Sigma Alpha Iota

32 Summer 2024 • sai-national.org Distinguished Members and percussion. In high school, he was a participant in the 2016 US Army All-American Marching Band and was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Band Award. He attended James Madison University (JMU), earning his BM in Music Education. At JMU, he wrote arrangements for the Marching Royal Dukes and the Madison Clarinet Ensemble. Following graduation, he became an elementary and middle school music teacher in Dundalk, Maryland. Concurrently, he was the woodwind instructor for the Westminster High School Marching Band, his alma mater. He is currently a graduate assistant at Appalachian State University, where he is studying for a Master of Music Performance degree in instrumental conducting with Dr. John Stanley Ross and Dr. Jason Gardner. He frequents conducting symposia, and has been instructed by Matthew Dockendorf, Jerry Junkin, Donald McKinney, Jamie Nix, H. Robert Reynolds, Mark Scatterday, and Brandon Steinmetz. He has studied music composition with Amanda Bono, Eric Guinivan, and Roger Zare. Maggie Mercer Maggie Mercer was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Sigma Iota Chapter at Syracuse University in April. Professor Mercer is an instructor of Music Education at the Setnor School of Music and also teaches elementary orchestra and high school violin students in the West Genesee Central School District in Camillus, New York. At West Genesee schools she is responsible for teaching group lessons, preparing two elementary orchestras for biannual concerts, and recruiting new students annually. Mercer maintains a small private studio of violin students ages 4-17. She also taught as a licensed Kindermusik instructor for many years. She has guest-conducted elementary all-county orchestras in Nassau County, Monroe County, Onondaga County, Broome County, and Oswego County. Mercer maintains an active performance career, playing violin in the Rosewood String Quartet, Syracuse University Summer Festival Orchestra (concertmaster), and numerous ensembles in the Syracuse area. She has played in the Syracuse Symphony, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra (principal second), Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra, Skaneateles Festival Orchestra, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She holds an undergraduate degree in music education and violin performance from Ithaca College (1987) and a master of science degree in early childhood education from the State University of New York at Oswego (1993). At Ithaca College she studied with Linda Case and played in master classes for Henryk Szeryng and Joyce Robbins. Mercer was a two-time winner of the Ithaca College Concerto Competition. She also studied with Sally Thomas and Ann Setzer at the Meadowmount Summer Music School. Emile Ottinger Emile Ottinger was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Sigma Alpha Chapter at Illinois Wesleyan University in April. Emile Ottinger, a close friend and supporter of the chapter, is passionate about enhancing community through the arts. They won the Eckley Research Grant against fierce competition and expanded their project into a lengthy poetic manuscript on family relationships, restoration ecology, and queer identity. Ottinger has demonstrated a keen interest in journalism through their participation in the executive and editorial boards of Tributaries, a creative arts publication showcasing student works through short stories, photography, and art. They have also published a review for Manor Records, a non- profit music record label based in Kansas. Ottinger is a talented individual who has collaborated with a Sigma Alpha executive board member to create and lead the Deja Vu Dance Team. The team promotes intercultural competence and appreciation through K-pop music. They earned a Bachelor of Arts in English — Writing and Environmental Studies from Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL. Stephanie Sager Stephanie Sager was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Delta Chi Chapter at the University of South Florida (USF) in April. Mrs. Sager has worked at USF as an Adjunct Professor of Voice since August 2020 and at Hillsborough Community College since 2007. She is also the Music Director at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, FL. Her students have gone on to pursue degrees at Manhattan School of Music, FSU, the University of Miami, and Boston Conservatory. Other students have been featured on American Idol and The X Factor. She is a Full Lyric Operatic Soprano who received her Bachelor's Degree from Florida State University and her Master's Degree from Manhattan School of Music. Mrs. Sager has sung with Opera Tampa, St. Pete Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, and New York Opera Project. Her roles include: Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Mimi in La Bohème, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas. David Surtasky David Surtasky was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Kappa Beta Chapter at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in April. David "Dave" Surtasky has served the Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Lively Arts Center for over ten years. Since 2012, he has been the Technical Director inside of Fisher Auditorium, the on- campus performance hall. Because of his never- ending support of the arts and the IUP community, local staff members and colleagues often refer to him as the "unsung hero" of a variety of events across campus. Outside of Fisher Auditorium, Mr. Surtasky has worked as a photographer and theater artist for the NOH Project in the Pittsburgh, PA region since 2006. He has written his own plays, some of which have been presented at Pittsburgh's Fringe Festival and at the Live Arts Festival. In 2018, he traveled to Shanghai University, working to contribute to Theatre Nohgaku. Mercer Mercer Ottinger Ottinger Sager Sager Surtasky Surtasky

• Cover