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www.driftlessjournal.com | news@driftlessjournal.com | 563-382-4221 | Tuesday, March 14, 2023 | Vol. 5 Issue 11
In memory of Adelia Eastern Allamakee to perform World Premiere piece
Porter House Museum at 401 West Broadway in Decorah. (submitted)
‘Porter House After Dark’ series offered
By Jennifer Bissell
F
or 10 years, Adelia Dundas brought her infectious enthusiasm to the world. Now, her spirit will live on in the piece “Adelia!” The Eastern Allamakee Community School District’s Elementary and Middle School band will perform the world premiere of “Adelia!” at their spring concert this April. The piece will honor former band director Christoph Dundas and his daughter who passed away from cancer in 2021. Meet Adelia From 2009 to 2012, Christoph Dundas and his wife Kelsey called the Eastern Allamakee area home. It was where his first daughter, Adelia, was born in 2011. Adelia was born eight weeks premature, spending her first five weeks of life in the NICU in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In her honor, the Kee High Class of 2011 collected $850 for Christoph to purchase Adelia’s first instrument when she was old enough to start band lessons. The Dundas family moved to southern Minnesota in 2012 to be closer to their families. Christoph taught high school band and sixth grade band lessons at Plainview-Elgin-Millville schools for four years. In 2016, he took the position as high school band director at Austin, Minn., where the family remains. Unfortunately, Adelia wouldn’t have the opportunity to start her band career. Throughout her life, Adelia battled several challenges. She was diagnosed with Aicardi Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the brain, eyes and speech and can lead to developmental delays, seizures, genetic deletions and more. It’s a condition that only affects girls, with just a few hundred cases in the United States. Despite her condition, she learned to read chapter books, hold conversations, and in 2019, won a gold medal at the Minnesota Special Olympics state swim meet. Adelia made the most of her 10 years on earth, enjoying time with her parents and three siblings, Caleb and twins Jacob and Emmaline. However, in November 2020, she was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia Syndrome, a rare bone marrow cancer. Her brother Caleb served as her bone marrow donor. Despite a successful transfer, Adelia passed away on March 30, 2021, just weeks after her 10th birthday. Her legacy The Dundas family continues to promote Adelia’s life and legacy. Through her funeral memorial gifts, the family has been able to send gifts to two other families with children who were hos-
(Above) Amelia Dundas with her effervescent enthusiasm, and the inspiration behind the original piece to be played at Eastern Allamakee School this spring. Amelia was diagnosed with Aicardi Syndrome, and faced many health challenges, but always lit up a room. Amelia passed away in 2021 at age 10. (Left) Christoph Dundas holds baby Amelia, whose smile brightened the room from an early age. (Right) the Dundas family; mom Kelsey, Dad Christoph and baby Amelia, later joined by siblings Caleb, Jacob and Emmaline. (submitted photos) pitalized and a local cancer group, provide lunch for all the teachers and staff at Adelia’s former elementary school on what would have been her 11th birthday and provide support for a family who lost their father. Recently they launched a toy drive to support the Mayo Clinic Child Life team, providing toys for children who go to the hospital for anything from an ER visit to a longer stay. They planned to deliver a truckload of toys on Adelia’s 12th birthday. A gift to the Eastern Allamakee program Liz Bahr is the current band director for the school district. Last year, Bahr received an email from Kelsey Dundas saying they’d decided as a family to honor Adelia’s memory by donating the money to the band program. Bahr said she was taken aback and honored to choose a way to honor Adelia. She considered buying some new instruments to allow more students to start their music careers. She also debated buying new sheet music. She reached out to some of Dundas’ former students and asked their opinions. “I decided the best way to really, truly honor Adelia and have her memory live on is to create a piece of music for her, and hopefully there are other band programs that will benefit from this music being made,” said Bahr. After doing some research, Bahr reached out to Justin Marshall Riley from Jefferson, Wis., to create the piece for the school. Bahr wanted the piece to fit Adelia’s personality and be written for her younger students. She decided to combine
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her fifth-grade band from New Albin Elementary with the sixth through eighth graders from Lansing Middle School for the performance. Even with the larger group, having a piece commissioned can be a challenge and more than just for financial reasons. “It can be challenging for a small school because if the piece doesn’t fit the instrumentation, then that’s a problem,” she said. Luckily, Riley is a band director and has experience working with smaller schools. Riley spoke with the Dundas family before composing the piece. Bahr said it was important to her to make sure the song was lively, like Adelia. It was written based on her favorite hymn, “Jesus Loves Me.” “You don’t actually hear that musical tidbit until the end of the piece but at the end, it’s like ‘oh, I get it,’” she said. “It starts off not slow but smooth and light, and the introduction is long and lyrical. Once the introduction is done, there’s a little thing that says ‘with infectious enthusiasm,’ which is how Christoph described Adelia’s personality and then it is very upbeat and driving.” In addition to composing the piece, Riley also gave Bahr some exercises to help the younger musicians learn the music. The Kee band program will be the first to perform the piece. However, there are already plans for it to be performed again. “Although I never had the opportunity to meet Adelia Dundas, I hope that the piece “Adelia!” offers a glimpse
In memory of Adelia
The Porter House Museum is offering two programs during its spring lecture series and both will take place “after dark” inside the museum parlor at 401 West Broadway in Decorah. Luther College Professor Emeritus of English David Faldet will present “Knocks and Voices in the Dark: Seances, Spiritualism and Decorah” on Tuesday, March 28, at 7 p.m. His talk will look at the wide public interest in David Faldet contact with the world of the dead in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including leading public figures, significant popular movements, stage shows, movies, infamous hoaxes and at least one prominent Decorah family. Faldet has presented several programs Richard Merritt on Decorah’s early and natural history at the museum where he also serves on the board of directors. Luther Professor of Art and Visual Communication Richard Merritt will present “Transmutation of Spirits: The Mindreading Craze in the Porter Era” Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. His talk will introduce nineteenth and early twentieth century mind-reading performance and psychological spectacles in historical perspective. He will also perform some of the experiences/ illusions of mind-to-mind communication using showmanship and techniques of “parlor magic and mentalism.” Merritt is also a trans-disciplinary artist whose work sits at the crossroads of aesthetic object, social practice arts and scholarship. He notes that he is “a rational skeptic and that no spirits will be harmed” in his performance. Due to space limitations, pre-registration is required. Register at porterhousemuseum.org and go to “Events.” Both programs are suitable for adult audiences. There is no cost for admission though freewill donations to the Porter House Museum are welcome. Refreshments will be served after each program.
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