Ce Ne Des Moines Alumnae Chaptersaidmalumnae.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/4/1/5141051/dm... · The Des Moines Alumnae Chapter ini#ated Jason as a Friend of the Arts on May 4, 2013. He is

Des Moines Alumnae Chapter Sigma Alpha Iota

Des Moines, Iowa

Xi B Province

Spring 2013 C�e� N�e�C�e� N�e�C�e� N�e�

JanuaryMeeting:Dr. Eric Saylor, Drake music professor and husband of member Amy Saylor, enlightened us on what

musicology is and some of the interes#ng work he’s done in this field.

▲ The Saxy Sisters perform at the January mee#ng at the Drake Fine Arts

Center (Dawn Olson, Tiffany Krcil, Erin Jensen, Teresa Hein, Jennie Gervais).

Editor: Stacie Bendixen

ChapterHappenings

FebruaryMeeting:A thirteenth new member for the

year was affiliated (Holly Kauffman) and members from the Des

Moines Alumnae and Pi chapters got to know each other at our

annual joint mee#ng.

MarchMeeting:At our mee#ng at Grace United Methodist Church,

Mar# Puff reviewed the book “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain”

by Oliver Sacks, and the co-hostesses treated us to an ice cream sundae

bar. Jennifer Norton’s Sweet Adelines quartet, “Midnight Madness,”

performed to help them prepare for their upcoming compe##on. (We

were happy to be of service by listening!)

Chapter Website: www.saidmalumnae.weebly.com

▲ A collabora#on of Alumnae and Pi clarine#sts played at the February

mee#ng: Elizabeth Glas, Jennie Gervais, Elizabeth Fiedler (Pi), Stephanie

Niewohner (Pi), Melissa McGrannahan and Stacie Bendixen.

◄”Midnight Madness,” with Xi B Province Officer Jennifer Norton (second from right).

IPTVTelethon:To

support a medium that brings

the arts into our homes, five

members (plus one spouse)

volunteered at the Iowa

Public Television pledge drive

on March 2.

▲ Since we came as a group, SAI was

recognized!

► We were on TV! LeA to right:

Stacie Bendixen, Aimee Beilgard,

Jennie Gervais, Teresa Hein and Ann

Gerdom.

MoreChapterHappenings

AprilMeeting:Arlene DeVries gave a program about Des

Moines Alumnae members who served as na#onal SAI officers

for many years: Kathleen Davison (Na#onal President), Edna

HuBon (Na#onal Editor) and Dorothy Whinery (Na#onal

Execu#ve Secretary). All three also served as Des Moines

Alumnae Chapter president. (Look for more in the next

newsleBer on these na#onally prominent members of our

chapter.) Arlene concluded by reading the SAI Symphony, as

Kathleen Davison would tradi#onally do at the end of

gatherings.

Clef Notes Spring 2013 — page 2


◄ The Singing Grannies debuted new material, a “South Pacific” medley, at

the mee#ng at Joan Jamison’s house. L to R: Arlene DeVries, Mona

Holmstrom, Mar# Puff, Melissa McGrannahan, Linda McFarlane and Pam

Prouty.

ProvinceDay:Several members aBended Xi B Province

Day hosted by Sigma Lambda at Iowa State on April 27.

▼ L to R: Joan Jamison, Jennifer Norton, Melissa McGrannahan,

Samantha Tyner, Arlene DeVries, Holly Kauffman, Jennie Gervais

SeniorSend-Off:Alumnae members gathered with all the

gradua#ng seniors from Pi Chapter on April 28 to eat, celebrate,

and talk about what’s next for them.

▼ Pi seniors in front row: Anne Rueve, Becky Henry, Caitlin Podemski,

Lauren Morrissey, Bre Hess, Stephanie Niewohner and Dana Sloter.

Alumnae: Ann McGowan, Mar# Puff, Arlene DeVries, Stacie Bendixen, Sara

Danielson, Jackie Thompson and Krista Rowley.

OtherActivities:► Thanks to Sara Danielson’s coordina#on with a group traveling to an orphanage in Hai#, chapter members donated

instruments and music for the children there. Two violins, a flute, three recorders, music books and sheet music were sent. Sara

reported that one member of the group that went to Hai# was a music educa#on major who was able to start teaching some of

the kids violin and flute.

► The chapter is making a dona#on to support SAI Friend of the Arts Cecelia OBo when she stops in Iowa on her performance

tour along the Lincoln Highway (Highway 30 in Iowa) during its centennial. She is performing June 7 and 8 at the Bell Tower

Fes#val in Jefferson. Learn more: www.belltowerfes�val.org and www.americansongline.net

► Several Alumnae members aBended Pi Chapter’s spring ini#a#on and senior commitment ceremonies and helped with their

potluck party aAerward, contribu#ng food and assis#ng with organiza#on and serving. We were excited to help welcome 14

new ini#ates to SAI and welcome seven gradua#ng seniors into Alumnae status!

▲ VP-Ritual Tiffany Krcil, newly ini#ated Friend of the Arts Jason Danielson, and

President Teresa Hein.

♪ MemberNewsandNotes

Ann McGowan volunteers in the Drake Athle#c Department,

where she files sports material for Paul Morrison in the

sports archives. She also takes the minutes for the Drake

Bulldog Club Board and the Execu#ve Board.

Melissa McGrannahan successfully completed her 2-year

teacher evalua#on and can apply for her teaching license

(she teaches high school science, currently at East H.S. in Des

Moines). Her husband, Grady, was promoted to Associate

Professor at Drake University and was approved for tenure

(he teaches low brass and is Assistant Director of Bands).

She says, “We can officially call Des Moines our home for as

long as we want!”

Krista Rowley accepted a different posi#on within her

company and is moving to Lansing, Michigan. We wish her

all the best!

Collin David Hein was born April 15 to Dave and Teresa Hein.

He weighed 7lb 14oz and was 20 inches long. He joins big

brothers Braydon and JarreB.

MoreChapterHappenings

MayMeeting:Con#nuing the tradi#on, Pam Prouty hosted our May mee#ng at her home on a century farm — but with

the ground s#ll white from a May 2 snowfall, the view looked a liBle different than usual! Pan’s Pipes, the flute ensemble,

performed as we enjoyed brunch. Jason Danielson was ini#ated as a Friend of the Arts (read more about Jason on page 5-6),

and we performed the Founders Day ceremony and Officer Installa#on, wrapping up the 2012-2013 year.



201320132013---2014 O�fi��r�2014 O�fi��r�2014 O�fi��r�

President: Teresa Hein

Vice President Ritual: Elizabeth Glas

Vice President Membership: Marti Puff

Secretary:Amy Saylor

Treasurer:Linda McFarlane

Editor: Stacie Bendixen

Sergeant at Arms: Jackie Thompson

Thank you to our outgoing of'icers:Thank you to our outgoing of'icers:Thank you to our outgoing of'icers:

Tiffany Krcil, VP Ritual

Krista Rowley, Secretary

Thanks to Teresa Hein and Carrie Krupke for

their photos. Find more photos of our chapter’s

ac#vi#es at:

►www.saidmalumnae.weebly.com

►www.carriekrupke.zenfolio.com/p1034094120

►www.flickr.com/photos/sai-dmalumnae



MoreNewMembers I� Pr��

Elizabeth Glas — clarinet

Hometown: Urbandale, Iowa

College Chapter: Alpha Upsilon

(University of Northern Iowa)

Degree: Music Educa#on

Occupa�on: Music teacher in Des

Moines Public Schools

Favorite Musical: “Rent,” “Phantom

of the Opera,” “Les Miserables”

Lauren Jacobs — bassoon

Hometown: Arlington Heights,

Illinois

College Chapter: Pi (Drake

University)

Degree: BSE in Secondary

Educa#on, BA in English

Occupa�on: Subs#tute teacher;

Associate Trainer, Panera

Favorite Musical: “Chicago” or “Les

Miserables”

Sarah Johnson — flute

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

College Chapter: Pi (Drake University)

Degrees: Bachelor of Music Educa#on

Occupa�on: Currently applying for band teaching posi#ons

Favorite Musical: “Wicked”

SAI Awards: Sword of Honor

Holly Kauffman — clarinet

Hometown: Boxholm, Iowa

College Chapter: Sigma Lambda (Iowa State University)

Degree: BM in Music Educa#on

Occupa�on: Subbing in the Ames area (and on the job hunt)

Favorite Musical: “Wicked”

Laura Melone — oboe

Hometown: Crystal Lake, Illinois

College Chapter: Pi (Drake University)

Degrees: Bachelor of Music

Occupa�on: Bank teller

Favorite Musical: “West Side Story”

SAI Awards: Sword of Honor, Kathleen Davison Award

More the 12 new members affiliated last fall are introduced in this issue, along with another new member affiliated in February,

Holly Kauffman. That makes a total of 13 new members in 2012-2013! Compiled by Aimee Beilgard, Stacie Bendixen and Lauren

Jacobs

Pam Neubauer — trombone

Hometown: Cumming, Iowa

College Chapter: Pi (Drake

University)

Degrees: BA in Music; Master of

Arts in Arts Administra#on (Florida

State University)

Occupa�on: Manager of Member

and Donor Rela#ons, Des Moines

Symphony

Favorite Movie: “The Italian Job”

Joyce Payer — piano, viola

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

College Chapter: Alpha Upsilon

(University of Northern Iowa)

Degrees: Bachelor of Music in

Educa#on (Instrumental)

Occupa�on: Music teacher

Favorite Musical: “The Last Five

Years”

SAI Awards: Sword of Honor, Ruby

Sword of Honor

Brooke Peters — string bass

Hometown: West Des Moines, Iowa

College Chapter: Alpha Upsilon (University of Northern Iowa)

Degrees: BA in Jazz Studies

Occupa�on: Before– and aAer-school daycare; freelance

musician

Favorite Musical: “Jersey Boys”

SAI Awards: Sword of Honor

Kris�n Pike — bass and contrabass clarinet, mezzo soprano

Hometown: Madison, Ohio

College Chapter: Epsilon Theta ini#ate (Appalachian State

University); graduated from University of North Carolina at

Greensboro (Kappa Gamma)

Degrees: BA in English and History and MA in English (U of

North Carolina at Greensboro); Master’s of Divinity (Union

Presbyterian Seminary)

Occupa�on: Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Boone, Iowa

Favorite Musical: “Fiddler on the Roof”

▲ VP-Ritual Tiffany Krcil, new member Holly Kauffman, and

President Teresa Hein aAer Holly’s affilia#on ceremony on

Feb. 2, 2013.



By Stacie Bendixen

In his “day job,” Jason Danielson teaches high school social

studies, but that only scratches the surface of his talents and

work. He is also an ac#ve jazz pianist, composer, arranger, mu-

sical director and music instructor – and now, a dis#nguished

member of Sigma Alpha Iota.

The Des Moines Alumnae Chapter ini#ated Jason as a Friend of

the Arts on May 4, 2013. He is the husband of Sara Danielson,

a Des Moines Alumnae Chapter member and past president.

They live in Ankeny and have three boys. Jason earned BAs in

history educa#on and humani#es with a music minor from the

University of Northern Iowa. He’s a Hoover High School alum.

On Jason’s music-focused résumé, he lists his professional ob-

jec#ve as “to perform and support crea#ve music of a variety

of styles in a variety of venues.” He is certainly mee#ng that

objec#ve and more, as a performer and a teacher who infuses

lessons on government and history with musical influences.

Jason is the musical director, arranger, and pianist for Fred

Gazzo’s Metropolitan Band, and he has played all those roles

on two albums with Gazzo, “All the Way” and “Christmas

Dreams.” (The Des Moines Alumnae Chapter had the treat of

hearing Fred and Jason perform songs from their Christmas

album at our December 2011 mee#ng.) He also worked as the

pianist on a duo album with Gazzo, “The Good Life.” In other

involvement in the Iowa music scene, he is pianist and com-

poser for Dave Rezek’s Alpha State Agents, and pianist with the

ScoB Davis Quartet, Tony Valdez Large Band, and Des Moines

Big Band. He played on the albums “Let’s Play One” and

“Landmark” with the Des Moines Big Band, and “Skylark” with

ScoB Davis. He also lists Mingus Dynasty Septet, Frank Perowsky, Claudio Rodi#, and Dick OaBs as ar#sts he has played with.

He’s also a freelance pianist and organist. In 2010, the Greater Des Moines Community Jazz Center honored Jason with Recogni-

#on of Outstanding Achievement.

Jason’s work as a local musician has put him in posi#on to join na#onal produc#ons when they come to town. He’s played sub-

s#tute keyboard for the na#onal tours “Jersey Boys,” “Wicked” and “The Producers” at the Civic Center, and he performed on

the synthesizer with Aretha Franklin in Iowa City in 2004. He played keyboard with blues group Magic Mike and the Blue Side in

2003, when they won the Iowa Blues Challenge, opened for B.B. King at the Val Air Ballroom, and performed in the Interna#onal

Blues Challenge at B.B. King's club in Memphis. Jason lends his talents to student musicals at Hoover High School, where he con-

ducted and played piano for “LiBle Shop of Horrors” and “The Wiz.”

Add jazz piano, theory, rhythm sec#on, and jazz combos to history and government on the list of subjects Jason teaches. He’s

been an instructor at Simpson Jazz Camp at Simpson College in Indianola, at Drake University, and as a private jazz piano teach-

er. He’s been a clinician, judge, and/or guest ar#st at the Hoover, Indian Hills, Coe College, and NEIBA jazz fes#vals.

Jas�� D� !"ls��as as as Friend of the Arts Friend of the Arts Friend of the Arts

SAI Welcomes SAI Welcomes SAI Welcomes

photo by Carrie Krupke

Con�nued on next page

Jason’s accomplishments in his social studies educa#on career are as impressive as his musical ones. He has taught in the Des

Moines Public Schools for 8 years, 7 of them at Hoover High School in the social studies department. He primarily teaches the

regular and Advanced Placement levels of U.S. history and government, “although these days I’m primarily the AP guy," he

says. “My favorite subject is definitely U.S. history, par#cularly the civil rights era.”

Jason is working on his Master of Arts in History at Iowa State University. He’s pursuing the degree through a fellowship with

the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Founda#on, which awards one fellowship per state, per year, to a secondary social

studies teacher interested in learning more about the Cons#tu#on and applying cons#tu#onal understanding to the classroom.

He is the 2011 fellow from Iowa. The fellowship included a 4-week, 6-hour graduate study program with the other fellows at

Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. with four of the na#on’s premier cons#tu#onal scholars from the fields of history

and poli#cal science. Jason’s two passions are intertwined graduate work: His thesis is “a poli�cal and social interpreta�on of

the music of the civil rights movement.”

Jason doesn’t treat his two professions as separate. He regularly connects the arts with the subjects he teaches high school stu-

dents, enriching their learning experience and helping other teachers do the same. Here’s what he said about bringing his pas-

sions together:

“As a teacher, I try to incorporate as much ar#s#c and cultural influence into the classroom as I can. Par#cularly

in history classes, I try to use as many ‘non-tradi#onal’ primary sources (songs, photos, cartoons, poems,

pain#ngs, etc.) as I do standard wriBen text pieces, and teach kids to interpret a variety of sources and under-

stand that all forms of expression are valid, not only culturally, but poli#cally and social as well. I’ve taught sev-

eral sessions at various loca#ons (district-wide professional development, Iowa Council for Social Studies, Na-

#onal Council for History Educa#on) on how to use music in the history classroom as that is a par#cular passion

of mine. I also try to help out around Hoover as much as possible, and have directed the pit and played for

some theater produc#ons as well as annual accompanying du#es with the Hoover Harmony jazz choir. I also

enjoy teaching music in seXngs outside the classroom or regular lesson formats, such as working annually with

pianists, combos, and theory students at the Simpson College Jazz Camp, working off and on with young jazz

pianists, and coaching a combo at Valley High School.”

AAer his ini#a#on as an SAI Friend of the Arts, Jason said he was honored to be a “Mister Sister.” We’re glad, and we are proud

to get to call this mul#talented musician-educator one of us.



Con�nued from page 4

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Ce Ne Des Moines Alumnae Chaptersaidmalumnae.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/4/1/5141051/dm... · The Des Moines Alumnae Chapter ini#ated Jason as a Friend of the Arts on May 4, 2013. He is

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