Sigma Alpha Iota

10 Summer 2025 • sai-national.org Music Education By Jeffrey Scott Doebler, PhD Presented as the keynote address for Beta B Province Day, "Voices Rising in Dedication" I love your Province Day theme: "Voices Rising in Dedication." Here, my goal is to discuss how our voices can rise in a model for harmony, as if we could share roses among our fellow citizens within our country and around the world. I graduated from college in 1982. One of the fun things about watching sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s was waiting for the show's catch phrase each week. For Happy Days, it was Fonzi saying "Aaaay!" For Good Times, it was JJ saying "DynoMITE." For Chico and the Man, it was "Looking good!" And for Sledge Hammer (which I bet most of you did not see), it was "Trust me, I know what I'm doing." There are many, many more. We could spend the next hour listing sitcoms, the characters, and their catch phrases. If you ask people around this building to name my catch phrase, many would say music education in action. For decades, I've been on the lookout for what I call music education in action. Sigma Alpha Iota is a great example of music education in action, since its membership is comprised of music lovers who are active in the music industry—performers, teachers, therapists, church musicians—and those who love music as participants and supporters. An ideal personification of SAI's outreach was Joanne Ross. Joanne was a member of the Lake County Alumnae Chapter and died of cancer in 2022. Joanne was active in SAI, sang in her church choir, and was involved in lots of other musical activities, which included playing saxophone in the Valparaiso Community/ University Concert Band from 2000 through 2021. Joanne was not a professional musician, but she loved music. She loved to participate in music, she served the church and community through music, she represented SAI through music, and she modeled sharing, caring, and empathy through music. I also have another catch phrase. It's one I've only been using for a few years, but it reflects the privilege and responsibility we have as arts enthusiasts. That phrase is Every day, we have the privilege of collaborating to create and share beauty. To me, this is a profound gift for each of us, plus a gift for each of us to share and model for others. I believe this modeling can make our world a better place. Like many of you, I am very disappointed with the level of disrespect and cruelty in our world. I think that modeling the privilege of collaborating to create and share beauty is part of the solution. I'll come back to this thought later. First, though, I'll review some of what I spoke about as Province Day keynote speaker in 2005, and I'll give some examples of international and national cultural sharing and modeling. The title of my 2005 Sigma Alpha Iota Province Day Keynote Address was Anything I Can Do, You Can Do. The gist of the presentation was to remind all of us—especially the college students—that all of their professors were once just like them. It's easy to be overwhelmed when considering their achievements. I am still in awe of the accomplishments of my long-time Valparaiso University colleagues. Like many of you are experiencing, I found college to be challenging. I thought music theory was easy, but musicianship or ear training was my most difficult course. I also spent much of my time in college working through brass embouchure problems. My point was, back in 2005 and also today, that each of your professors encountered many of the same challenges each of you faces. Back to ear training classes: You might find it Every Day, We Have the Privilege of Collaborating to Create and Share Beauty: Music as a Model for World Peace, Harmony, Cooperation, Respect, and Sharing Photo by Carlie Allen Photo by Carlie Allen

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