December 2007

Fraternity Luncheon Held at NASM

The Eighty-Third Annual Meeting of the National Association of Schools of Music was held at the Grand American Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 16-20, 2007. The conference featured sessions for college and university administrators and general sessions related to college music accreditation in the United States.

As affiliates of NASM, Delta Omicron and Phi Mu Alpha jointly sponsored the Annual Music Fraternity Luncheon on November 19. Dr. Richard Crosby, President of Phi Mu Alpha, and Dr. Jonny Ramsey, International President of Delta Omicron, welcomed the guests to the luncheon. The luncheon provides an opportunity for chairs of departments that sponsor our fraternity chapters to gather, share fellowship, discuss activities, and enjoy a brief moment of musical performance in their busy conference schedule. Several administrators from campuses with Delta Omicron chapters attended this year's luncheon. They included Dr. Clark Measel (Carson-Newman College), Dr. Salley Cherrington-Beggs (Newberry College), Dr. Mitzi Groom (Western Kentucky University), Dr. James Barnes (Moravian College). The Delta Omicron chapters of these campuses financially sponsored the luncheon for their school representative. The Board of Directors extends thanks to those chapters for that endeavor.

The luncheon performer for 2007 was flutist Helen McGarr, a local Salt Lake City area resident. Sixteen-year-old Helen performed the Sonata for Flute and Piano by Otar Taktakishvili; she was accompanied by Mu Phi Epsilon alumna and local Salt Lake City resident Ellen Baggeley. Ms. Garr has already gained national attention as a soloist with the Salt Lake Symphony, the American Fork (Utah) Symphony, and the Utah Symphony. She has performed on both the radio and television broadcasts of "From the Top." In 2007, Helen won the National MTNA Senior Woodwind Competition, and the National MFMC Stillman-Kelley Competition.