Sigma Alpha Iota

52 Fall 2025 • sai-national.org Distinguished Members DR. MARGARET BURK Dr. Margaret Burk was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter in May. A strong advocate of public school music education, Dr. Burk has taught choral music at the middle and high school levels in Minnesota and Kansas. She is Director of Choral Activities at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, conducting two choirs and teaching coursework in conducting and education. Her compositions have been published by Oxford University Press, Hal Leonard LLC, and Selah Music Publishing. Her compositions have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and performed at the American Choral Directors Association national conventions, universities, and churches across the United States and United Kingdom. Her pieces include "I Lift Up My Eyes," based on the text of Psalm 121; "What Cheer?" with text from a traditional English Carol; and "Preces & Responses" using text from the Book of Common Prayer. Recent engagements include conducting the Virginia District XII SATB Honor Choir (Oakton, VA), filming a masterclass for the Royal Canadian College of Organists' Organist Launchpad project (Montréal, Quebec), serving as Music Director for the Royal School of Church Music's Midwest Choral Festival (Evansville, IN), and conducting the Illinois District VII Honor Choir (Glenbrook, IL). Dr. Burk is an active church musician and has served on the faculties of the Conference for Music and Worship at Montreat, North Carolina; the Royal School of Music's King's College Course in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; and the Royal School of Church Music in Washington, DC. She has taught music classes at a men's prison as part of the Prison Creative Arts Project. She also led a music workshop titled "Sounds from Within" where she taught singing, music literacy, and songwriting to incarcerated men. An accomplished soprano, she sings with professional choirs around the United States, including Audivi (Detroit, MI), Musica Atlantica (Savannah, GA), and the Yale Choral Artists (New Haven, CT). Dr. Burk earned a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan, a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music, and a Bachelor of Music (summa cum laude) from St. Olaf College. She is a recipient of the Robert Shaw Prize for outstanding achievement in choral conducting. John Baird John Baird was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Decatur Alumnae Chapter in June. Baird has been a professional piano technician for forty-five years and Registered Piano Technician since 1976. He served as Certified Tuning Examiner for the Piano Technicians Guild, Inc. (PTG) for twenty-one years, where he tested aural tuners wishing to pass the tuning exam to become Registered Piano Technicians. During that time, he served as Regional Examiner for the six-state Central East Region. Baird promoted the establishment of the Electronic Communications Committee at PTG Council Meetings to facilitate PTG taking advantage of online tools and communication, serving as the committee's first chair. Baird also spearheaded the efforts to establish a database of scanned past issues of the PTG monthly magazine, The Piano Technicians Journal, to make it searchable and available to all in the industry. Baird previously worked as the Concert Piano Technician for Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. He has worked for the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Sir Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ferranti and Teicher, and numerous classical pianists. Baird is a board member of the Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur and a member of Central Christian Church, where he sings in the choir. Darrell Cox Darrell Cox was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Lawrence Alumnae Chapter in April. Cox is a retired music educator and active performer. He has presented workshops and adjudicates at festivals across Kansas and Missouri. He previously taught instrumental music in public schools and spent ten years as Educational Representative in several different music stores in the North East Kansas area. He is a former member of the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps out of Lackland Air Force Base and was also trained in Pararescue. Over the years, Cox's enthusiastic teaching and guidance of young people has launched many music careers and a love of music throughout the local community. He plays tuba with the Lawrence City Band and New Horizons Band, and previously played trombone with the Hutchinson Symphony, the Topeka Jazz Workshop, and the Jazzhaus Big Band. As an active member attendee at Kansas Music Educators Association conferences, he is NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a person who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts FRIEND OF THE ARTS a person who is supportive of and actively involved in the arts at a local or regional level Baird Baird Cox Cox

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