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self that I am less inclined to think about the things I es and my professorship at Boston University. Would I
would change than to feel overcome with gratitude for have planned it that way? Probably not. Would I have
the chances I have had, for the confidence others have changed any of it? At the time, perhaps. In hindsight, it
had in me, for the great and inspiring students and col- all worked out very well.
leagues with whom I have worked, and for the mentors
who helped shape my musical life. What is the most outstanding choral music
Implied in the question is the premise that I had
some kind of grand plan in mind when this whole thing experience you recall in your life?
started. The fact is, at the end of the master’s degree, I
applied for my first job, a sabbatical replacement. From It is hard to discount any of the wonderful music
then on and after marriage, I had one job after another we had the opportunity to make under Robert Shaw.
(many part time) and went from one institution to an- Perhaps one of the most meaningful was the perfor-
other with my administrator husband, had a Fulbright mance of the 9th Symphony of Beethoven in the
professorship to Brazil, finished the DMA; and for the Schauspielhaus in East Berlin before the Berlin Wall
last fifteen to twenty years until retirement in 2016, my came down. The audience was in tears, and many in
professional life was anchored by my work with Robert the chorus were choking back emotions while trying to
Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus- sing “Freude” and “Brueder” in that context.

Legacy conductors onstage with the choir.

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2025 Volume 65 Number 9 63