Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • FALL 2016 • PAN PIPES 13 C D E H I J K N O P S T U W X Y Z F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z SAIS IN ACTION Lucy Abrams, the 2015 recipient of the SAI Graduate Performance Award and an initiate of Sigma Delta Chapter at the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign, had a wonderfully busy year!The award was used to support her studies as she finished a Master of Music and soloist diploma at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She attended the Aurora Chamber Music Masterclass with Yehuda Gilad for one week in Vänersborg, Sweden in October. November was spent preparing recordings for various festivals and doctoral programs. In January, she made her solo debut playing James Cohn's Concerto No. 1 for clarinet and strings with the Mikkeli Chamber Orchestra. The U.S. Ambassador to Finland was present at the concert and Lucy was able to meet him at the reception afterwards. In February, she won a competition at the Sibelius Academy to be the clarinet soloist with the symphony orchestra in their performance of Magnus Lindberg's Kraft, conducted by Sakari Oramo, for the 100th Anniversary Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra Celebration Concert. A great honor, the piece was premiered by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kari Kriikku - big shoes to fill! She had coachings with Kari in March and April; the piece requires the clarinetist to play Eb, Bb, bass, and contra clarinets along with percussion! In April, she performed her soloist diploma concert, with a program consisting of all contemporary Finnish and American repertoire - Martino's Set for solo clarinet, Carter's Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux for flute and clarinet, the Sebastian Fagerlund Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, and the Cohn concerto. At the end of April, she played principal clarinet in six academy productions of Nozze di Figaro, and then it was time for Kraft! The performance was on May 14th, with one week of soloist coachings followed by a week with the orchestra. The performance was nationally broadcast and the national news/radio, Yle, covered the whole process from the audition in February through to the performance. Graduate Performance Award Update Sisters of Sigma Alpha Iota from across the United States celebrated Founders' Day on June 12, 2016 in Jamaica. Members from nine different chapters gathered together on June 9-19 in Boston Bay working with the Jamaica Field Service Project to bring music education and music therapy to primary schools, special needs schools, infirmaries, and homeless shelters. Besides this special work, these students were also able to explore the country and experience nearly total cultural immersion. roughout the trip, they studied the traditional music of Jamaica, with an emphasis on Afro-Caribbean drumming and traditional folk songs. We were divided into two groups: music education and music therapy. e music education majors brought activities to the primary schools in the area, while the music therapy groups implemented various interventions at the special needs school (which included hearing impaired students), infirmary, and homeless shelter. ere was a lot of music making all around. e group also donated musical instruments to the schools. e Jamaica Field Service Project is an ongoing service learning program accredited by the State University of New York, open to university students from participating universities from all corners of the United States, and has been active in taking students to Jamaica for over 11 years. — Miranda Rex, Iota Omega Chapter initiate FOR MORE INFORMATION about the Jamaica Field Service Project visit jafieldservice.com Top row, from left: Barbara Bastable (Iota Omega alumna), Kelsey Fields (Beta Epsilon), Emily Pivovarnik (Delta Delta), Kristin Schenk (Lambda Tau), Aly Zavestoski (Eta Omega), Rebekah Steiner (Eta Omega) Bottom row, from left: Miranda Rex (Iota Omega), Samantha Genzer (Beta Theta), Emma Harrington (Eta Rho), Mabel Burgos (Gamma Delta), Lauren Kell (Delta Sigma) 2015 Graduate Performance Award winner Lucy Abrams SAIs Take Music Education, Therapy To Jamaica

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