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Name: Susan J. Avery |
| I nominate Susan due to her willingness to take on music projects such as IC Voices and Seneca Singers that are not paid and to make them FUN! She has a lifelong love for music and conveys that to everyone she meets. She makes learning humourus and gives her students (adult students included) the tools and the confidence to be successful! Nominated by Eileen Patocka Susan Avery, associate professor of Music Education at Ithaca College, has conducted elementary, junior high and senior high honors, All-County and Area All-State Choruses throughout New York State. She has also judged solo vocal and All-State Vocal Jazz as well as choral major organizations for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA); and she gives clinics and workshops on the local, state and national levels in the field of music education. But Susan's most important (to me) local contribution to the music scene is her volunteer service to organize, rehearse and conduct the IC Voices staff and (non-music) faculty chorus for the past ten years. Susan has worked tirelessly with this cadre of erstwhile musicians, representing departments and offices from across the College - some of whom have never had any musical training but just love to sing in ensemble. Susan volunteers to prepare the VoICes chorus to sing for campus events from the annual Holiday employee luncheon, Veterans Day observance, and Homecoming luncheon, but also to respond to participate in memorial services for members of the campus community. Over her time, Susan has honed a ragtag bunch of "shower singers" into a fun and capable performing ensemble. Susan brings her passion, skill and training to bear as she also volunteers to conduct yet another community adult choral group in her hometown of Seneca Falls: the Seneca Singers. Each year, Susan creates opportunities for IC VoICes and Seneca Singers to come together to perform free concerts for the community: the popular Holiday Concert held at Ithaca College in December, and the other concert in the Spring in Seneca Falls. Susan's boundless patience (and ribald sense of humor) make the process of learning music together as an ensemble a real joy... and in the process of helping this motley group of musicians lift their VoICes together, creating a new kind of community on the campus. Nominated by Marian Brown Dr. Avery is truly an outstanding woman, dedicated and committed to her field. In addition to her unpaid work conducting IC Voices (an ensemble that comprises of staff and faculty members of Ithaca College that love to sing) & Seneca Singers, she is always offering her wisdom and encouraging life long learning/music to the community for the sake of music itself. Dr. Avery can be seen as a pianist, conductor, lecturer and best of all, a motivational speaker. Always seeking to inspire more future teachers or lives with her passion, she is always volunteering to speak or share her expertise at various events associated with Sigma Alpha Iota (a professional music fraternity), MENC, ACDA, SNATS and many other professional organizations as well as community events. In all honest truth, if she is not one of the 20 outstanding women to know, then I do not know who is. Nominated by SooYeon Kim Susan Avery is an amazing, dynamic professor of music education. Susan should have her own reality show. Her exhuberant personality, congeniality, quick wit, strong sense of commitment, and tireless patience make her an excellent candidate for the 2011 20 Women You Should Know awards. In addition to teaching courses at Ithaca College, Susan voluntarily coordinates and conducts two choirs (Seneca Singers, and the Ithaca College VoICes)in addition to numerous other musical activities. A quick peek at her webpage will give you just a small sense of all the work she does: http://faculty.ithaca.edu/savery/ I highly recommend Susan Avery as an excellent candidate! Nominated by Jennifer Strickland Susan would be an excellent recipient of this award, because of her commitment to adult singers who are complete amateurs. I am one of them at Ithaca College where she directs interested staff and faculty in a choral group title, IC Voices. She has amazing talent, energy, humor, and drive to bring the best out of us - we actually make music! This is incredible, because this is all done voluntarily. We have given several concerts including an Annual Holiday Concert with the Ithaca Concert Band that is well received by the community. She likewise conducts a community choir, Seneca Singers, in her home town, Seneca Falls. These are also adults in the community who just enjoy singing. Susan brings the joy of singing and making music to many individuals who would otherwise not have this opportunity. Nominated by Michael A Pagliarulo I enthusiastically endorse Susan Avery for her inspirational volunteer work as choral director for voICes, the Ithaca College staff/faculty chorus (of which I am a past member) and Senecea Singers (a community chorus). Susan promotes a lifelong love of music performance among members in the community, both audience and members. Her leadership not only taught me to be a better singer, but taught me to be a better teacher. Nominated by Patricia Edgecomb For five years it has been my privilege to sing in IC Voices under the direction and instruction of Susan Avery. Susan is a dedicated educator who is committed to the love of singing by bringing the voices of colleagues and neighbors together to raise in song. She is an exemplary and compelling teacher, and we all learn so much from her. Her dedication of time and talent to IC Voices and the Seneca Singers elicits such joy in all of us because we just love to sing and make something beautiful for the world to hear. Her musical expertise, her sense of humor, her tireless effort to bring out the best in us, and her appreciation of our commitment to give it, have made my association with IC Voices one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Susan is so deserving of recognition as an Outstanding Woman for all her contributions to the communities in which she lives and works, for she has lifted our hearts and spirits and voices to create and appreciate beauty and the community of humanity. Nominated by Barbara Barnes Susan is a professor of music at Ithaca College and I know her as the director of IC voICes, the faculty/staff chorus at the college, of which I am a member. I think Susan is outstanding because she volunteers her time to lead this chorus comprised of adults with little to no musical background. Membership in the chorus is open to any Ithaca College faculty or staff member, no audition required. In addition to Susan's considerable musical talents, she has a terrific sense of humor and more than enough patience to organize, coach and conduct our eclectic group of amateur vocalists. In addition, Susan also volunteers her time to direct the Seneca Singers, an amateur adult chorus located in Seneca Falls, NY. Each holiday season, she helps to organize a holiday concert featuring IC voICes, the Seneca Singers, and the Ithaca Community Concert Band. For these reasons, I think Susan is an outstanding woman that more people should know about. Nominated by Ed Fuller Bio: Originally from Allentown, P A, I came to New York to attend the Eastman School of Music in Rochester as a music education major and piano minor. My career started as a high school choral director in Waterloo and after 24 years I pursued a doctorate at Eastman. I am currently finishing my 11 th year at Ithaca College as an Associate Professor of Music Education. My husband is also a middle and high school choral and drama club director and we have worked together (I as his accompanist) for 35 years. My professional life beyond the classroom focuses on making music with adults in Seneca Falls and at Ithaca College, presenting at state and national conferences on many topics pertinent to music education, researching adult music making and literacy, directing honor choirs of all ages throughout New York, adjudicating for the state music association (NYSSMA), accompanying for local and regional choruses, and playing the organ at the Trinity Episcopal Church. I enjoy relaxing at our Victorian home and garden, cooking for friends, and now that my husband is retiring at the end of this school year, we're looking forward to traveling. |
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