Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SUMMER 2016 • PAN PIPES 27 D R . R O B E R T H A R T B A K E R Dr. Robert Hart Baker was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the St. Louis Alumnae Chapter in May. Robert Hart Baker has been the conductor of the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra since 1982 and has served as principal guest conductor with the Asheville Lyric Opera Company since 2004. He is Music Director Laureate of the Harrisburg Choral Society & Orchestra and the York (PA) Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, and he is also Conductor Laureate of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina (which he led from 1980 to 2004). Dr. Baker was recently named Music Director and Conductor of the Belleville (IL) Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorale and is Instructor of Oboe on the faculty of Lindenwood University in Missouri. His broad repertoire includes classical symphonic, pops, opera, choral, and ballet music; he has received critical praise on the podium here and abroad in all genres. His work with the York Symphony Association in Pennsylvania has earned two awards from the League of American Orchestras (Student Song Contest in 2003 and Saturday Morning Symphony in 2005). His DVD of the St. Louis Philharmonic Holiday Spectacular won the national Telly Award in 2004 for best classical local cable TV production. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with many American orchestras, including Billings, Chattanooga, Cheyenne, Flagstaff, Harrisburg, Muskegon, Providence, Quincy (IL), Roanoke, and Radio City Music Hall. He made his debut with the Boston Pops in 2010 as part of its 125 th anniversary celebration with violin soloist Lynn Chang. His most recent international guest conducting engagements have been with the Regina Symphony (Canada), Orquestra do Norte (Portugal), the Vratza State Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria), the Tito Schipa Symphony Orchestra (Italy), and the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Baker holds a diploma in conducting from the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg, where he studied with Herbert Von Kariajan; he also has a Bachelor's cum laude from Harvard where he studied conducting privately with Leonard Bernstein. He received his Doctorate in Orchestra Conducting from Yale in 1987, serving as an assistant to Aaron Copland and studying privately with Otto-Werner Mueller and Arthur Weisburg. James Dick, National Arts Associate, was a mentor. PAT T I C O H E N O U R Patti Cohenour was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Tacoma Alumnae Chapter in May. Patti Cohenour is an award-winning actress who has created numerous leading roles on Broadway, including the first American actress to portray Christine Daae in the original Broadway cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's e Phantom of the Opera. She has performed in a myriad of theatrical productions around the country includ- ing Chicago's Goodman and Drury Lane theaters, South Coast Repertory, e Old Globe in San Diego, San Jose Repertory, the St. Louis MUNY, and Seattle's 5th Ave, Intiman, ACT, and Reper- tory theaters. She has been guest soloist in concerts con- ducted by such luminaries as Rob Fisher, Peter Nero, Paul Gemignani, the late Marvin Hamlish, and John Dankworth, and had the honor of performing the World Premiere of Imant Kalnin's Rock Symphony No. 4 with the Detroit Symphony, and the Leipaja Symphony in Leipaja and Riga, Latvia. Her solo recording entitled To An Isle in the Water: e Poetry of William Butler Yeats was produced by twelve-time Grammy-winner omas Z. Shepard. Ms. Cohenour is a recipient of the Actors Equity Association's Clarence Derwent Award, a eatre World Award, a Tony nomination, two New York Drama Desk nominations, a Chicago Jeff Award nomination, three Seattle Times Foot- light Awards, and a Gregory Award for her per- formance in Seattle's 5th Avenue/ACT eater's co-production of Grey Gardens. She had the honor of directing Ms. Elizabeth Spencer, the celebrated writer of the novella e Light in the Piazza, in a very successful anecdotal presentation of the work in Columbus, MS, for the 2006 Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium, and in 2010, co-wrote and directed a one woman show entitled I Will Wait For You which featured the great tunes of World War II. Her latest project is e Ladies of Lyric and Song, a theatrical narrative which highlights the enormous contributions of the women compos- ers and lyricists of the American Musical eater. Cohenour collaborated with Tacoma Alumnae Chapter member Erin Guinup in the writing of the piece, and served as both director and projec- tion imagery creator. "It was truly an honor and privilege to initiate Patti Cohenour into SAI as a National Arts Associate Distinguished Member on May 21, 2016. Her lengthy resume and illustrious career are amazing and impressive. Her many talents have given thousands entertainment and joy…Patti was relaxed, poised, warm, and friendly…At the conclusion of her initiation, Patti took the liberty to deliver a speech filled with appreciation for her initiation into SAI. She spoke highly of SAI and its mission and felt honored to be a distinguished member of the organization. Patti said that she is happy to do her utmost to support SAI and its worthy mission. She is an inspiring example of perfection. A perfect SAI!" —Joanna Iverson, Tacoma Alumnae Chapter E R I N N K N Y T Erinn Knyt was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Lambda Phi Chapter in April. An Assistant Professor of Music History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she has served in various positions for the past five years- -two as a lecturer and three on a tenure track. Knyt teaches many classes, including gradu- ate seminars and undergraduate music history courses from 1700-1900 and 1900-present. Knyt received a Mellon Foundation Fellowship for her dissertation research, entitled "Ferruccio Busoni and the Ontology of the Musical Work: Permuta- tions and Possibilities," and has been published in DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a man or woman who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts DISTINGUISHED continued on page 28

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