The local college and alumnae chapters of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity (SAI) invite you to attend the annual Women Composers Concert on Saturday, February 22nd at 4:00 pm in Haddock Hall of the University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton School of Music. The 1-hour program features college students, alumnae and UI faculty members performing pieces by women from past and present centuries. Concert-goers will enjoy works for solo voice, women’s vocal ensemble with saxophone and bassoon, 4-hand piano, solo organ, guitar, and marimba.
Admission is free, and donations are encouraged in support of various Sigma Alpha Iota philanthropies. The collegiate chapter will donate this years’ funds to the People to People program which donates music supplies to impoverished communities throughout the world. The alumnae chapter’s ongoing local philanthropy is the School Band Instrument Project. They will have four instrument lamps on display. The sale of these lamps supports an SAI instrument repair fund at Keeney Brothers Music Center. Since 2010, the chapter has returned over 70 “gently used” instruments to school band programs in the surrounding Palouse area. Everyone is invited to greet the performers and enjoy refreshments in the lobby after the concert. On November 10, 2019, the Moscow-Pullman Alumnae chapter presented Susan Billin with the Rose of Dedication. In attendance were members from the Sigma Zeta Chapter, along with Province Officer Sallie Baldwin.
The Rose of Dedication is presented to a member who has given outstanding or extraordinary service in all three of the following fields for a minimum of 25 years: the fraternity, the local chapter, and the community. Susan Billin was initiated into the Sigma Zeta Chapter in April of 1978. Since then Susan has been actively involved as an alumnae member and officer for many years. She has served multiple terms as President of the Moscow-Pullman Alumnae Chapter, in addition to serving as VP-Ritual, VP-Membership, VP-Program, and as Yearbook Editor over her many years with the chapter. She has been one of the driving forces behind our successful program to collect and repair used instruments to donate to area schools. She has likewise been one of the key collaborators in creating and selling lamps made from un-repairable instruments; a project which has helped to pay for instruments repairs. Similarly, she has been one of the most actively engaged members of our chapter, ensuring that we are all kept on track and on the same page. Susan has often been responsible for locating and recruiting area alumnae to participate in the Moscow-Pullman Alumnae Chapter. She regularly hosts meetings in her home and continues to support the Sigma Zeta Chapter by frequently accompanying their ritual ceremonies and participating in and contributing to their fundraising for philanthropies. Susan was the sole adviser to the Sigma Zeta chapter from 1993 to 2016. During her time in this role, she mentored many students, including several current members of the Moscow-Pullman Alumnae Chapter. The Sigma Zeta's still regard her as a valuable resource. She has also helped to bring many other members into SAI, including Patroness members Gael Bukvich, Denise Crossler, Dr. Mary DuPree, Ladene Edwards, Claudia Krone, Stephanie Sant, and Rose Marie Sharp. She has also been instrumental in ushering in Dan Bukvich (National Arts Associate) and many Friends of the Arts, including Matthew Evavold, Alan Gemberling, Torrey Lawrence, Spencer Martin, and Bob Wicks. As Yearbook Editor, she includes fraternity education, important historical dates ranging from national to chapter level, a detailed calendar for all members, as well as thorough contact information for active members, area members, province leadership, and national contacts. She also shares this information with province and national leadership. Susan has been an integral part of the Moscow-Pullman music community since arriving in the Palouse region in the late 70s. She has served at various times as organist and occasional choir director at the Community Congregational Church in Pullman and at the First Presbyterian Church in Moscow. She met Dorothy Barnes early on in her time in Moscow and was active as a recital collaborative pianist for Dorothy's students as well as many of the students of other University of Idaho music faculty. During her extended tenure at the University of Idaho, she regularly taught piano class; thereby contributing to the music education of generations of music majors and minors. She has also been a long-time instructor of Applied Organ. For more than two decades, she has also performed with the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the Palouse Choral Society, the University of Idaho School of Music and the Idaho Bach Festival. Thank you, Susan, for your continued dedication to both the Moscow-Pullman Alumnae Chapter as well as the Sigma Zeta Chapter. We could do not it without you! Thank you to all who performed and attended our Moscow-Pullman Alumnae SAI Musicales!!
Click on the "Photos" tab to see more pictures from the musicale! Our musical instrument drive was a success! We collected over 30 instruments. We are still accepting used instruments and donations for instrument repairs. Contact Del Hungerford at [email protected] Please drop off instruments or repair donations at Keeney Bros. Band Instrument Center:
123 East Third Street in Moscow, ID Instruments have gone to the following schools: Kamiah, Kooskia, Nez Perce, Garfield-Palouse, Troy, Colton, and Craigmont. Music Educator, Del Hungerford, applied for grant funds to help repair instruments that were brought in through the musical instrument drive. Additional funds from lamp donations have helped pay for at least four instruments! Those instruments are now in the hands of local schools. For more information about our project, contact SAI Member Del Hungerford at: [email protected] |
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