8
Fall 2022
•
sai-national.org
2022 Natial Cvention
F
riend of the Arts Dr. Michael Braz is a nationally and internationally known music
educator, composer, and clinician. Professor Emeritus of Music at Georgia Southern
University and a 24-year faculty member, Braz taught coursework in theory/composition
and music education. The convention's first general session on Friday opened with a rousing
performance of his specially composed fanfare, A Call to Reunion. "Having created instrumental and
choral works for past SAI National Conventions since the 2003 Centennial, I was pleased by the invitation
to compose A Call to Reunion, a trumpet ensemble fanfare for the opening of this past 50th SAI Convention," said Dr.
Braz. "I was excited to hear that Amy Inman Barnes, composer of the 1984 SAI contest-winning song, Music Is Our Call,
would be present to witness her entry blossom into the Convention's official theme. Taking the song's opening phrase as
a source of inspiration, I sought to blend it with two other songs — The Sigma Alpha Iota Chorale and The Whistle Song —
representing both the soul and spirit of a very special organization." Ensemble performers included SAIs: Sarah Cisney,
Christina Colley, Madisen Martin, Sarah Porell, Rose Schmidt Riley, Kristin Rousom, Aidan Schweitzer, and Lauren
Weinberg.
Convention photography by Gregory Dickens and Zara Simpson. Convention photography by Gregory Dickens and Zara Simpson.
For more images, visit: For more images, visit: https://bit.ly/SAICon22pics
The Music of Convention