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10/25/07 - Wind Symphony Concert features 2005 graduate Rebecca Haluska as oboe soloist.

See photograph of the performance.

4/9/05 - The First Longwood University Music Teachers Alumni Conference

The Department of Music held its first Music Teachers Alumni Conference in April. We invited all of our graduates who now teaching music in public schools to spend a day back at Longwood. Attendees arrived at 9:30 a. m. for check-in, refreshments and a little time to catch up with old friends or meet new ones. In addition to the alumni, several current and past Longwood music faculty members were present.

The day officially began at 10:00 with the first of a series of presentations given by the graduates. First Colleen Filbey (class of 1975) and Renee Dolfini (class of 1988) gave a workshop and presentation on Orff. Although Renee and Colleen did not go to school at the same time, their Orff connections have brought them together in the past. The session alternated between each of them. First Colleen, an elementary music teacher in Stafford VA, demonstrated how she teaches her elementary school students how to sing rounds using physical movements and dance. Next Renee, an elementary music teacher in Goode, VA, led us through speech exercises that are used to teach rhythmic concepts to young students. Colleen then taught us a “Rain-Making” game, in which students are asked to imitate rain sounds on various types of percussion instruments. In the final segment, Renee showed us another speech and rhythm exercise that is used to teach concepts of musical form, time signature changes and rhythmic physical movements.

In the second hour of the day, those present had the opportunity to either observe a rehearsal of the Camerata Singers conducted by Dennis Malfatti or attend a discussion lead by Bula Stein (class of 1968). The discussion focused on Standards of Learning testing in Virginia and how it affects the music curriculum. Bula, a music teacher in Stanardsville VA, posed the question: how can music teachers create and effectively carry out their lesson plans and assist in SOL preparation of the “core”classes”?

After a break for lunch, we returned to the music building for two presentations on the use of technology in the classroom. Kay Woolridge (class of 1977), a music teacher at Tussing Elementary School in Colonial Heights, VA, discussed how technology has changed in the years she has been teaching and how she has been able to use it her elementary school classroom. She explained how when she began teaching she was the one of the first teachers in her district to incorporate computers in her classroom and in her lessons. She showed us how she easily creates lesson plans and bulletin boards, and she introduced us to many useful resources. Paul Dembowsky (class of 1989) demonstrated his use of technology in the Recorded Technology class that he teaches at Roosevelt High School in Annapolis MD.  Paul showed us the computer programs and hardware that his classes use, and he played for us some examples of his students’ work.

The day came to an end with a performance by a jazz quartet of current Longwood students in Molnar recital hall. This event was the result of planning by the Music Alumni Committee, whose members are Dr. Christopher Swanson, Dr. Lisa Kinzer and Professor Emeritus Frieda Myers. The second Music Alumni Conference will take place this coming spring. Please look for details on the Longwood University webpage www.longwood.edu/music/Alumni/index.htm.  CS

Reminiscences of Longwood from a Half Century Removed: An Informal Musical Theatre Informance in Memory of John W. Molnar. Joel Ebersole, Longwood Music Faculty member, 1950-1956, his wife Janet and three of his former students presented a program of excerpts from American Musical Theatre, two comic operas by Gian-Carlo Menotti and other selections in a concert in the Molnar Recital Hall on May 10, 2004. The program was presented in Honor of John Molnar who was the first Chair of the Longwood Department of music. Mr. Molnar's son, recently retired from SCHEV, was in the audience. See photograph of the performers.

Mr. Ebersole is retired after 33 years of college teaching, and He and his wife Janet live in Cincinnati and are very active in the musical scene. He currently serves as a board Member of the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, the C-CM Alumni Board of Regents and the MacDowell Society. They have two children (both born in Farmville) and two grandchildren.

Joyce Clingenpeel Bailey (1956) is currently alto soloist with the first Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg. She and her husband, Bob, have four children and eleven grandchildren.

Sarah McElroy Harvie (1953) conducts a choir and maintains a voice studio in Northern Kentucky and sings concerts regularly with Joel and Janet Ebersole. She and her husband Jack have three children and six grandchildren.

Patricia Powell Woodbury (1957) is retired as Director of the Children's Diagnostic Clinic of Hampton U., and she currently serves as an elected member of the Newport News School Board. She and her husband Gerard have two children and one grandchild. JE

See the Alumni Page Photo Gallery for more news.

Alumni, Please send us items for this page and for the Photo Gallery page.  Send to <lustpd@longwood.edu> or <music@longwood.edu>.

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