Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-natiOnal.ORg WintER 2014 PAN PIPES 5 sais in the news l eslie Odom Miller, National President of Sigma Alpha Iota, has been selected as the Outstanding Music Alumni for 2013 by Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. She was initiated by the Zeta Chapter in 1978. She has served SAI as a National Vice President, Collegiate Chapters and National Vice President, Alumnae Chapters as well as a member of the SAI Philanthropies, Inc. Board, ListServ Director, Province Officer, President of the Gainesville Alumnae Chapter, and advisor to Gamma Delta at the University of Florida. During her visit to the Butler campus in September, Dr. Odom Miller taught a Master Class for the oboe studio and presented a speech to senior and freshman students from the Jordan College of the Arts during the 11th Annual Fall Alumni Convocation. She is Associate Professor of Oboe and Music eory at the University of Florida, where she is also the Graduate Coordinator for the School of Music. Butler University Honors SAI National President W hat do the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, the Texas Woman's University Repository for Renowned Women Composers, and the Remington Registry: 2013 Honors and Awards have in common? ey all have acknowledged musical contributions and lifetime accomplishments of SAI patroness member Elizabeth Grieger Wiegand. Elizabeth's choral piece, "Dear Mary, Our Lady of the Snows," was recorded at the Shrine last August and is included on a CD produced by Elizabeth's company, Roses 'n Velvet. e CD, A Christmas Symphony in Word and Song, also includes performances with the St. Stanislaus Kostka children's chorus and solos with Dayna Schaumann Iscano, Miss University of Mobile, Alabama. e Shrine is a Chapter of St. Mary Major Church in Rome, Italy. is CD is archived with other Weigand compositions at the TWU Repository for Renowned Women Composers. On display in the Blagg-Huey Library is a framed photo of Elizabeth performing on the Schyven Organ, Cathedral of Antwerp, Belgium in 1998. She was invited to concertize in Belgium aer her career was shared in the SAI American Composers Bureau update. Starting her music studies at the age of 4, Elizabeth continued at Valparaiso University, where she studied piano, organ, cello, and choral conducting. She appeared in concert through the National Federation of Music Clubs and the American Guild of Organists in Virginia, Michigan, Hawaii, Kansas, Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Illinois. e Michigan City Interfaith Choir, which she directed for fieen years, performed many concerts for Chicago television stations. She is currently the Music Director and organist at St. Peter Church in LaPorte, IN. As a member of ASCAP, she received the ASCAPLUS cash award 20 times; she also received the Crusade for Strings award and the First Place American Composers Award presented by the National Federation of Music Clubs. She was initiated by the Beta Lambda Chapter at Valparaiso, and as a patroness with training, is affiliated with the SAI International Chapter. Her commissioned composition, "I Know A Little Piano Song" was performed at the 100 th Anniversary Convention of Sigma Alpha Iota in Dearborn, MI, in 2003, and both that manuscript and her autobiography are showcased at SAI National Headquarters. Not only a musician but a humanitarian and naturalist, Elizabeth has received recognition from different levels of government including George Bush at the White House for volunteering over 8,500 hours at Franciscan Health, St. Anthony Hospital in Michigan City, Indiana, and from Lee Iacoca of Corporate America. Selected for recognition in the 2013 Remington Registry, a summary of her achievements and interests is sure to inspire the youth of America. Quoting from the Registry, "Elizabeth Grieger Wiegand has certainly struck every note when it comes to a fully lived life…In the end we at Remington certainly are overwhelmed at the very least of this dynamo of humanitarian contribution…she represents the ultimate message of commitment and dedication. Maybe it's not what she does but how she does it. Elizabeth most certainly does everything 110%... [she] has offered all of us a priceless message that we should carry with our journey throughout life every day." Recognition From Around the Country Behind Elizabeth Wiegand (seated) are, from left, Tom LaDonne, Donna Serna, Maria Pedulla, George Mares, and Ron Meer, Mayor of Michigan City. Dr. Leslie Odom Miller

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