Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • WINTER 2017 • PAN PIPES 15 C D E H I J K N O P R S T U W X Y Z a concert. Participants are invited to join as many sessions as they want. ere is a small fee, but also scholarship help available if necessary, so that no one is turned away. e Silvertones do not meet from aer anksgiving until early March, partly because of the weather, and partly because of the 'busyness' of the Christmas and Chanukah seasons. Each weekly rehearsal is still 90 minutes long and is followed by intentional socialization time, with snacks provided by independent living facilities. e Silvertones learn 12-15 pieces each session, most with complex four-part harmonies. Rehearsals still begin with stretching and vocalization to engage the body, mind, and voice. Embedded into each rehearsal is a lesson about music history, a composer, or a song style. e conductor explains musical notation and demonstrates good vocal technique. Each session has a theme, and past themes include Sesquicentennial of Fort Collins, Music of Gershwin and Porter, and Sing in the Holidays -- a concert that celebrates anksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and the change of the seasons. Guest artists for that last concert were the Larimer Chorale's "Dickens Singers" clad in Victorian costumes. e Silvertones have also sung the Star- Spangled Banner a cappella for the opening of a baseball game for the local college team each summer. e group has sung music in unison and in 3-5 part harmony. ey have sung in English, German, and Latin. Styles covered have included music theater, classic rock and roll, Pete Seeger, big band tunes, and folk songs from various countries. ey are most proud of their 2013 Education Outreach Award from Chorus America, a national organization that provides advocacy, research, and leadership development for choirs across the country. Besides the Larimer Chorale, the group is also funded by AARP, City of Fort Collins '"Fort Fund," and Rotary Club of Ft. Collins. e Silvertones have been featured in several articles in the Ft. Collins Coloradoan and the Loveland Herald, as well as the AARP Bulletin over the years. Dr. Michael T. Krueger, with a doctorate from the University of Illinois, is currently the Artistic Director and Conductor for the Larimer Chorale, in Ft. Collins, CO, the Music Director of Voices West in Littleton, CO, and the minister of music at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Arvada, CO. Wendy White, now the Executive Director of the Larimer Chorale, had a 30-year career at the National Academy of Sciences. Jennifer Marlowe is the Administrative Assistant for the Silvertones. Submitted by Esther Parsons, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and a Sigma eta initiate, is an accompanist for the group. She has had a career of accompanying high school and community choruses in New York and Colorado. SAIS IN ACTION Members of the Silvertones performing and rehearsing. Nan Washburn, a National Arts Associate initiated by the Pontchartrain Alumnae Chapter, and the Michigan Philharmonic Orchestra won the 2016 American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award in the Professional Division for performing works by American composers. Washburn also won the American Prize in 2013 for Orchestral Conducting in the Professional Division. She consistently performs works by American composers and women composers with her ensembles, which has earned her 19 ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming from the League of American Orchestras. She is in her 18th season as the Music Director and Conductor of the Michigan Philharmonic. From the American Prize website (theamericanprize.blogspot.com): "e American Prize is a series of new, non-profit national competitions in the performing arts providing cash awards, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition for the best recorded performances by ensembles and individuals each year in the United States at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels. Administered by Hat City Music eater, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Danbury, Connecticut, e American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually." e Michigan Philharmonic's October concert was especially noteworthy for Sigma Alpha Iota members. Washburn conducted a work by composer and SAI Katherine Hoover, Four Winds for flute and orchestra. Amy Porter, an Honorary Member and professor of flute at the University of Michigan, performed the flute solo. A member of the Pontchartrain Alumnae Chapter, Shelly Rouse-Freitag, plays flute with the orchestra and Katherine Hoover was in town that week, so there were four SAI members involved in the performance. — Marie Bones, President, Pontchartrain Alumnae Chapter Washburn Wins 2016 Performance Award FOR MORE INFORMATION about Nan Washuburn and the Michigan Philharmonic, visit: michiganphil.org Washburn

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