Sigma Alpha Iota

30 Winter 2022 • sai-national.org Chouzy-sûr-Cisse, France and in the summer of 2012 traveled to Shanghai, China to perform at the Shanghai International Youth Festival. Professor Blanner is also a member of the faculty of the International Lyric Academy in Vicenza, Italy, where she directs and teaches each summer. Stan DeWitt Stan DeWitt was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Long Beach Alumnae Chapter in August. Mr. DeWitt is a gied educator, composer, vocalist and champion of music through his active and varied music career in Los Angeles County. In addition to composing, he has taught at several colleges, including Cypress College, Coastline College where he taught for 26 years and served as department chair, and is currently an adjunct at California State University, Long Beach. He also maintains a private studio. In 2003 he became the Minister of Music for Grace Presbyterian Church of Long Beach. He started a concert series there and the Alive Inside program, which helps Alzheimer and dementia patients through music. Stan has helped to establish music camps and founded the Long Beach Youth Chorus. He continues to help the community by being a member of the Long Beach Music Council. Dr. Justin Hunter Dr. Justin Hunter was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Sigma Omicron Chapter at the University of Arkansas in September. Dr. Hunter is an ethnomusicologist specializing in Indigenous studies, Japanese studies, and Ozark music of Arkansas. He received his PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and his BA and MM from the University of Arkansas. He is the Director of Admissions and Operations for the music department of the University of Arkansas and serves as the financial advisor of the Sigma Omicron chapter. His most recent research centers on his adopted home of Northwest Arkansas and to Ozark culture and music. Dr. Hunter is interested in continuation of tradition and community support of Ozark music throughout the region, but specifically in Mountain View, Arkansas. Additionally, he is interested in ideas of race, inclusion, and invented traditions in American folk musics. His previous research focused on an historical ethnomusicological study of Western military music in Japan prior to the rise of the Meiji Restoration (1868). is work was presented at both international and national conferences. His dissertation research looked at contemporary understanding of music and dance practices of the Indigenous Ainu of Japan. His dissertation, "Vitalizing Traditions: Ainu Music and Dance and the Discourse of Indigeneity," attempts to position a study with an Ainu-centric focus to highlight the propelling work in the arts by Ainu communities while questioning binary understandings of such terms as "authenticity," "tradition," and even "Indigenous." is research has been presented at numerous national conferences including the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. Dr. Hunter has served as a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology advisory council and in leadership roles for numerous special interest groups, sections, and committees for the society. He currently serves as the co-chair of the Japanese Performing Arts Special Interest Group and the secretary of the Indigenous Music Section. He has book reviews in Ethnomusicology Forum and the journal Notes. He is an alumnus of the Alpha Omicron chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda in 2009 at the University of Arkansas campus. Hunter Kopczynski Hunter Kopczynski was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Lambda Alpha Chapter at Mars Hill University (MHU) in December. Hunter Kopczynski is a conductor and music educator currently based in Asheville, NC where he serves as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Mars Hill University. At MHU, he conducts the Wind Symphony, teaches conducting and courses in music education, and co-directs the Mountain Lion Marching Band. In addition to his role at MHU, Kopczynski is the music director and conductor of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra. Kopczynski earned Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University. He also completed a Master of Arts in Education and a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in Music from Virginia Tech. His principal conducting teachers were Kevin L. Sedatole and Travis J. Cross. Since coming to Mars Hill University, Kopczynski has championed new initiatives like the MHU Honor Band and rejuvenated the annual Summer Music Camp. While at Michigan State, he was active in all aspects of the conducting and band programs in the College of Music, including directing the Campus Band, the new music ensemble— Musique21, and teaching conducting. Additionally, he served as the assistant conductor of the MSU Wind Symphony, conducted and taught each of the major concert bands, and assisted with athletic bands and the MSU Opera eatre. He also served the broader campus community as a Leadership Fellow in the Graduate School. Kopczynski taught for seven years in the public schools of Virginia. Teaching middle and high school music in Roanoke County and most recently in Williamsburg-James City County. While teaching, he was a leader in the Virginia music education community: frequently hosting and chairing many state and regional events, serving on committees, and as a District Chairperson for the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association. He is an active adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor, and has presented at state and regional music education conferences. He holds professional membership in the College Band Directors National Association and the National Association for Music Education. Distinguished Members DeWitt DeWitt Hunter Hunter Kopczynski Kopczynski

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