jack Downey Vocal Composition Prize among others. He is currently working on commissions and collaborations with Les Nons Triolets, Jamaica Plains Saxophone Quartet, and trumpeter Daniel Venglar. Wiese’s music has been heard at EPCOT Center at The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. His works are published by Radnofsky-Couper Editions, TrevCo Music Publishing, and North Star Music Publishing. He is currently working on a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in composition at New England Conservatory with composer John Heiss. Visit ianwiese.com.
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Photos: Courtesy of the St. Louis Area Alumni chapter
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BY E L L E N R I TS C HE R SAC K E T T WITH ANN GEILER
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thm! Kindergarten students from Danforth Elementary School enjoy their new rhythm instruments.
The St. Louis Area Alumni chapter makes thousands of homemade percussion instruments for children ast fall, the St. Louis Area Alumni of Mu Phi Epsilon discovered a need — rhythm instruments for underserved communities and special needs institutions. “I was on Facebook, and a general music teacher showed a picture of instruments she was making because students could not share instruments with each other,” says Ann Geiler, Phi Theta, president of the St. Louis Area Alumni chapter. Before the pandemic, children could shake, rattle, and play along with the music using percussion instruments during class and swapping with other students, but because of touch-point issues and safety protocols due to COVID-19, this activity had to be put on hold. Geiler saw this need to provide percussive instruments to each child as an opportunity for the chapter to get involved. She reached out to some colleagues to see if they, too, were interested. “They jumped at the opportunity,” she says. Geiler then made a proposal to the chapter to see who would support the project and help make instruments. She says, “It was approved, and we were off!” “I researched making rhythm instruments on the internet, and then started pricing and checking the availability of materials,” Geiler says. “A few of the instruments went through transformations due to the availability of supplies or figuring out they could be used another way.” Many of the instruments were “trial and error,” Geiler says, and some were created from directions that she found on the internet. “Many members did not want to get together to craft, so Vice President Linda McNair and I made kits with the supplies and directions and delivered them to members SPRING 2021
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Photos: Courtesy of the St. Louis Area Alumni chapter
Second graders from Danforth Elementary School make music with rhythm instruments made by the St. Louis Area Alumni chapter.
These rhythm instruments were donated to Ferguson Florissant School District for its pre-school program. 14 MuPhiEpsilon.org
so they could work at home.” Eight of the 25-member chapter participated in the actual crafting of the instruments, while many of the other members donated the necessary funds to purchase the supplies. During the course of the fall and winter, the crafter members made a whopping 4,000 rhythm instruments, which they gave to more than 20 organizations in total: two early childhood music programs, including one through the St. Louis Symphony; Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, which serves children with life-threatening illnesses; a senior citizen home; a music therapy program; an after-school program; and 15 elementary school program. Geiler contacted each institution to find out what instruments they could use and how many. “We did not limit the number of instruments or how many we gave each group,” she says. “The institutions had the choice of the following instruments: jingle bell strips, shaker eggs, maracas, washer cymbals, two-lid cymbals, one lid and beater to make a drum, and pool noodle sand blocks,” Geiler says. Maracas were made from spoons, plastic eggs and rice, and sand blocks were created from recycled pool noodles. Shaker bottles were filled with craft rice and glued shut, and they sent stickers along so that each individual could decorate their own bottle. The St. Louis Area Alumni chapter partnered with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Volunteer Association (SVA) to provide
From left to right: Elaine Repking, Beta Iota; Ann Geiler, Phi Theta; and Daniel Shavers, Epsilon Tau, show off their homemade instruments that are ready to go. SPRING 2021
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Photos: Courtesy of the St. Louis Area Alumni chapter
Linda McNair, Omega Omega; Ann Geiler, Phi Theta; and Sarah Ruddy, coordinator for the pre-school program for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), deliver instrument kits to Powell Hall, home of the SLSO.
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A close-up view of some of the rhythm instruments made by the St. Louis Area Alumni chapter.
take-home instrument packages for children who participate in “Symphony In Your School-Junior,” the organization’s pre-K early childhood outreach program. The St. Louis Area Alumni chapter provided 200 hundred instrument kits for the collaborative effort that included sand blocks, jingle bell strips, maracas, lids and beaters. The program coordinator commented, “This is amazing! Thank you so much for doing this — and so quickly! I can’t wait to get the kids making music with these kits!” SVA created additional types of instruments: sewn bean bags filled with rice or beans, and tin cans that could be transformed into a drum or guiro, with notches, that when scraped make a rachet sound. They also provided handmade scarves for the children to dance with, according to an article that was published in the January 21, 2021, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra newsletter. The St. Louis Area Alumni chapter received many notes of appreciation from various teachers from the different schools. “Thank you so much for the pool noodles sand blocks. I have been using them with my special population, and they love them,” said Janet Harding, a teacher from Ostmann Elementary School. Stephanie Engelmeyer, a teacher at Moline Elementary School, wrote Geiler: “I really appreciate all the work you and the Fraternity have gone through to help my students,” she said. “Thanks for this opportunity. It is an amazing gift.” To find out more about how your chapter can make homemade instruments, contact Ann Geiler at stlalumnimpe@gmail.com. Make Your Own Spoon Maracas
Make Your Own Maraca Materials needed: Plastic egg Popcorn kernels (unpopped) or rice (uncooked) 2 plastic spoons Masking tape (colored) Glue Fill the egg 1/2 way with popcorn or rice. Glue the two egg halves together Put the egg between the spoons Wrap tape around the spoons, both at the bottom and at the top, and around both the spoons and egg. You now have a colorful maraca to shake to the rhythm of your favorite song!
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BY A N N G I BBE N S DAV I S
The Accompanying Career: Music in Partnership Editor’s Note: This excellent article was first published in The Triangle in the Fall 1976 issue and is as relevant today as it was then. Only minor updates have been made to the original story. The author’s original bio has been replaced with a current one. An accompanying career opens the door to one of the most varied and satisfying areas in the music profession. Accompanying is an old as mankind — early man used drums to accompany his own voice — but not until Schubert, the innovator, did accompanying become an art. It is richly rewarding, ranging from the simple piano accompaniment to the higher levels of professional accompanying, vocal coaching, and chamber music. It demands special aptitudes, training, and insight. Success requires sensitive ears, a sensitive musical intellect, and last but not least, that repository of all human feelings — a heart. Accompanying is a complex acquired art. It is partially true that an accompanist is born and not made, but the skills required for a successful career must be learned. Command of an exceptionally large repertoire ranging from the enormous song literature for all voices through solo and chamber music for stings and woodwinds to opera, oratorio and symphonic reductions comes only with education and experience. Guidance by others along the road to proficiency is important, but the initiative to learn must come from within the individual. Many of the necessary skills are learned by experience alone. Choice of this career should be made with the firm conviction that accompanying is a highly worthy art. It should not be considered second best to solo piano performing. The role should be thought of as a partnership with the soloist, not as subservient to them. The field of accompanying offers the pianist who has never before worked in partnership with another musician a world of infinite variety and rewarding relationships.
DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS Not all pianists are good accompanists. There are differences in aptitudes, areas of concentration, and a frequent inability on the part of the solo pianist to play a more subordinate role. The early stages of development of the solo pianist and the accompanist are, however, alike: both must acquire highly refined technical skills in finger development and body movement — fluid finger dexterity and the right proportion of arm and body weight. Both must know how to use their instrument: the piano is a percussive instrument and at times percussive sounds are desired; however, it 18 MuPhiEpsilon.org
need not sound as if played with hammers. More often a warm, resonant sound is required, achieved by proper arm and body weight and by listening and thinking a singing line — molding the piano in a lyric way. The piano’s sound then becomes an extension of the accompanist’s inner thinking. Although technical demands vary with the types of accompanying, a good technical foundation is desirable for all accompanists. While many vocal accompaniments do not require the highly developed technique necessary for solo instrumental accompaniments and chamber music, a mature accompanist must be prepared for all types of situations. The technical equipment of the accompanist requires additional skills not usually needed by the piano soloist. A good accompanist must be an excellent sight-reader. Their mind must be alert to recognize instantly the patterns of passages written on the page and at virtually the same instant translate them into finger patterns. Playing large quantities of literature will help one achieve sight-reading proficiency. In most instances sight-reading ability is more important to a professional accompanist than to a solo pianist, whose work generally culminates in memorization. Not so for the accompanist, who has less opportunity to become familiar with the music to be played. The rehearsal accompanist in particular is paid for proficiency in sight-reading. They should need only a little time to look over the music; a few seconds on each page should be sufficient to recognize difficult passages. Other necessary skills include a working knowledge of transposition. Not all persons have the gift of transposing by ear, but transposition by clefs and by intervals can be learned through practice. An accompanist seeking to give full scope to his professional opportunities should also obtain experience in playing the harpsichord and the organ. There is often a need for a skilled harpsichord player in Baroque music. Even wider opportunities are open to organists. Authoritative knowledge of styles is particularly important to an accompanist. The same elements that determine the style of a composition should determine its style of performance: melody, rhythm, and form, as well as type of composition (sonata, verse,
This photograph was taken in 1948, just after Ann Gibbens had won a solo competition. She was 16 years old.
program piece), composer (Bach, Schubert), and period (Baroque, Romantic). Differences in style cannot be learned from the study of a single composition; they are learned from comparative studies of the elements of music and the music itself. Performance style also includes the musical practice of the period at the time the composition was written as well as the musical practice of today. Accompanying vocalists poses special problems. When working with a singer, the accompanist must be confident in their knowledge of styles, texts, translations, and performance practices. The accompanist paints a picture in sound, evokes a mood inspired by the words. Failure to understand the text will make the accompaniment meaningless. Sound reaches the audience before the meaning of the text can register. We embrace the listener, infusing him with our feelings and concepts.
THE ROLE OF THE COACH The extension of the accompanist role to that of a musical coach for singers and instrumentalists is relatively recent. Few accompanists possess sufficient pedagogical skills to qualify for the coaching role. The musical development of the accompanist and coach is the same. Their professional focus, however, is different. The coach has a teaching role, although it is not the same as that of a voice teacher. An accompanist may do some coaching, but
usually in the short time of a few rehearsals. A coach works with a musician over a much longer period. The accompanist is primarily concerned with the finesse of his own playing, shadings of touch, and the give and take between the artist and himself. The coach concentrates on psychological, pedagogical and interpretative aspects of his relationship with the artist.1 Coaching requires a knowledge of repertoire and languages. Most often it involves training a singer for recitals and other performances, rehearsing operas, and choruses until the time of performance, when the conductor takes over, and less often the teaching of instrumental soloists. The coach guides and advises the singer in the development of every shade of dynamics, diction, nuances of interpretation and on occasion even stage deportment. They must be able to recognize every characteristic of the singer’s vocal instrument and suggest suitable repertoire to fit instrument and personality. Often, they are directly responsible for selecting the recital program. A coach’s temperament is important. It must be one that works well with singers and other musicians at all times in order to bring out the best in their personalities. Both coach and accompanist must approach the soloist with a cheerful, supportive attitude, which will encourage the soloist to be flexible and open to suggestion. Together, their efforts will lead to a high level of artistry. Artistry in performance can be achieve to some degree at most levels of learning. Difficult to describe, it is a combination of SPRING 2021
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talent, personality, sensitivity, and style. Talent cannot be taught; it is inborn and can be only guided and nurtured. With sensitivity — the ability to incorporate feelings into art — there can be no artistry. Art can emerge from the anticipation of the soloist’s intentions, recognition of their strengths and shortcomings, and support of their fullest efforts.
RAPPORT IN PARTNERSHIP The necessity for good rapport with the soloist cannot be over-emphasized. In the rehearsal studio the free exchange of ideas between accompanist and both vocal and instrumental soloists is important. Each gives the other psychological support and inspiration. A number of problems must be faced and resolved in rehearsal before a high-performance level can be reached. The sensitive accompanist is able to respond to the singer’s many moods, recognize their style, tempo, and concepts of the songs, anticipate where mistakes might be made, as in slightly varied repetitive patterns, and be able to adjust quickly to the singer’s errors. This responsiveness to the soloist’s needs must become almost telepathic. To develop acute awareness of these idiosyncrasies, an accompanist must play with as many soloists as possible. New problems constantly arise and the more varied the experience, the easier it will be to recognize and cope with them automatically. Accompanying instrumentalists is more difficult and requires greater perception than accompanying vocalists because of the large number of solo instruments, the differences in their physical properties, and the subtleties and nuances of each. The instrumental accompanist should acquire a knowledge of the acoustical properties of the instruments — woodwinds, brass, and strings — their mechanical structures, fingerings, bowings. This can be obtained in several ways. One can actually learn to play the instruments, be a studio accompanist, or avail oneself of masterclasses and coaching sessions offered by other performing artists. In masterclasses, one gains insights into performance and instrument techniques as well as styles. The relationship between accompanist and instrumentalist differs according to whether they are playing sonatas or instrumental solo literature. In sonatas there is total equality, but it is more difficult to overcome problems of technique, tone, color, blending and balance. Sonatas also require more rehearsal to work out nuances of shading and interpretation in order to reach an artistic level of performance. Partnership with a competent artist can be an exhilarating experience. The playing of solo literature is different, as the accompaniment is often only the background for the soloist. This type of literature varies from virtuoso works to more sentimental and melodic pieces. The former is easier to play but requires that the accompanist be acutely aware of technical passages and variances in tempo if the accompaniment is to be flawless. The latter requires that the accompaniment match the tone quality of the instrument so that the two achieve a high degree of sonority together. In both chamber and solo literature, the accompaniment must be articulate and sensitive. Whatever the instrument, a good accompanist will learn by listening when to be subordinate and when to blend with 20 MuPhiEpsilon.org
the instrumentalist. Listening cannot be emphasized enough. The greatest problem confronting an accompanist in performing with different instruments is the difference in balance and technique each requires. For instance, when playing with a cellist, the principal problem is balance. The cello, like a bass voice, can easily be covered and therefore requires accompaniment at appropriate dynamic levels. It is also easy for a pianist to cover the sound of the lower stings of the violin. When the violin is played on the much more penetrating higher strings, it is almost impossible for the piano to be too loud. Again, the ears of the pianist tell them how to accommodate the needs of tone, touch, and shading. A high degree of sensitivity to the subtleties of the string player’s bowings is needed, and more rehearsing is necessary to achieve unity of performance. With wind players, it is important to know the mechanical properties of each instrument and their resonating qualities. An accompanist must also be conscious of the wind soloist’s breath patterns so that the accompaniment can match their phrasing. Perhaps the least appreciated task in this profession is the playing of piano transcriptions of orchestral reductions, frequently required for concert, opera, choral and dance accompaniments, where the piano substitutes for a large orchestra. Usually there are far too many notes to play, even for the best pianist, requiring the accompanist to make further reductions as he goes along. This requires that the accompanist know the original orchestral score in order to recognize the important lines that should be played.
THE PERFORMANCE When the finished product is ready for performance, the demeanor of the accompanist becomes important to the soloist. Before going on stage, it should be one of confidence and quiet composure, which will give the soloist a feeling of security in the support expected as well as in his own abilities. The music should have been adequately prepared by both artists in rehearsals; concert time is no time for last minute changes by either. At all times, the accompanist should show steadiness, helpful to any soloist who is the least bit insecure. Balance of sound is primarily the responsibility of the accompanist. The problems are new with each performance: size of room and its construction properties, whether it is heavily draped, the carrying qualities of the voice or instrument in the room, and of course the individual characteristics of the piano. Concentration is essential in order to anticipate any errors by the soloist and to avoid distraction by the audience. Playing the music should look easy. The accompanist’s appearance should be consistent with that of the soloist and the music. The audience will appreciate difficult accompaniments only if performed in good taste and in harmony with the mood. Moments of great inspiration happen in performances that never happen in rehearsal. This is a very exhilarating experience. The true spirit of ensemble can be obtained when partners think of the performance in terms of the music itself instead of themselves in their individual roles.
1 Kurt Adler, in his Art of Accompanying and Coaching, gives some excellent insights into the role of the coach and his or her relationship with the singer and instrumentalist.
FURTHER READING There are few major pedagogical texts for learning the skills of accompanying. Some of the best readings are semi-auto biographical. Perhaps the best available sources include the following.
“ The true spirit of ensemble can be obtained when partners think of the performance in terms of the music itself instead of themselves in their individual roles.” — Ann Gibbens Davis
Adler, Kurt. The Art of Accompanying and Coaching. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971. Bos, Coenraad V. The Well-Tempered Accompanist. Bryn Mawr, PA.: Theodore Presser Col, 1949. Lehman, Lotte. More than Singing. New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1945. Moore, Gerald. Singer and Accompanist. New York: MacMillan, 1954. __________. The Unashamed Accompanist. London: Methuen and Col, Ltd., 1959.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES The opportunities open to accompanists are many and varied. Some of the full-time positions available are: (1) staff accompanist in music departments of colleges and universities, accompanying studio teachers, choirs and faculty and student recitals; (2) symphony pianist; (3) pianist for opera, dance studios and choral organizations; (4) work in the movie and television industries; (5) touring accompanist for artists (for the very few). Part-time employment includes accompanying church choirs and local choral organizations, vocal coaching, and chamber accompaniment, and freelance and private studio accompanying. This is only a partial list; the aspiring accompanist may find additional opportunities.
SUMMARY COMMENTS The need for excellence cannot be stressed enough. Singers and instrumentalists should not be at the mercy of the accompanist. The accompanist should continually be taking advantage of opportunities to improve skills. Soloists rely upon the accompanist’s support both musically and psychologically. The accompanist’s contribution to the music profession is important. These comments, it is hoped, may serve to guide young people aspiring to a career as accompanist, and to stimulate those in the profession to improve their skills. They may also provide criteria for soloists in search of an accompanist or those needing to evaluate their relationship with their present accompanist. In brief, the standard for a good accompanist is: (1) a good piano foundation; (2) the ability to listen intelligently; (3) an inquiring mind; (4) a vast and varied repertoire; (5) the ability to create good rapport and a partnership role; (6) knowledge of performance practices. Possession of all these qualities — those of a first-rate musician — make a rewarding career in the accompanying profession possible.
To find a Mu Phi who exemplifies the fraternity’s spirit, one need not look further than Ann Gibbens Davis. She was initiated into the Phi Lambda chapter at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, on June 11, 1951, and has been steadily devoted to music and Mu Phi Epsilon ever since. In 1977, Ann made the motion at the 1977 convention to include men into Mu Phi Epsilon, which transformed the organization from a sorority into a co-ed fraternity. In addition to being an ACME honoree, Ann is the 2001 winner of the Mu Phi Epsilon Elizabeth Mathias Award. Ann is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conser- vatory of Music with bachelor and master of music degrees in piano performance. Before coming to the Washington, D.C. area in 1973, she served as an accompanist and faculty member of California State University at Fullerton. For the past 46 years, she has had a successful career in the Washington, D. C. area as an accompanist, chamber music artist, church organist, teacher, lecturer and adjudicator. She has performed extensively on both coasts, including at the Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Lincoln Center in New York City, and at mid-Atlantic colleges and universities. Ann continues to stay active. She now resides at Fairhaven, a retirement community in Sykesville, Maryland, where as a new resident in 2015, she raised $17,000 for rehabilitation work on its Steinway concert grand piano. She performs and gives varied talks on Fairhaven’s concert series, and also works with Alzheimer’s patients through music. In 2009, Ann was inducted into the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
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A P P L AUSE & ENCOR E: MEMBER AND CHAPTER NEWS
Please send your Applause & Encore news items with photo to: editor@muphiepsilon.org.
Adrienne Albert On October 31, 2020, Ian Wiese (Lambda, Beta, Boston Alumni) joined composers Adam Schumaker, Tyler Kline, and Benjamin Whiting on the release of Some Assembly Required, the debut album release by Boston-based mixed chamber ensemble Some Assembly Required. Wiese’s piece Machinations I for clarinet in B , horn in F, trombone, and piano, which was commissioned by Some Assembly Required, appears as the third track. Other pieces on the album include Kline’s Salt Veins, Whiting’s Formally Unannounced, Schumaker’s Click Here!, and SAR’s arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires for Horn in F, Trombone, and Piano. The ensemble performers for Some Assembly Required are Justin Stanley, horn; Justin Croushore, trombone; and Cholong Park, piano.
Congratulations to International Executive Secretary-Treasurer Jess LaNore, who was initiated into the Beta Psi chapter at the University of Indianapolis on Sunday, March 28, 2021, guided by 4th Vice President Rebecca Sorley and approved by 5th VP Terrel Kent.
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Jeanine York-Garesche
Adrienne Albert (Los Angeles Alumni) joined Ian Wiese (Lambda, Beta, Boston Alumni) on March 21, 2021, in a presentation and roundtable discussion to the Boston Alumni chapter on the composition and performance of three different settings of Edward Lear’s children’s poem “The Owl and the Pussycat.” The two composers discussed their settings of the piece as well as that of Igor Stravinsky (which Albert recorded for Stravinsky in 1966, along with Mass and Four Russian Folk Songs for mezzo-soprano, flute, harp, and guitar). Albert retold her history working with Stravinsky up through writing her own setting of the poem, and Wiese discussed how the two of them met through composer Jenni Brandon’s online workshop series “Writing for the Solo Instrument” in Summer 2020. The vocal ensemble Avimimus Duo (Alexandra Kassouf and Lauren McAllister) assisted the two in performing Albert’s and Wiese’s settings. The performance of Wiese’s setting was a world premiere. The original recording of the Stravinsky setting was played.
Daniel Shavers
Pamela Meyers
Jeanine York-Garesche, Mu Gamma, and Daniel Shavers, Epsilon Tau, members of the St. Louis Area Alumni presented a program called “How Teaching Music as Changed During the Pandemic” for the January 11, 2021. They were then asked by member Pamela Meyers, Epsilon Tau, to present the program for the AAUW (American Association of University Women) on March 13, 2021. Jeanine talked about virtual private music lessons and Daniel spoke about teaching public school band in different settings: totally virtual, in-person, and hybrid, which was a combination of virtual and in-person.
Charles “Chuck” Dickerson, Omega Omega, founder and conductor of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA) was joined by student cellist and ICYOLA member Hannah Innis for an interview by Scott Simon of National Public Radio, to discuss fostering diversity in orchestras. The show aired nationally on NPR on Saturday, February 20, 2021. (Hannah Innis also appeared on the Grammys accompanying Mickey Guyton, the first Black female artist to be nominated in a country category.)
Welcome Back! ALPHA GAMMA
The chapter at University of Southern Mississippi is reactivated The Alpha Gamma chapter was reactivated at University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. The chapter had been inactive since 2002. Included as part of the reinstatement in-person ceremony was Dr. Jonathan Kilgore, advisor, and the new members: Mary Parker Raley, Mary Case, and Bethany Crochet. Mu Phi Epsilon President Rosemary Ames, District Director for New and Reactivated Chapters Ann Geiler, District Director Arietha Lockhart, District Director Ariana Ezikel, and Dr. Elizabeth Moak, Phi Gamma, professor Southern Mississippi, were present virtually via Zoom. Their commitment to being Mu Phi members is solid. It was my pleasure and honor to conduct the installation of Eta Zeta.”
The Alpha Gamma chapter was reactivated through Zoom.
Mary Parker Raley, Mary Case, Bethany Crochet, Dr. Jonathan Kilgore
Their pins and violets arrived! They made for a lovely table setting!
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FINAL NOTES AN N G EIL ER, P H I T H ETA , ST. LO U I S A LU M N I STL A LU M N I M P E @ G MA I L .CO M
Marilyn Dixon Altrock Dietrichs Beta Tau, May 1928 Died February 25, 2021 Vocalist, Marilyn graduated from Lasell College in 1947 and studied music and voice at Boston University, the Juilliard School, and Brevard Summer Music Camp. She was a lyric soprano and sang roles with the Atlanta Opera Company and with the Atlanta Opera Arts. She performed concerts in the Southeast, including performances at the Symphony Hall Memorial Arts Center with Robert Shaw conducting, the Governor’s Mansion, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Chastain Park Amphitheatre, the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta, and numerous college campuses. In 1978, she founded the Atlanta Repertory Opera Company in Atlanta, offering a performing opera vehicle for many rising singing artists in the Southeast. As founder and artistic director, she was also the president of the Trustees for four years. The AROC mounted 60 major box office opera performances in Atlanta from 1978 through 1990, including a number of concerts presented in the Georgia Public School System. Marilyn was an active member of the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta after joining in 1966 and served as president for 3 years. She served as president of the Atlanta Alumni chapter for 3 years. She was a lifelong member of the Christian Science church and served as a soloist for many years as Second Reader and in numerous other capacities in several branch churches in the metro-Atlanta area. She composed a book of religious songs, “Soloist Concordance,” for church soloists. Marilyn was listed in International Who’s Who in Music. Morlitha Zwannella Dukuly Phi Tau, February 7, 1993 Died January 12, 2021 Flute, Music Therapy, Morlitha studied at the University of North Texas, Denton, and received a degree in music from Texas Woman’s University, Denton, in 2019. 24 MuPhiEpsilon.org
She was in her second semester of studying for her master’s degree in music therapy when she passed away. Her primary instrument was flute, and being an avid music lover, she learned to play the piccolo, guitar and ukulele. She loved working with children and devoted much of her time to working with them. Morlitha had an outgoing personality and when she was not involved with music, she loved watching movies, shopping and crocheting. Rosemarie (Hinman) Foster Phi Rho, February 19, 1930 Died February 6, 2021 Vocalist, Rosemarie was a musically trained vocalist. She was in the former evening chapter of the Minneapolis-St. Paul chapter and continued in the joint chapter when the two merged some years ago. She loved to sing in the choir at Bethany and Bloomington Covenant Churches. June (Foreman) Gwyn Kappa, November 13, 1945 Died November 24, 2018 Educator, Vocalist, June graduated from Southport High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Jordan School of Music at Butler University. June taught music for many years in public schools and retired in 1974. Since the 1940s, she and her husband were the leaders in the choir, and her trained soprano voice provided inspiration for many years in the solos she sang. She is still remembered fondly by students whom she taught more than 50 years ago at Fall Creek Elementary School in Indianapolis. Elaine Frances (Thalman) Hall Xi, Jan. 20, 1926 Died November 23, 2020 Pianist, Elaine attended the University of Kansas where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in the with a major in music in 1947. She was the head secretary of the Council on Teacher Education in the
College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a leader of the Civil Engineering Wives Group. In 2004, she and her husband established within the University of Illinois Foundation the William J. and Elaine F. Hall Endowed Professorship in Civil and Environmental Engineering. As an accomplished pianist, her many volunteer activities included the performance of music programs for nursing and retirement homes and other organizations. With a duet partner, she performed lecture recitals on composers for various groups. Elaine was a member of the Urbana-Champaign Alumni chapter and was featured in the Winter 2020 issue of The Triangle in recognition of being a member of Mu Phi Epsilon for 70 years. Dr. Nelita (True) Laires Gamma, 1936 Died January 17, 2021 Piano, Educator, According to Clavier Companion magazine, Nelta was “one of the world’s most sought-after and beloved pianist-teachers.” Since she made her debut at age 17 with the Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall and her New York debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, her career took her to the major cities of Western and Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Iceland, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, Canada, India, and to Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as to all 50 states in the U.S. She was a visiting professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, where she performed and conducted masterclasses, and traveled to the People’s Republic of China more than 20 times for recitals and masterclasses. She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan as a student of Helen Titus, studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Juilliard School and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Leon Fleisher at
the Peabody Conservatory. She also studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris on a Fulbright grant. Nelta taught at Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp, the University of Maryland, College Park, Eastman School of Music, and in hundreds of workshops and master classes across the globe. Nelita was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, the Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching at Eastman, the 2002 Achievement Award from the Music Teachers’ National Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Graduate Education from the University of Rochester, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Keyboard Pedagogy Conference. She was the keynote speaker and presenter at the Mu Phi Epsilon Convention in Rochester, New York, in 2011. Maurine (Malster) Ruggles Phi Omicron, July 17, 1920 Died January 4, 2019 Piano, Maurine loved music and played popular songs on the piano by ear as a child. She studied piano in Cleveland with Eunis Podis and Clive Lythgoe, among others. She performed Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the Cleveland Heights High School orchestra in 1970. She studied piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She enjoyed playing piano duets with her husband. She was an active member and past president of the Fortnightly Music Club of Cleveland and the Music and Drama Association. Michelle Nicole Saiz Alpha Nu, April 28, 1993 Died November 30, 2020 Education, Voice, Michelle Saiz graduated from West Texas A & M University in 2014. She was passionate about music and art, but her true love was teaching. After graduation she taught at South Elementary in
Midland, Texas, and was recruited in 2019 to teach at the Midland Academy Charter Schools. She had a marvelous voice, and she would use her gift to bring joy to all those around her. The Alpha Nu chapter posted this message about Michelle: “Thank you, Michelle, for blessing our lives with your friendship, dedication, and service. Although you are not here with us, you will never be gone from our hearts.” David-aken Smith Zeta Kappa, June 23, 1997 Died April 5, 2021 Clarinet, Saxophone, Flute, David enrolled at Young Harris College in 2016, where he was studying towards a performance degree. David was talented in playing many instruments, including the clarinet, saxophone and flute but his goal was to be proficient in most every instrument. He was initiated into the Zeta Kappa chapter, where he was a cherished member and friend. David was preparing to give his senior recital on April 11, and graduate on May 8. David was known for being a talented and dedicated jazz musician. Glennis (Metz) Stout Phi Pi, September 11, 1921 Died October 18, 2020 Flute, Glennis Metz Stout was a native of Wichita, Kansas, and held degrees in flute from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and the University of Michigan. She performed with the New Orleans Symphony, the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra was principal flutist with the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Ann Arbor Civic Band. She maintained a private studio for 40 years in addition to teaching at the University of Michigan, the New England Music Camp and in Taiwan as a Fulbright Fellow. She was an emeritus member of the Ann Arbor
Alumni chapter, a member of the National Flute Association where she was editor of the Flutist Quarterly magazine and was a member of SEMFA (Southeast Michigan Flute Association). Glennis had an extensive collection of antique flutes ranging from Baroque to modern day and traveled the country giving demonstrations on these fine instruments. She also performed throughout the world with the International Flute Orchestra. Kathie (Griffis) von Schwarz Phi Kappa, May 19, 1948 Died February 14, 2021 Educator, Piano, Violin, Kathie graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in music education and went on to receive a master’s degree in music education. She played violin in the Scandinavian Orchestra in Grosse Pointe Farms and met her husband in that same orchestra. She served as president of her local Mu Phi Epsilon chapter for many years. Kathie taught elementary school at Cathedral School in Detroit and taught elementary music in L’Anse Creuse Public Schools. She and her husband enjoyed the theater and going to concerts. They especially loved the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Opera, and GP Theater Productions, and were active members of the Fine Arts Society of Detroit. Kathie sang in the Christ Church of Grosse Pointe Chorale for many years and helped the Church of the Messiah in Detroit with a youth scholarship fund that helps youth with music scholarships.
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DISTR ICT DIRECTORY
ATLANTIC DISTRICT A1 Stephanie Berry 574.596.8285 bmpenguin69@hotmail.com
SOUTHEAST DISTRICT SE1 Marshall Pugh 252.599.2492 se1dd@muphiepsilon.org
WEST CENTRAL DISTRICT WC1 Ashley Roever 580.822.5682 amroever@hotmail.com
DISTRICT A2 Susan Todenhoft 703.323.4772 H 703.509.0224 C todenhoft@gmail.com
DISTRICT SE2 Arietha Lockhart 404.284.7811 ariethal@hotmail.com
DISTRICT WC2 Ashley Bouras 972.765.3252 ashley.kimmel12@gmail.com
DISTRICT SE3 Ashley Bouras 972.765.3252 ashley.kimmel12@gmail.com
PACIFIC NORTHWEST DISTRICT PNW1 Sophia Tegart 509.991.4906 sophia.tegart@gmail.com
EASTERN GREAT LAKES DISTRICT EGL1 Ashley Bouras 972.765.3252 ashley.kimmel12@gmail.com DISTRICT EGL2 Ashley Bouras 972.765.3252 ashley.kimmel12@gmail.com DISTRICT EGL3 Nancy Jane Gray 330.688.7990 bobgrayz@aol.com GREAT LAKES DISTRICT GL1 Samantha Morgan 734-790-6974 samanthamorgan014@gmail.com DISTRICT GL2 Ashley Bouras 972.765.3252 ashley.kimmel12@gmail.com EAST CENTRAL DISTRICTS EC1 Herbert Jackson 678.577.3637 herbertjackson5@gmail.com DISTRICTS EC2 & EC3 Sean Kilgore 317.750.3206 smk193@gmail.com
DISTRICT SE4 Adriana Ezekiel 256.443.5339 adrianalezekiel@gmail.com SOUTH CENTRAL DISTRICT SC1 — OPEN DISTRICT SC2 Sam Melnick 512.673.3822 samelnicomposer@gmail.com DISTRICT SC3 Anissa Martinez 806.217.4445 anissa.martinez@wheelerschools. net DISTRICT SC4 Isabel De La Cerda 210.204.6425 idelacerda@hotmail.com CENTRAL DISTRICT C1 Ann Geiler 314.691.7648 celloanng@centurytel.net DISTRICT C2 Paula Patterson 417.773.1176 paulapatterson@missouristate.edu NORTH CENTRAL DISTRICT NC1 Zack Carlson 218.201.1437 zachariah.davin@gmail.com DISTRICT NC2 Liana Sandin 402.483.4657, 402.560.7126 Liana.Sandin@gmail.com
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DISTRICT PNW2 & PNW3 Michael Lasfetto 971.275.3800 pnw3dd@muphiepsilon.org PACIFIC DISTRICT P1 Jessica Nguyen 858-231-5545 jttnmusic@gmail.com DISTRICT P2 Patrick Aguayo 408.991.4011 patrickanthony551@gmail.com PACIFIC SOUTHWEST DISTRICT PSW1 Tanner Wilson 951.515.9680 tannerwilson263@gmail.com
OF F ICERS DIRECTORY
2017-2021 INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD
INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMEN
2020-2021 FOUNDATION BOARD
Rosemary Ames, Omega International President 508.498.4669 president@muphiepsilon.org
ACME Arietha Lockhart (Chair) Beta Gamma, Atlanta Alumni 404.284.7811 ariethal@hotmail.com
Dr. Sophia Tegart, President Mu Beta 509.991.4906 president@mpefoundation.org
Julia Scherer, Alpha Kappa 1st VP/Extension Officer 816.225.2987 extensionofficer@muphiepsilon.org
Mary Au (Co-Chair), Mu Nu Los Angeles Alumni 323.666.2603 auhaus@gmail.com
Jenny Smith, Phi Xi 2nd VP/Collegiate Advisor 214.662.5087 collegiateadvisor@muphiepsilon.org Marcus Wyche, Delta Delta 3rd VP/Alumni Advisor 301.484.3652 alumniadvisor@muphiepsilon.org
BYLAWS & STANDING RULES Kurt-Alexander Zeller, Mu Chi Atlanta Alumni 770.961.4400 zellertenor@aol.com FINANCE
Rebecca Sorley, Kappa 4th VP/Music Advisor 317.885.1103 musicadvisor@muphiepsilon.org Terrel Kent, Beta Zeta 5th VP/Eligibility Advisor 225.772.7384 eligibilityadvisor@muphiepsilon.org Jess LaNore Executive Secretary-Treasurer 888.259.1471 executiveoffice@muphiepsilon.org Ellen Ritscher Sackett Phi Tau, Denton Alumni International Editor 940.395.1300 editor@muphiepsilon.org
Evelyn Archer Omega Omega, St. Louis Area Alumni 314.481.2361 archerbe@sbcglobal.net INTERNATIONAL Marlon Daniel, Mu Xi New York City Alumni 212.641.0305 marlondanielnyc@gmail.com
Megan Carfa, Vice-President Phi Tau 817 673 7341 vicepresident@mpefoundation.org Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor, Secretary Alpha Kappa 641.590.0547 secretary@mpefoundation.org Liana Sandin, Treasurer Beta Pi, Lincoln Alumni 402.560.7126 treasurer@mpefoundation.org Zachariah Carlson Zeta Lambda 218.201.1437 admin@mpefoundation.org Kira Dixon, Artist Concert Manager Grants and Scholarship Chairman Phi Mu 408.439.6076 grants@mpefoundation.org Rosemary Ames Omega 508.498.4669 president@muphiepsilon.org
MUSIC LIBRARIAN & ARCHIVES Wendy Sistrunk, Mu Mu Kansas City Alumni 816.836.9961 SistrunkW@umkc.edu
HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD Katherine Doepke, Phi Beta 612.377.2043 katdoepke@gmail.com Lee Clements Meyer, Phi Xi 512.345.5072
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International Executive Office 4011 N Pennsylvania St #100 Indianapolis, IN 46205 executiveoffice@muphiepsilon.org 888 259 1471
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