Sigma Alpha Iota

8 Summer 2022 • sai-national.org 2022 Natial Cvention F riday's Keynote presentation, entitled "Music of the Blue Ridge: Rebellion, Religion, and Resilience," will be given by Dr. Melodie Galloway, an initiate of the Epsilon eta Chapter at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. As a conductor, artistic director, and educator, Dr. Melodie Galloway is known as someone who brings people together through music that captures the beauty of the human experience. As Professor of Music and Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at the University of North Carolina Asheville, her choirs have performed for numerous state and local events, and for invited performances as part of the Holiday Open House Events at the White House each fall (2006-2018), including a private audience with President and Mrs. Obama in 2012. Dr. Galloway holds a Master's degree from Florida State University in Vocal Performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her experience as a conductor and soprano soloist includes opera, musical theatre, and jazz. Her credits as a conductor include a 2012 Carnegie Hall invited performance featuring 200 singers and orchestra. She led combined choirs and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra (Krakow) in Dan Forrest's Requiem for the Living in May 2017 in Vienna, Prague, and Salzburg, including the Czech Republic première of the work. Among her original compositions, written as an expression of the acute loneliness and silence caused by the COVID pandemic and the hope of coming back together in song, is Gloria, a work for SATB choir, brass and percussion, première date December, 2021, by the Asheville Choral Society and chamber orchestra. Her continued scholarship includes the choral/orchestral music of legendary jazz artist, Dave Brubeck; vocal health studies; music and wellness; and the migration of Celtic music to Appalachia. One of her recent papers, "Breaking Barriers – Blurring Lines: Genre-homogenous Choral Music of Resilience: Exploring works by Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Dave Brubeck and Margaret Bonds," was presented as part of the American Choral Director's Association Southern Regional Conference in Raleigh, NC, in February of 2022. She is in demand as a choral clinician, guest conductor, composer/arranger, and consultant. Music of the Blue Ridge Dr. Melodie Dr. Melodie Galloway Galloway On Sunday, July 31st, our Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Sheree L. Gibson speaking on Diversity and Inclusion. She will also host a Q & A discussion that aernoon. Dr. Gibson is an associate from Plaid, an organizational management firm that partners with communities to develop and elevate people and organizations. She offers program facilitation, diversity consulting services, individual and group coaching, higher education assessment, and crisis management. Before Plaid, Dr. Gibson earned a B.A. in Sociology at e Ohio State University, an M.A. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Georgia. She served as the Director of Residence Life for the Department of Housing & Residence Life at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She spent over 15 years working directly with STEM students in housing, leadership, and first-year experience programs. Dr. Gibson also co-authored an article on undergraduate Black female engineers and their exploration of Black womanhood. Her Ph.D. in Philosophy was completed in 2014 at e University of Georgia in Counseling & Student Personnel Services with a certificate in interdisciplinary qualitative studies. Her current research interests include students' sense of belonging, identity development, racial identity development, and leadership development. Dr. Gibson has also taught classes about leadership, assessment, and human development. She is a certified life and career coach. She is passionate about teaching, coaching, and mentoring young adults. Dr. Gibson is also the proud wife of Mr. Marlon L. Gibson and the mother to one son, Adam Patrick. Diversity and Inclusion: Where are we now? Learn more at: www.beingplaid.com Dr. Sheree L. Gibson Dr. Sheree L. Gibson

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