Sigma Alpha Iota

34 Fall 2026 | sai-national.org ROLLO DILWORTH Rollo Dilworth was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Asheville Alumnae Chapter in May. Dilworth is the Elaine Brown Choral Chair, Vocal Arts Department Chair, and Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University's Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts. He has served on the faculty since 2009. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in choral music education, Dilworth serves as conductor for the Temple University Singing Owls Campus/ Community Chorus, as artistic director for Singing City, and as conductor for the School District of Philadelphia High School All-City Chorus. Over two hundred of Dilworth's choral compositions and arrangements have been published, and many are part of the Henry Leck Creating Artistry Choral Series with the Hal Leonard Corporation. Additional choral publications can be found in the catalogs of Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Colla Voce, Walton Music, and EC Schirmer. Dilworth has conducted more than seventy all-state choirs at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and remains an active clinician and frequent guest conductor of festival, community, church, and professional choirs. He has researched, lectured, and presented extensively on topics including African-American choral music, choral pedagogy, composing/arranging for choir, social justice, social emotional learning, cultural appropriation, urban music education, community engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion. He is a contributing author for the Essential Elements for Choir and Experiencing Choral Music textbook series, and for MUSIC EXPRESS magazine. He has authored three books of choral warm- up exercises intended for elementary and secondary choral ensembles, entitled Choir Builders: Fundamental Vocal Techniques for General and Classroom Use (2006); Choir Builders for Growing Voices (2009); and Choir Builders for Growing Voices 2 (2014). Dilworth serves on the national boards of Chorus America and the Presser Foundation, and is an active life member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He also holds memberships with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). DR. NORAH DUNCAN IV Dr. Norah Duncan IV was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Pontchartrain Alumnae Chapter in May. Dr. Duncan is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Music at Wayne State University; Area Coordinator for Organ Performance; director of the WSU Concert Chorale; and coordinator of many of the choral concerts presented by the Department of Music. As an organist, Dr. Duncan has performed across the United States and Europe, most recently in Trier, Germany and Sydney, Australia. He has presented concerts under the Cathedral Cultural Series with the Archdiocesan Chorus as choral director, and collaborated in concerts with the Wayne State University choral ensembles, the Brazeal Dennard Chorale ensembles, and the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. He directed the Michigan Youth Choral Ensemble at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2004 and 2005. Several of his vocal and instrumental arrangements can be found on the website for the African Diaspora Music Project. As a liturgical musician, Dr. Duncan has been music director for the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit for over twenty- six years, making him the longest-serving Roman Catholic cathedral musician in the country. With the Benedictine Monastery in Solesmes, France, Dr. Duncan established the Gregorian Institute of Detroit for the study of Gregorian chant. He has presented papers on liturgical music at international congresses, and presented at clinics and workshops in Rome, Dublin, and Nigeria. Dr. Duncan is a recipient of the Award for Excellence for Musical Direction from the American College Theater Festival, Washington, DC; the Sr. Thea Bowman Award of the Archdiocese of Detroit; and was the first recipient of the "Changing Lives Through Music" Award presented by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Dr. Duncan premiered his work JOURNEY: From Slavery to Freedom, performed by the Macomb Symphony Orchestra. Originally conceived as "A Cantata of Black Spirituals," this work was his submission for Wayne State University's Murray Jackson Creative Scholar in the Arts Award in 2024. Dr. Duncan earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Church Music/Organ Performance from the University of Michigan, a Master of Fine Arts in Organ Performance from Wayne State University, and a Bachelor's in English Literature from the University of Detroit. DR. TOM PEARSALL Dr. Tom Pearsall was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Gamma Theta Chapter at Georgia Southern University in April. Dr. Pearsall teaches Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Georgia Southern University, where he has been since 1993. Previously, he taught at Wausau Conservatory of Music DISTINGUISHEDMEMBERS NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a person who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts

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