The Triangle, publication of Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity, Volume 115, Issue 2, Summer 2021

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Member, Professional Fraternity Association.

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VOLUME 115

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ISSUE 2

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SUMMER 2021

Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Fraternity for the Advancement of Music in the Community, Nation and World.

BY REBECCA SO RL EY, FOURT H V IC E P R E S I D E N T/ MU S I C A DV I S O R , KA P PA , I N D I A N A P O L I S ALUMNI M USI CA DV I S O R @ MU P H I E P S I LO N .O R G

Center Stage Mu Phi Epsilon’s first all-virtual international convention will feature guest artist Matthew Hoch, professor of voice at Auburn University and minister of music at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Auburn, Alabama. Hoch earned his Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College, his Master of Music from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the New England Conservatory. He has appeared as a soloist with numerous organizations worldwide.

The Triangle recently caught up with him to learn more about the man behind the voice.

What are some of your major musical influences?

We are all a product of our experiences, and there are numerous things that have helped to shape me as a musician and person.

One of my most formative experiences occurred during the summer before my senior year of high school. I was selected to attend the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts, a summer academy for talented high school students across five major arts areas: creative writing, dance, music, theater and visual arts. This might sound like an exaggeration, but that was the first time in my life I realized that there were other people out there like me, with the same passion for music — and lots of them! The faculty were so encouraging, and I might not have pursued a career in music were it not for that experience.

Another major influence on my musical career was the fact that I started out as an instrumentalist. I played piano, alto saxophone and bass clarinet in high school and didn’t begin voice study until college. Because of that instrumental background, I was a very good sight reader and was enlisted for the top choral groups beginning in my freshman year of college even though 2

MuPhiEpsilon.org

Guest artist Matthew Hoch on his earliest musical inspirations and latest passion

I was a saxophone major. Those choral experiences informed my decision to become a voice major and choral director. As a graduate student in Hartford and Boston, I literally paid my rent through church jobs and other professional choral singing, and those opportunities led to summer professional choral singing opportunities in Santa Fe and Spoleto, Italy. I am grateful that my vocal training was holistic in this way, going beyond opera and art song and including these other experiences.

What was your first public performance? Do you remember what you sang?

It was the children’s duet (“The Perfect Nanny”) from Mary Poppins which I sang for a school assembly in first grade. At least I think it was the first public performance I gave. My parents had a VHS videotape of it, and I had to endure watching it throughout my childhood (and early adulthood). My unchanged voice was kind of pretty, but boy did I look awkward on stage! I even remember the name of the girl I sang the duet with (Rachel Reinhardt) but I have no idea where she is or what she is doing now.

What was one of your most memorable performances?

I sang in the professional choir at the Oregon Bach Festival for eight summers during the final decade of Helmuth Rilling’s long tenure as artistic director. The festival was at its zenith during that time; the orchestra was first-rate and they brought in top-flight soloists for all of the main concerts. I particularly remember the 2008 festival. We sang all of Bach’s major choral works that summer, beginning the festival with the B Minor Mass and ending with the St. Matthew Passion. Music is an art form, so what we do is rarely flawless, but I swear that the final performance of the festival was just that. I remember the long silence in the hall before the applause after the chorale at the end of the St. Matthew Passion and thinking to myself, “This is the best music that I will make in my entire life.”

International Convention I July 21-24 S C HE DU LE AT A GLAN CE

What’s a highlight from your teaching career?

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21

Perhaps the most life-changing moment of my teaching career occurred in early 2018 when I chaperoned a trip to the United Arab Emirates with eight of my voice students to sing at a music festival hosted by the American University of Sharjah. In addition to singing at the festival, we also had the opportunity to explore Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Climbing the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) and touring the incredible Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque were breathtaking experiences. The students had the opportunity to experience Middle Eastern culture for a week and we even rode camels on a desert safari! Perhaps most important, however, was watching the friendships that blossomed between the American and Arab students at the festival, relationships that they are still maintaining through social media.

10 a.m.-noon 2-5 p.m.

5:15-5:45 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

What has sustained you through the pandemic?

With all travel and singing engagements canceled, I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands for the first time in my entire career. So, I decided to teach myself how to play the organ.

I disciplined myself to practice for at least an hour each day using standard method books and eventually my feet started moving in the right way. This spring I passed my service playing certificate exam for the American Guild of Organists and intend to continue practicing until I am ready to take the next level exam. You’re never too old to learn something new, especially in an art form as rich as music is.

Keynote Speaker Mary Luehrsen

COURTESY OF NAMM

Mary Luehrsen is director of public affairs and government relations for NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, and executive director of the NAMM Foundation. Since 2001, Luehrsen has directed NAMM’s government relations and advocacy efforts and guides the organization as an international leader for music education. In addition, she directs the 120-year-old organization in policy and advocacy issues that impact global music product businesses. Luehrsen is the NAMM Foundation’s inaugural executive director since its formation in 2006. The Foundation’s various signature programs exemplify Luehrsen’s focus on rallying talents and energies of individuals and organizations to advance opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to know the joys and benefits of making and learning music.

Not too late to register!

Don’t miss our first-ever virtual International Convention.

Visit muphiepsilon.org to register today.

Central Daylight Time

District Director Training International Competition Finals Committee Meetings Opening Ceremony — Charles Dickerson and the ICYOLA

THURSDAY, JULY 22 10-11 a.m.

Business Session 11 a.m.-noon Province Meetings 2-3 p.m.

Guest Artist Voice Masterclass

— Matthew Hoch 3:15-3:45 p.m. • Music Therapy STAT, Music Therapy in the ER — Danielle Musat

• Mindful Movement: Folk Dance & Social-Emotional Learning — Ashley Bouras and Lisa Beyer

• Strategies in Selecting Piano Repertoire to Maximize Motivation and Musicality for the 21st Century —Yi-Yang Chen 3:45-5 p.m. Alumni/Collegiate Workshops 7-9 p.m. Awards Recognition Celebration

FRIDAY, JULY 23 10-11 a.m.

Business Session 11 a.m.-noon Alumni/Collegiate Workshops 2-2:30 p.m.

• Music Therapy and Dementia — Allegra Hein

• Old Wine in New Bottles — Rebecca Nederhiser

• Ludwig van Beethoven: 251 Years Old Yet Vital for Music Today — Leslie Spotz 2:30-3 p.m.

• Up Toward the Sky: Voices of Women and Birds in American Folk Song — Rachel Barham

• Building Bridges for the Students of Today — Adrianna Jagodzinski 3:15-3:45 Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation 4-5 p.m.

Performer and Composer Recital

—Carmen Lemoine, Yoko Nakatani,

Tiffany Piper, Stephanie Plautz,

Kurt-Alexander Zeller 7-9 p.m.

International Competition Winner

SATURDAY, JULY 24 10-11 a.m.

11 a.m.-noon 2-2:45 p.m.

3-3:30 p.m.

3:30-4 p.m.

4:15-5 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

Business Session Alumni/Collegiate Workshops 500 Years of Women Composers — Matthew Hoch, baritone; Rebecca Sorley and Allegra Hein, piano Memorial Ceremony Installation of Officers Performer and Composer Recital — Yi-Yang Chen, Katherine Freiberger, Courtney Houston, Julie Schmitt, Ian Wiese Keynote Address Mary Luehrsen, director of public affairs and government relations for NAMM SUMMER 2021

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FINAL NOTES ANN GEILER, P H I T H E TA , ST. LO U I S A LU M N I ST L ALU M N I M P E @ G MA I L .CO M

Linnea (Higbee) Eades Phi Nu February 14, 1960 Palos Verdes/South Bay Alumni Died January 13, 2021

Marisol “Maria” Pla Gamma Phi January 22, 1989 Cleveland Area Alumni Died November 14, 2020

Violinist, Vocalist, Educator, Linnea earned her bachelor’s degree in home economics with a minor in music from UCLA in 1960. While at UCLA, she played principal second violin with the UCLA Symphony under Lucas Foss and with the Opera Orchestra under Jan Popper and Natalie Limonick (Phi Nu). Many other orchestras kept her busy, including San Fernando Valley, West Valley, Conejo and Burbank Symphonies, and she performed for Mu Phi Epsilon with Phyllis Loeb (Phi Omicron), Lorraine Kimball (Phi Nu) and Olga Freeark (Mu Xi). Linnea taught middle school for 30 years, 27 of them at Mount Gleason Middle School in Sunland, California. After moving to the South Bay in January of 2004, she played with the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra, the Peninsula Symphony (2006-2014) and Palos Verdes Regional Symphony Orchestra (2009). She also studied ukulele and sang in the Torrance Civic Chorale as well as the Pacific Unitarian Universalist Church choir. An active member of Mu Phi, Linnea was a member of three alumni chapters and held many offices, including president of the San Fernando Valley chapter. She loved to dress in purple and surrounded herself with purple objects, notebooks, pens and scarves, etc. Linnea was generous and loving and would travel during the summer to play chamber music. During the school year she would perform in orchestras and choirs near her home.

Pianist, Maria was born in Sancti-Spiritus, Cuba, and graduated from the Conservatoro International de Música and Colegio Apostolado del Segrado Corazón.

She also studied at the University of Havana. After immigrating to the United States of America, she obtained her master’s degree and went on to teach piano at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music and Cleveland State University. Maria dedicated her life to ensuring her family was able to overcome the challenges that foreign-born citizens face upon arriving in a new country.

Frances (Halstead) Estes Epsilon Epsilon May 11, 1949 Dallas Alumni Died March 25, 2021 Oboist, Frances was a graduate of Texas Christian University. She was known throughout the Metroplex as a professional oboist and English horn player, having played with the Fort Worth Symphony earlier in her career, and continuing to perform at smaller venues with first-rate groups until her death. Her husband, Ed, was also a talented professional musician and they brought thousands into their world through music and teaching. In addition to her music career, Frances taught second grade for over 30 years at Caldwell Elementary in Garland, Texas.

Devorah “Debbie” Bette (Rabnick) Ross Epsilon Xi May 22, 1959 Cleveland Area Alumni Died November 16, 2020 Pianist, Educator, Debbie graduated from the University of Illinois and spent 30 years teaching piano and music theory at the Music Settlement in Cleveland, Ohio. After her retirement, she continued to teach private piano lessons in her home.

Her friends and family all called her Bette.

Cynthia (Blair) Wadley Phi Gamma May 5, 1948 Dallas Alumni Died May 15, 2021 Educator, Pianist, Cynthia graduated from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.

She received her masters from Columbia University in the City of New York. She was a proud member of Mu Phi Epsilon and was past president of the Dallas Alumni Chapter. With just a trunk full of her belongings she bravely moved to Texas and taught piano in the Highland Park School District. She attended Highland Park Presbyterian Church where she met the love of her life, Dan Wadley. Dan and Cindy were married for 54 years and had four children in whom she invested the majority of her life. Cindy taught piano in the afternoons, but her life was her family. She loved her church and church friends at both Northminster and Lake Highlands Presbyterian Churches, and she enjoyed spending the weekend camping with the church camping group.

Passing

pen OF THE.

Ellen Ritscher Sackett

The International Executive her strong editorial eye as well as the compassion Board and the entire Mu Phi with which she stewarded our members. We wish Epsilon community bids a Ellen well on her next adventure as full-time editor fond farewell to Ellen Ritscher for Insite Brazos Valley Magazine.

Sackett (Denton Alumni), outgoing international The IEB appointed Kat Braz as the new internaeditor of The Triangle. After assuming the role in tional editor in May. Look for a formal introduction December 2018, Ellen spearheaded a redesign of of Kat in the fall issue. Have a story you’d like to the publication that incorporates an array of voices, contribute to a future issue? Contact Kat at editor@ showcases Mu Phi achievements and celebrates the proud history of the Fraternity. We are grateful for muphiepsilon.org.

SUMMER 2021

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