Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES • SPRING 2018 • sai-national.org 16 T he Association of Concert Bands is made up of organizations dedicated to serving the needs of adult instrumental musicians that perform in and/or lead adult concert bands. ere are hundreds of adult concert bands around the country and many of them have SAI sisters participating as players and conductors. One of these is in North Carolina, at the gateway to the Smoky Mountains. e Haywood Community Band has three co-conductors who are SAI alumnae: Sarah Cifani, Pat Stone, and Mary omas. Sarah Cifani was initiated by Beta chapter at Northwestern University in 1967. Sarah is a flutist who majored in performance and music education. For many years she had a flute studio with as many as 75 students. She later taught middle school music and continued to freelance with orchestras in the Chicago area. When Sarah and her husband, Tom, were approaching retirement, they purchased land in western North Carolina. ey built a home there in 2005 and became permanent residents. ey both joined the area's community band around the same time. Pat Stone and Mary omas are siblings who both attended the University of Georgia. Pat was initiated by Iota Zeta in 1968; Mary was initiated in 1964. Both were music education majors and played in school bands while growing up. Pat taught high school band in her first teaching assignment. Following that she had a 30-year career in education teaching diverse subjects. Mary started her teaching career in elementary classroom music, but later transferred to the high school level and had a band program for several years. She retired in 2004 aer a 36-year career. In retirement, these two sisters, who had previously lived their adult lives in different states, decided to settle in the mountains of North Carolina. ey, too, joined the Haywood Community Band. Pat plays oboe and assists in the percussion section. Mary plays bassoon and occasionally handles mallet percussion. Beginning in 2005, all three were called on to help with conducting tasks for the band. A few years later they were planning the programs and conducting seven concerts a year. e Haywood Community Band has a summer season that runs from May to October. Many of their concerts are presented in Maggie Valley, a tourist destination in the Smoky Mountains. e band is comprised of community members, including those who have vacation homes in the area and play with the band when they are in town. e band's instrumentation is flexible as a result and drives the selection of music. Despite the challenges, the three directors provide a potpourri of styles that include classic band repertory, popular hits, Broadway favorites, and Hollywood blockbusters. Many of the programs are shared by the three conductors and the band adjusts well to the different conducting styles. Sarah has frequently programmed music by Clare Grundman, a prolific composer of wind band literature. She oen selects music by rising newcomers Richard Saucedo and Eric Whitacre. Pat enjoys leading the band in novelty selections. Among her choices was a P.D.Q. Bach transcription, Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds. For the 2018 season she has included Alien Marching Machine by John Prescott. Mary frequently selects music that has rhythmic challenges. She has become proficient with conducting the band through 5/8 and 7/8 meters. Mary says, "Working with adults who enjoy a challenge is one of the joys of a community band." All three women are members of the Sigma Alpha Iota Alumnae Association. Pat and Sarah are charter members of the newly installed Asheville Alumnae Chapter. Mary is currently serving as Regional Officer for Region VI. All three have been members of SAI for at least fiy years. eir journeys have taken them from major cities - Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. - to a quiet mountain community west of Asheville, North Carolina. eir love of music has them sharing the podium, leading other enthusiasts of band music. ey all agree that working with a community band brings another dimension to the job of band director. — By Mary omas, Region VI Regional Officer COMMUNITY MUSIC Music is Their Call The Haywood (NC) Community Band, under the direction of Asheville Alumnae Chapter member Sarah Cifani.

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