The public is invited to a special memorial event at the WVU Creative Arts Center for Margaret Lorince, professor emerita of music, who died in July 2004.
The memorial will be held Saturday, Oct. 23, at 11 a.m., in the Creative Arts Centers Douglas O. Blaney Lobby. A reception will follow.
Hosted by the College of Creative Arts, the program will feature the songsShall We Gather By the Riverand CoplandsSimple Gifts,sung by Catharine Thieme, soprano, accompanied by Robert Thieme on piano.
Young performers from WVU s Community Music Program will also perform in tribute to Lorinces work with children. Demi Fang, age 8, will performFr Eliseby Beethoven and Billy Fang, age 11, will performRondo Capriciosso, op. 14,by Mendelssohn. Both are piano students of music faculty member Christine Kefferstan. In addition, young violin students of Mary Wilson will performTwinkle Variations,AllegroandPerpetual Motionby Suzuki.
The program will conclude with faculty cellist William Skidmore, accompanied by pianist Carol Beall, performingAdante,fromSonata in G Minor, op. 19,by Rachmaninoff.
Margaret Lorince joined the WVU music faculty in 1964, where she taught piano performance, developed a pedagogy emphasis program for the bachelors and masters degree programs in music, and directed the Preparatory Department, known today as the Community Music Program. She served as assistant chair of music from 1983 to 1985 and as assistant dean of the College of Creative Arts from 1985 to 1986.
She was a founding member of the West Virginia Music Teachers Association, serving as its president during 1965 to 1969, and as president of the Eastern Division of the Music Teachers National Association during 1974 to 1978.
Lorince leaves a legacy of excellence as both teacher and colleague. The many hundreds of pianos students whose lives she touched remember her as an inspiring teacher and generous mentor with a gift for bringing out their best.
Her dedication to music education continued after she retired in 1986 with her husband, Frank E. Lorince, Jr., who chaired the Theory and Composition Department in the WVU Division of Music. She taught privately on the Isle of Palms, S.C., and went on to serve as president of MTNA and chair of the MTNA Pedagogy Committee for five years. She was honored as a fellow of the MTNA Foundation.
For more information about the memorial, contact the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841 ext. 3108.