Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SUMMER 2018 • PAN PIPES 11 Michigan, speaks to her concern for the larger community and the citizenship she credits her parents for demonstrating through their own community service. Norman is an honorary ambassador to the United Nations, a Kennedy Center Honoree, a National Medal of the Arts awardee, a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, and a member of France's Legion D'Honneur. She has received five Grammys and over 40 honorary doctorates. In 2014, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published her memoir, Stand Up Straight and Sing! "Jessye Norman is a towering artist: an icon in the operatic world who has raised the bar of the possibilities of the human voice," the Society said. "Her rich lyric voice — distinctive, sumptuous, spine-tingling, joyful and passionate — and her sheer versatility set her in a category of her own. Born into a close-knit family, she emerged from the challenges of her African-American roots in Georgia in the deep south making her mark across Europe, resulting in triumphs at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Covent Garden, and La Scala in the 1970s, before earning worldwide acclaim. She is also an artist with a social conscience, believing that 'if you're participating in life and politics, it makes you a fuller person and a fuller artist.' She speaks out publicly to deplore casual racism and to defend civil rights. In 2003, she helped create and fund a tuition-free performing arts aer-school programme for economically disadvantaged students in Augusta, Georgia; while in 2009 she directed a major festival for New York's Carnegie Hall saluting African- American culture. e RPS is proud to honour her and to celebrate her extraordinary 50 years in the music profession." Jessye Norman was presented with the RPS Gold Medal in New York by Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. "What a thought," Norman said in a recorded acceptance speech. "Musicians: the movers and shakers of our world. is is not as farfetched as you might think. Look at the world as we find it today: would we find our planet inhabitable without the richness and sounds in a Mozart sonata, the melodies of a Brahms Symphony that simply carries us through the day, the harmony of a Schubert song, the music of Elgar, Birtwistle, that piece that we heard on the radio just the other day that was only composed a month ago? All this sustains us; the adventures of the new, the comfort of the long-loved music…[As] Aldous Huxley said: 'Aer silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.' Music education is an essential part of the nourishment that we should offer our children," she said. "Educators tell us that regardless of their socio economic [background], a student whose education includes a study in the arts performs better in all other studies having learnt through the experience of making something, whether a painting, a song, conquering the C-sharp scale on the piano; that practice and repetition makes for a better outcome ... ey find within themselves that voice that might otherwise remain unheard. ey listen to their own inner voices and we hope that this makes it easier for them to hear the voices around them with more ease, tolerance, understanding, acceptance, making for fuller, more responsible citizens. Can the arts afford us all of this? Oh yes it can! Oh yes it does!" e Royal Philharmonic Society supports and works creatively with talented young performers and composers, championing excellence, and encouraging audiences to listen to, and talk about, great music. e Society has been at the heart of music for over 200 years, with direct links to Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Wagner, and many of the iconic figures of classical music. e RPS invests in talented young performers, offering much needed funding to buy instruments, teaching tailored to their individual needs, or the chance to be mentored by an experienced, established performer. e Society supports new music through commissioning new work, repeat performances, workshops, residency schemes and encouraging interaction between composers and audiences. Music & Arts 'Educator of the Year' T he music retailer Music & Arts named Christine Belle Cumberledge the winner of its 2017 Music Educator of the Year award. An SAI initiate of the Iota Theta chapter at the University of North Texas, Cumberledge was selected from nearly 1,500 nominees for the annual honor, which offers recognition to a music educator for outstanding achievement in music education. Cumberledge is currently the head band director at Central Junior High School in Euless, Texas. She has been an educator for over 20 years, and has received numerous awards from her district and other educational organizations, including the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA). Cumberledge was selected for her continued program growth and excellence in performance, and for her leadership, commitment, and influence in the community. She is an advocate for her diverse group of students, serving as a mentor and motivator for them to become productive members of their community. Cumberledge was honored at the Music & Arts Midwest Gala Reception during the Midwest Clinic International Band & Orchestra Conference in Chicago, Illinois on December 21, 2017. "Each day I work to motivate and inspire my students, and this award will be a daily reminder of how important they are! I want to help create great people," Cumberledge shared. "I want to make an impact on my students that lasts long beyond my teaching career. Often, I have to dream bigger for my students than they ever have — until they believe it for themselves." Iota Theta initiate Christine Belle Cumberledge

• Cover