Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Fall 2022 61 FRIEND OF THE ARTS a man or woman who is supportive of and actively involved in the arts at a local or regional level NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a man or woman who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts DR. ROBERT SHAFER Dr. Robert Shafer was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Washington, DC Alumnae Chapter in May. Dr. Shafer, a distinguished conductor and multiple Grammy Award winner, was welcomed into SAI membership at the home of Mary K. Traver, surrounded by old friends of Maestro Shafer and Dr. Sharon Guertin Shafer, a cherished member of the DC Alumnae Chapter. The group discussed Maestro's upcoming performance of the Brahms Requiem, marking the end of his final season as Artistic Director of the City Choir of Washington. Dr. Robert Shafer, recognized as one of America's major choral conductors, served as Artistic Director of the City Choir of Washington for its first fifteen years. For more than fifty years, Maestro Shafer has served the Washington, DC area as a choral conductor, composer, educator, and church musician. He was the music director of The Washington Chorus for over thirty-five years. In February 2000, he was honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences with a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for a live concert recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Shafer prepared The Washington Chorus for the Grammy Award-winning recording of John Corigliano's Of Rage and Remembrance with Leonard Slatkin and The National Symphony Orchestra and for the Grammy Award-nominated compact disc and film soundtrack recording of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov with Mstislav Rostropovich and The National Symphony Orchestra. Shafer has prepared choruses for many of the world's leading conductors, including Sir Neville Marriner, Seiji Ozawa, Zdenek Macal, Christopher Warren-Green, Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Leonard Slatkin. He has guest-conducted The National Symphony Orchestra on several occasions and has also conducted choral performances for NBC national telecasts. In addition, he has conducted numerous European concert tours with the choral groups that he has prepared, most recently leading the City Choir of Washington on tour to England in July 2018. A student of the distinguished Nadia Boulanger, Shafer has been noted for his own compositions, including his setting of Lux Aeterna, which was premiered in April 2009. In 1969, he won first prize in composition at the American Conservatory, Fontainebleau, France, and his works have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. When he served as music director of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, he composed and conducted a setting of Tu es Petrus in honor of Pope John Paul II's 1979 visit to Washington, DC. In 2015 Maestro Shafer was commissioned to compose a new work in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, which coincided with the opening of a new Arts Complex at the college. An influential teacher, Shafer taught at James Madison High School (Vienna, VA) from 1968-1975, producing one of the finest madrigal groups in the country. He served as Artist-in-Residence and professor of music at the Conservatory of Music of Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA, from 1983 until his retirement in 2016. In 1989, Shafer was honored by the Virginia Council on Higher Education with an Outstanding Faculty Award for his outstanding public service, research, and teaching, the first teacher in the arts to receive this award. In June 2011, the Choralis Foundation named Robert Shafer as the winner of the 2nd Annual Greater Washington, DC Area Choral Excellence Award. This award is given to a person or organization that has made significant contributions to the art of choral singing in the greater DC metropolitan area. In July 2022, Shafer retired as artistic director of the City Choir of Washington and remains part of the TCCW family as Artistic Director Emeritus. Dr. Mark Carlisle Dr. Mark Carlisle was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Terre Haute Alumnae Chapter in May. As a faculty member in the School of Music at Indiana State University, Dr. Carlisle teaches studio voice and serves as music director of the Masterworks Chorale, Lyric eater Workshop, and for collaborative musical theater/opera productions with the ISU Department of eater. He received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Wittenberg University, a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Carlisle has performed extensively as a tenor soloist in opera, oratorio, recital, musical theater, and vocal jazz. As a conductor he has led large choral ensembles and choral works, and he has served as music director for numerous operatic and music theater productions. He has sung in choirs with such renowned choral conductors as Robert Shaw, Roger Wagner, and Dale Warland. In addition to his ISU responsibilities, Dr. Carlisle currently directs the Farrington Grove Chorale and serves as music director for musical theater productions with Crossroads Repertory eater. He is also choir director at Central Presbyterian Church in Terre Haute, IN. Carlisle Carlisle Distinguished Members

• Cover