New instrument to honor late music teacher’s legacy

A Springfield High School music director is hoping to honor the legacy of former music teacher Isabella Erickson through the purchase of a marimba for the school..


www.eagletimes.com    


>

Isabella Erickson was a music teacher with Springfield Schools for 37 years. When she passed away on June 10 of 2015, her family requested that donations in her memory be made to the Springfield High School music department.

In turn, we in music at SHS would like to honor her memory and extend an opportunity for those who knew her to do the same. Building on the $450 received in 2015, we are purchasing a musical instrument of lasting quality, a 4.3 octave marimba. The instrument will bear a plate engraved with her name, and will honor her memory in music for decades to come.

From today, January 10, the day of her birth, until June 10 of this year, we will accept donations to the Springfield Music Department toward the purchase of this instrument, toward funding an innovative new program making ukeleles available for students to check out from the library, and toward funding new instrument purchases at Riverside, Union and Elm Hill schools. All donor names (unless requesting anonymity) will be listed on a plaque in the SHS chorus room.

The SHS spring concert on May 18, 2017, will feature a world-premiere composition for marimba, snare, timpani and band, commissioned to celebrate the new instrument.

Meanwhile, we are collecting stories of Mrs. Erickson. If you knew her as a colleague, student, friend or neighbor, please share your story with us so we can post them on our Springfield School District website, or (why not?) put them together into a song!

For more information, to share a story, or just to get in touch with SHS Music, contact music director Jim Chlebak: jchlebak@ssdvt.org For donations, you may send a check made out to "SHS Erickson Music Memorial" at the school's address: Springfield HS, 303 South Street, Springfield, VT 05156.

Video: Ace, Anthony & Nick of Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio  at the marimba performing a song from the rock group Imagine Dragons, the biggest rock music hit of 2013,  titled 'Radioactive'.

* * * * * * * * * *

Isabella Erickson died June 10, 2015 at the age of 96. She was born Jan. 10, 1919, to Antonietta Cassanetti and Nicholas Perrotta in Bennington. She married Virgil Erickson in 1962 in Bennington. He predeceased her June 11, 1981.

Their married life was spent in Springfield, where she taught vocal music in Springfield Public Schools for 37 years at the elementary and high school levels. Before her marriage, she began her career in Essex Junction and New York City Schools, where she taught vocal music for six years.

She was an avid tennis player her entire life, still playing into her 80s. She continued to enjoy watching tournaments on television when she was no longer able to play.

Mrs. Erickson attended St. Francis de Sales School in Bennington and graduated in 1940 from Bennington College. Later, she received her master’s degree in music from Columbia University. Her community activities included staff pianist for Vermont Symphony Orchestra in the 1940s, a board member of the Vermont Music Education Association, directed Twin States Orchestra in the 1940s, pianist/organist at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Springfield for more than 25 years, pianist for the Community Chorus and Community Players in Springfield, pianist for the Springfield Senior Songsters, member of the Windsor Trio and a regular performer at the Springfield Adult Day.

She is survived by several nieces and nephews; numerous great nieces and nephews; and great-great nieces and nephews.

2017-01-16 / Front Page New instrument to honor late music teacher’s legacy By TORY JONES toryb@eagletimes.com Springfield High School Music Director Jim Chlebak holds a 1966 yearbook, showing a staff photo of former Director of Vocal Music Isabella (Perrotta) Erickson. He hopes to raise enough funds to purchase a miramba for the school, to honor her legacy. — TORY JONES Springfield High School Music Director Jim Chlebak holds a 1966 yearbook, showing a staff photo of former Director of Vocal Music Isabella (Perrotta) Erickson. He hopes to raise enough funds to purchase a miramba for the school, to honor her legacy. — TORY JONES SPRINGFIELD — A Springfield High School music director is hoping to honor the legacy of former music teacher Isabella Erickson through the purchase of a marimba for the school. He is also planning a world-premiere composition that will include that instrument at the school’s spring concert in May. Music Director Jim Chlebak said he never had the pleasure of meeting Erickson, a music teacher and vocal director with Springfield Schools for 37 years. He said he is now discovering “how much she is beloved by generations of young musicians who preceded me at Springfield High School.” Chleback is organizing an effort to honor Erickson’s memory through the purchase of a high-quality, 4.3 octave marimba, and hopes to extend an opportunity for those who knew her to do the same. The instrument will bear a plate engraved with her name, and will honor her memory in music “for decades to come,” he said. The marimba is a lower-range percussion instrument with long bars. It produces warm, low tones, and can help replace instruments such as the trombone, which can be difficult for a small school to have on hand. “So this will get used a lot,” he said in an interview at the high school on Friday, Jan. 13. He said the music department will try to involve the students more as the effort gets going. When Erickson passed away on June 10, 2015, at the age of 96, her family requested that donations in her memory be made to the music department in lieu of flowers, Chlebak said. The music department received four letters from the funeral home handling Erickson’s arrangements, with donation checks totalling $450. While that amount was very generous, it was not quite enough to purchase a musical instrument for the department, he said. “So I realized if we really wanted to honor her (by purchasing an instrument), we’d have to find another way to incorporate that,” he said. He thought it over a while. He also spoke with Springfield resident Pat Ankuda, who he said is a big music fan, about the idea of purchasing a marimba, which would be “something useful, that students can use every day.” Ankuda thought it was a great idea, Chlebak said. Building on the $450 received in 2015, community donations, and some school budget funding, the music department plans to purchase the marimba before the spring concert. For this instrument in particular, he hopes to replace some of the budget funds with donations, if enough is raised. The marimba will cost just under $2,700, and will be purchased from Ellis Music Co., which serves nearly all schools in Vermont, he said. The instrument consists of a set of wooden bars struck with mallets to produce musical tones. Resonators suspended underneath the bars amplify their sound. The Springfield High School spring concert on May 18 will be a triple concerto, featuring a world-premiere composition for marimba, snare, timpani and band, commissioned to celebrate the new instrument. Sophomore A.J. Aldrich will be playing the marimba. Chlebak is also collecting stories of Erickson from friends, colleagues, former students, friends and neighbors, and said he hopes to use them either in a song or in the program for the 2017 Spring Concert, and to post on the school website. Those who knew her have spoke about “how elegant she was, how accomplished,” as a pianist and accompanist, and of her many community contributions and willingness to participate, he said. One person recounted a story of how Erickson often said “all eyes on me” while she was teaching, and how students thought it would be funny to create cardboard eyeballs, putting them on her piano the next time they heard her say the phrase. Erickson was also a staff pianist for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in the 1940s, and a board member of the Vermont Music Education Association. She directed the Twin States Orchestra in the 1940s, was a pianist and organist at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Springfield for more than 25 years, a pianist for the Community Chorus and Community Players in Springfield, a pianist for the Springfield Senior Songsters, a member of the Windsor Trio with Lois White and Lydia Paxson, and a regular performer at a local adult day program, in later years. “I don’t think I’ll ever be as elegant as she was. Hopefully, I can be as enthusiastic,” Chlebak said. Beginning on Jan. 10, Erickson’s birthday, until June 10, 2017, the school is accepting donations to the Springfield Music Department toward the purchase of the marimba. Donations may be made to the “SHS Erickson Music Memorial” account, and may be sent to the high school office. All donor names, except for those requesting anonymity, will be listed on a plaque in the SHS chorus room. Donations will also help toward funding new instrument purchases at Riverside, Union and Elm Hill schools, Chlebak said. “Hopefully, it will inspire other people to join the band,” he said. The school is working on is a separate new program, an idea from SHS librarian Jennifer Wasyliko, in which ukeleles will be available for students to check out from the library. Chlebak said he expects to have the marimba in a few weeks. After it has arrived, students will write thank-you notes to those who donated at the time of the funeral service, he said. For more information or to share memories about Erickson, Chlebak can be reached via email at jchlebak@ssdvt.org.