Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • FALL 2015 • PAN PIPES 51 2015 Philanthropies Awards Mary Ann Starring Memorial Award for Piano & Percussion First Place - Joanna Reeder Theta Lambda, Furman University, Tau E Pianist Joanna Evelyn Reeder is a graduate of Furman University (2015, magna cum laude) where she earned a degree in Piano Performance as a student of Dr. Ruby Morgan. During her time at Furman, she soloed with the Furman Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 2015 and appeared in the University's Honors Recital in the spring of 2014. Also an avid violinist, she was an active member of the Furman Symphony Orchestra for four years. She was selected by the music department to study abroad in Arezzo, Italy. She was also chosen to perform in numerous masterclasses with visiting professors and guest artists. Joanna is committed to music education and served as an instructor in the University's precollege program for three years. Joanna is pursuing a Master's degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Houston, where she will study with Nancy Weems. A native of North Carolina, Joanna began her musical studies at the age of five. She was the recipient of numerous local and regional music awards and performed as a piano soloist with the Charlotte Symphony Junior Youth Orchestra and the Union Symphony Orchestra of Wingate, North Carolina in her a middle and high school years. She is the daughter of Daniel and Laurie Reeder and was home educated until beginning undergraduate studies in 2011. Joanna enjoys spending time with her five younger siblings and using her musical gifts to serve in her local church and community. She also enjoys collaborating with other musicians and regularly performs with her sisters in a flute, harp, and violin ensemble. Joanna became a member of the Theta Lambda chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota in the Spring of 2012. She served on her chapter's local outreach and fundraising committees and served as president of her chapter in 2014- 2015. Blanche Z. Hoffman Memorial Award for Voice First Place - Elizabeth Wells Lambda Tau, Westminster Choir College at Rider University, Phi A, Region VIII Soprano Elizabeth Wells is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College. She received her degree of Bachelor of Arts in Music, Vocal Studies Concentration, magna cum laude. During her time at Westminster Choir College, Wells attended Vienna: Language of Lieder, and Si parla, si canta. Wells was also a member of Symphonic Choir, in which she performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra in works such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Rachmaninoff 's The Bells and Bernstein's Mass. Through Westminster Opera Theater, Wells has performed Dido from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and Mrs. Nolan from Menotti's The Medium. She has also been in the chorus of I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Iolanta, and Les Contes des Hoffmann. Wells has also performed scenes through both Westminster Opera Theater and Si parla si canta from the following operas: Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Frau Fluth), Mozart's Idomeneo (Idamante), Cosi fan tutte (Despina), Le Nozze di Figaro (Cherubino, Marcellina), Gluck's Orfeo e Euridice (Orfeo), and Massenet's Don Quichotte (Dulcinee) to name a few. She will be continuing her studies at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in September to pursue a Masters in Music in Vocal Studies. Wells currently studies with Dr. Eric Rieger. After graduate school, Wells hopes to move to Germany to pursue a performing career. In future years, she hopes to teach voice at the college level and have a private voice studio in which she gives free lessons to students who would normally not be able to receive lessons due to financial reasons. Second Place - Elizebeth Barnes Eta Mu, University of Hartford, Phi B, Region VIII Elizebeth Barnes, an initiate of Eta Mu Chapter, is attending e Eastman School of Music for her Master's in Voice Performance and Literature this fall. She received her Master's in Vocal Performance from e Hartt School of Music and studied with Joanna Levy. During her graduate program, Elizebeth was a member of Hartt's Chamber Choir, performed numerous roles in both opera and music theater productions at Hartt and with the Santa Fe Opera, and was a section leader at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut. Triennial Awards Graduate Performance Awards Elizabeth Wells, accompanied by Sara Bong, performs Sunday, July 26 at the National Convention. Continued on next page

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