Sigma Alpha Iota

8 Fall 2023 • sai-national.org Grace Notes M ember Laureate Gloria Swisher, who served as Secretary on the SAI Philanthropies, Inc. Board from 1981-1987, passed away on July 23, 2023. Dr. Gloria Wilson Swisher was initiated by Sigma eta Chapter at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY on December 15, 1957. She served as Nu Province President from 1970-1973 and was the International Music Fund Chairman from 1975-1981. She later worked on the editorial board of PAN PIPES, overseeing the Composers Bureau Annual Updates from 1988 to 2000, and she was the editor of the 1990 edition of the SAI Songbook. She held the Sword of Honor, Ruby Sword of Honor, Rose of Honor, and Ring of Excellence. A member of the SAI Composers Bureau, Gloria served as a Composer/ Judge for the 1987-1990 IAMA cycle and her piece for oboe and piano, Salutations, was premiered at the 1990 SAI National Convention in Minneapolis, MN by former national officers Patricia Stenberg and Geraldine Hubbell, to whom the song was dedicated. e Seattle Alumnae Chapter submitted her name for Member Laureate, and she was initiated in that category on March 1, 1999. Gloria graduated summa cum laude from the University of Washington in Seattle, held an MA from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and earned a Ph.D. in Composition and Piano from the Eastman School of Music. She was also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in 1956-57. Dr. Swisher studied composition with Darius Milhaud, Howard Hanson, and Bernard Rogers. Her choral compositions have been published by Carl Fischer and Michael Kysar. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board, the League of Women Composers, Inc., ASCAP, MENC, and the American Music Center. Her compositions included a chamber opera (e Artist and the Other), piano concertos, and works for wind ensemble and choir. She won the alia Orchestra Competition, as well as other awards and prizes. Dr. Swisher taught at Washington State University, Pacific Lutheran University, Shoreline Community College, and most recently at the University of Washington. She presented piano recitals in Mexico and Japan, as well as in the United States, and also served as a music and art columnist for the Daily Journal in Caracas, Venezuela. She performed regularly as a duo pianist with Sigma Omicron initiate and current Seattle Alumnae Chapter member Nancy Matesky. Gloria retired in 1998 from Shoreline Community College, where she had been Professor of Music and Composer- in-Residence. Gloria was also a Co-founder of the Ars Nova Project; it was founded with a two-fold mission: to promote and preserve musical works by composers writing accessible music in traditional forms and media. In keeping with this mission, Ars Nova Press, Inc. publishes new and out-of- print works aimed toward a broad audience, works appealing to both the musically educated and the general public. Current publications include solo, chamber, chorale and large ensemble works by a notable roster of composers — Vaclav Nelhybel, Frank Bencriscutto, Gloria Wilson Swisher, Allen Vizzutti, John Heins, Michael Twomey, and Donald O. Johnston, to name just a few. At the SAI National Convention in July 1990 in Minneapolis, Gloria participated in a panel discussion featuring numerous American composers titled "Let's Cut Out the Twentieth Century!" She began with, "I hope you look around the room at your neighbors, because I have some very positive things to say. As far as the 20th Century goes, Sigma Alpha Iota's membership has been outstanding in its support of the American composer. It's one really bright light. at's why I am proud to belong to this organization. It is what first drew me to it." (Winter 1991, PAN PIPES) We send our love and condolences to her husband, Mr. Donald P. Swisher, an SAI Friend of the Arts. Remembering Gloria Swisher

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