Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES • SPRING 2016 • sai-national.org 28 JA M E S A D L E R James Adler was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Fort Worth Alumnae Chapter in February. A pianist, Adler made his orchestral performing debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has appeared in recital on the Orchestra's Allied Arts Piano Series and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series. His appearances have brought him from Chicago's Grant Park, to London's Royal Albert Hall (broadcast by the BBC), to esseloniki, Greece, to New York's Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, and the Paramount eatre at Madison Square Garden. His extensive list of compositions is headed by Memento Mori: An AIDS Requiem. Performed worldwide, recorded by AmorArtis Chorale and Orchestra, and published by Alfred Music. Other compositions include Reflections upon a September morn (poetry by Walt Whitman); Monday's Child, performed last holiday season at e Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and at e Metropolitan Museum of Art; Daughters of Music, recently commissioned by Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity Fort Worth Alumnae Chapter; Carols of Splendour, premiered at Carnegie Hall; It's Gotta Be America, commissioned for the Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty; and Canticle For Peace, written for the opening of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Adler is also the composer of Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra, the children's "pOpera" Herbie and Carnie: A Dinosaga, the Classic Rag- time Suite for orchestra, numerous solo, chamber, and choral works, and the award-winning film score for e Hat Act. As performer and composer, Adler can be heard on recordings from Albany Records, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records, including his latest release from Albany, Introspections. He is a member of the Department of Fine Arts at Saint Peter's University. A native of Chicago, Adler received his Bachelor's in Piano Performance and Masters in Composition from Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. D R . L A R R Y B L O C H E R Dr. Larry Blocher was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Delta Zeta Chapter in March. Dr. Blocher is Professor of Music and Director of the School of Music at Troy University in Troy, AL. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Dr. Blocher serves as an associate conductor with the university bands and teaches undergraduate and graduate music education courses. Dr. Blocher previously served as Associate Director of Bands and Director of Music Education at Wichita State University in Wichita, KS, for 10 years. He received his Bachelor's and Master's in Music Education and Performance degrees from Morehead State University in Kentucky and his Doctorate in Music Education from e Florida State University. Dr. Blocher serves as Chairman of the Journal of Band Research and is currently a member of the editorial board. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Band Association and has served on the editorial board of the Music Educators Journal and the Advisory Board to the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. He is a past president of the Kansas Bandmasters Association. In 2005, Dr. Blocher received both the Outstanding Bandmaster and the Outstanding Contributor to Music awards from the Kansas Bandmasters Association. He is a past recipient of the Mortar Board Outstanding Educator Award (2004, Wichita State) and the University Leadership in the Advancement of Teaching Award (2002, Wichita State). Most recently, he was the recipient of the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Commissioning Grant (2009), was named a Lowell Mason Fellow by e National Association for Music Education (2009), served as an invited clinician for the Instrumental Academy during music education week (NAfME) in Washington D.C. (2010), and presented a clinic session at the 2011 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. Dr. Blocher has been a guest clinician/ conductor/adjudicator in 30 states and 9 countries. His original music for concert band is published by Wingert-Jones. He is a co-principal author of the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series (GIA). V I N C E D I M A R T I N O Vince DiMartino was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Delta Omega Chapter in February. An accomplished classical and jazz artist, DiMartino taught at the University of Kentucky until 1993 aer graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 1972. At that time, he began a new appointment as Distinguished Artist in Residence at Center College in Danville, KY, where he taught trumpet, brass and jazz ensembles, and jazz history for 19 years. DiMartino has performed as the lead and solo trumpet player in jazz ensembles such as the Lionel Hampton Band, the Chuck Mangione Band, the Clark Terry Band, and the Eastman Arranger's Holiday Orchestra. In addition, he has been a soloist with several symphony orchestras including Cincinnati, Buffalo, Sante Fe, North Carolina, Orlando, Baton Rouge and Rochester, New York. DiMartino has also been a soloist with the Army Blues Jazz Band, the Army Brass Band, the U.S. Air Force Band of Flight, and most recently, the United States Marine Band. He is the first civilian to perform with this ensemble. He served as President and Vice President of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG), as DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a man or woman who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts

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