PIANO STUDENTS at Emporia State University are presenting “A Tribute to Elaine Edwards” on Sunday afternoon.
It’s about time.
Not that she has not been honored before, as a pianist and as a teacher. In 1986, the university chose her to receive its highest faculty award and named her the Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor. For many years, she was a member of the excellent Great Plains Trio, performing around the state and beyond.
In her years as professor of music at ESU (she started as a part-time instructor in 1963) and later as a private teacher, she has taught enough young musicians to fill the seats of several great concert halls. For each of them, she has done her best to impart the love of music, the iron discipline and the generous spirit that have always marked her character.
Along the way, she has also given unstintingly of herself to the university, the community her church, her family and her friends. She has retired from the university but remains involved with the music department and its students, many of whom she has brought to perform at services at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. She still teaches piano and stays in touch with former students.
It is no exaggeration to say that Emporia and the university would be different, poorer, places without the presence of Elaine Edwards.
So at 3 p.m. Sunday, the students of Martin Cuellar will perform in Heath Auditorium at Beach Music Hall in honor of Emporia’s master pianist and piano teacher.
All are welcome to join in the tribute to this remarkable woman.
mythoughts (anonymous) says...
Ms. Edwards is a delight! A dear person who is a musician to the core. I'm so proud of her, her accomplishments and the accomplishments of generations of her students.
November 17, 2007 at 6:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )