February 2020

On Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, at 7:30 PM in the Bologna Performing Arts Center’s recital hall, guest artists Dr. John Cornelius (piano) and Dr. Todd Miller (tenor) will perform a program called “Songs of America: Our Diverse Musical Heritage.” The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Cornelius has written arrangements of American folk songs for this program. Drs. Cornelius and Miller will also perform excerpts from some of Dr. Cornelius’ other works: The Yellow Rose of Texas (large musical), a setting of French/Creole texts from New Orleans (song cycle), and excerpts from “Conversion,” a song cycle based on African-American Spirituals.

Event sponsors: DSU Department of Music and A World Class Experience.

 

Elizabeth Long (BME, 2016) was recently named Middle School Band Director of the Year by the Southeast Mississippi Band Directors’ Association.

 

Long attended Delta State University and Northeast Mississippi Community College. While at Delta State, she served as color guard captain, performed in various music groups including the DSU Flute Ensemble, and was an active member of the Gamma Zeta chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity, serving as the chapter’s treasurer and president..

 

Upon graduation from Delta State, Ms. Long spent three years in Quitman, MS as the junior high band director and assistant high school band director. While at Quitman, she started the first indoor color guard, orchestrated the growth of the junior high program from 80 to 200 members, and her junior high bands received superior ratings in both concert and sight reading each year.

In 2019 she accepted a position to teach at Clara School and assist at Wayne County High School. Wayne County High’s Head Band Director, Joe Raymond (BME, 2010), said, “Elizabeth is a wonderful asset to our band program. Her out-of-the-box ideas and approach to the middle school classroom are changing how band is being taught at all five of our middle school programs.”