Sigma Alpha Iota

Fall 2019 18 PAN PIPES A unique women's musical organization based in Staten Island, New York is celebrating its 125 th anniversary this year. Named for the Patron Saint of Music, the group was created in 1894, with a mission "to meet, to learn, to perform for each other, and to encourage others to become involved in music." Meeting once a month in members' homes, the original 22 members listened to a short talk about music, performed vocal and piano selections, and enjoyed a social tea aerward. e members were women of means, married to men of standing in the community, and none of them ever expected to work outside the home. e ladies wore hats and white gloves to the meetings and addressed each other formally by their husbands' surnames. ( i.e. Mrs. Ralph McKee, rather than Nora McKee). In 1914, the women formed a small chorus, which rehearsed weekly in Mrs. McKee's parlor, and the following year they invited a few friends and family members to a special evening performance in May. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, women were beginning to join the workforce, performing jobs previously only held by men. In 1920, Miss Mabel Abbott became the first woman newspaper reporter to cover a presidential election, when she followed James M. Cox, who lost to Warren G. Harding. When Miss Abbott later moved to Staten Island and became a curator at the Staten Island Museum, she joined the St. Cecilia as one of the group's first members who earned her own living. A recreational pianist, she last performed at a St. Cecilia meeting in 1960 at the age of 90. In the years to come, many other St. Cecilia members have worked outside the home in such diverse positions as chemist, executive secretary, children's librarian, medical transcriber, assistant editor of a visual arts magazine, securities company teller, social worker, missionary, minister, museum curator, public school teachers, and college instructors. e first professional musician to become a St. Cecilia member was violinist Margaret Graves, a former student of George Enesco in Paris. When World War II forced her to leave a promising European performing career, she came to Staten Island and established a private teaching studio, continuing to perform in community groups until her death in 2000. e current president of St. Cecilia, Janet Pranschke, made her singing debut with the Santa Fe Opera apprentice program. She has sung over 35 leading roles with opera companies throughout the United States, including five consecutive seasons with the Sarasota Opera Association, and served on the voice faculty of Wagner College for 32 years. Other professional musicians in the group currently include a composer, directors of not-for-profit music groups in the borough, and performers with orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout the New York Metropolitan area. ere has also been much diversity in members' countries of origin, including The St. Cecilia: A Musical Sisterhood A World of Music

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