Sigma Alpha Iota

24 Spring 2026 • sai-national.org DR. HOLLY WISSLER Dr. Holly Wissler was initiated as an Honorary Member by the Theta Omega Chapter at Texas State University in February. Dr. Wissler is a Lecturer in Music History and Literature. She worked for many years in Peru as Applied Ethnomusicologist and National Geographic Expert for their student expedition programs. She also served as guest lecturer for various US university study abroad programs, presenting topics such as musical traditions, Peruvian history, and modernization. She is a high-altitude trek leader for Wilderness Travel in Peru (and formerly Nepal). Dr. Wissler's research includes the rituals, traditions, and modernization of the music of the Quechua community of Q'eros in the Peruvian Andes and the Amazonian Wachiperi community of the Madre de Dios River Basin, with a particular focus on indigenous theory of music. She also researches repatriation of audio-visual archives, with their use and impact; effective indigenous tourism that includes music; healing through the singing of grief and loss; and the impact of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage nomination with local people and entities. She was logistics organizer and presenter for the Wachiperi in the 2015 Smithsonian Folklife Festival that focused on Peru. She co- authored with Peru's Ministry of Tourism for the UNESCO nomination of Q'eros traditional songs to the Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Dr. Wissler has published extensively in both Spanish and English journals, and is producer of two video documentaries: Qoyllur Rit'i: A Woman's Journey, about Peru's largest pilgrimage festival and her inside role there; and Kusisqa Waqashayku ("From Grief and Joy We Sing"), about the annual cycle of musical rituals in Q'eros. She is currently producing a third documentary, Dante's Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru. As a classical flutist, Dr. Wissler has performed in Peru on concert series sponsored by the Peruvian-North American Institute, and is adept at numerous Andean instruments. She speaks six languages: English, Spanish, Quechua, Nepali, Peruvian, and American Sign Language. Dr. Wissler earned a Ph.D. in Musicology with an emphasis in Ethnomusicology from Florida State University, and Master's Degrees from the University of Idaho in Flute Performance and Music History. DR. WAYNE HEISLER, JR. Dr. Wayne Heisler, Jr. was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Nu Alpha Chapter at e College of New Jersey in October. Dr. Heisler has dedicated a large part of his life researching, writing, and teaching music, embracing both art and popular music from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries. His work has appeared in such publications as the Journal of the American Musicological Society, The Musical Quarterly, The Opera Quarterly, Dance Chronicle, and The Grove Dictionary of American Music (2nd ed). Dr. Heisler's conference presentations include the American Musicology Society, Dance Studies Association, German Studies Association, and the International Musicological Society. He has served on the faculty at The College of New Jersey since 2006, with courses including "Music from 1750 to 1945" and "Music from 1945 to the Present (Writing Intensive)." Dr. Heisler has several publications, including his monograph Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD); Honorary Fellowship for study and research in Germany; his review essay of Rounding Wagner's Mountain: Richard Strauss and Modern German Opera; and a scholarly presentation of "Choreographing Song in the Twentieth Century." His book The Ballet Collaborations of Richard Strauss (2009) was published as part of the University of Rochester Press's Eastman Studies in Music series. Dr. Heisler was a Visiting Fulbright Graduate Fellow (non-degree residency) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany. He has received numerous honors, awards, and recognitions, including the Support of Scholarly Activities (SOSA) from The College of New Jersey (seven times); Thomas Walker Memorial Dissertation Fellowship, Princeton University Music Department; and the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, Honorary Fellowship for study and research in Germany. Dr. Heisler earned both a Ph.D. and Master of Fine Arts in Musicology from Princeton University, a Master of Music in Musicology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from DePaul University. Distinguished Members NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a person who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts HONORARY MEMBER a woman who achieved international distinction in the music profession & who is not an initiated member of SAI

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