Music Creates Inspiration

When I look over my life and see who I have become I can honestly say that my life experiences have helped shape my character. In addition, I am very grateful to have had many people in my life that have been wonderful influences. Over the years I have gainer such insight and wisdom from those that decided to take the time to invest in me as an individual. One of the people that I would say I owe much of my success to is Dr. Diane Winder Professor of Cello.

I met Diane many years ago while playing at a Music competition “Solo & Ensemble” during my high school years. Solo & Ensemble Festival is an opportunity for individual students from member schools to perform a selection of their choice for adjudication. Although I lacked some of the formal training that many of my classmates had I decided to prepare a Cello solo piece for this competition. I practiced for weeks in preparation of the competition. When the day came to finally play my piece in from of the judges I noticed a very warm and charismatic lady that helped to put me at ease before playing my piece. The time for me to perform had come and gone before I knew it. The feedback I received from Diane effected my life forever. Her passion and love for music was infectious. Diane and I met once again the following year at Solo & Ensemble. This year I managed to talk with her one on one. After talking with her later I found out that she was a professor of Cello at Eastern Michigan University. At that moment I was inspired to dig a bit deeper and go after a slot in the Eastern Michigan University Symphony Orchestra.

n the spring of 1996 I auditioned for the EMUSO. I was so happy to see Diane there along with a couple of new but friendly faces. Never did I think in a million years I would be auditioning to be a Cellist in a College Orchestra. I know that just my few encounters with Diane effected my life. I was happy to be around her and learned so much about music, life, career and people from her. To this day Diane continues to be a strong force in my life. She inspired me to reach higher and taught me to embrace the uniqueness of who I am. She taught me that when I am not as strong as others in one area to accentuate the areas in my life where I shine the most and it will help me to excel. I want to take a moment to say thank you to Dr. Diane Winder Professor of Cello for all that she has done and how she continues to inspire me. I am a better person and musician because of her. To Read more about Dr. Winder and her accomplishments please see her bio below.

Diane L. Winder, Professor of Cello first at Tennessee Tech University and presently Eastern Michigan University where she also serves as Director in the School of Music & Dance, has also taught double bass, music theory and aural skills. Other courses have included orchestration, music appreciation and music literature, as well as chamber music. In addition, she has served as Music Director and Conductor for the Superior String Alliance Youth String Camps, Director of the FSU String Camp, and Coordinator of Strings at Florida High. As conductor, she held that post for the FSU Youth Orchestra and the award-winning TTU Chamber Orchestra.

Dr. Diane L.Winder-Professor of Cello-Eastern Michigan University

Winder regularly presents guest cello master classes and serves as orchestra clinician throughout Michigan and Ohio (e.g. the Southeast Michigan Chamber Orchestra Festival and Orchestra Night in Ann Arbor). She has also conducted faculty and student chamber orchestras at EMU, presented Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with faculty and guest dancers, and worked with a professional chamber orchestra in Albania, as one of the first Western musicians in that country after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Sought after as a guest speaker, Winder has presented keynote addresses at Hillsdale College and annually appears in sessions at the Michigan Music Conference.As a performer, Winder has considerable solo, chamber and orchestral experience including the Charlotte, NC and Knoxville, TN Symphonies, and summer festivals such as Aspen, Bear Valley, and the Alaska Festival of Music. She has toured throughout the South and Mid-West with the Alexander Trio, EMU’s faculty piano trio, which has also premiered several works. Continuing an avid interest in contemporary music, she recorded works by Gregory Hamilton for Rosa Mystica.Winder has authored articles on string pedagogy that have appeared in state ASTA publications, The Instrumentalist and the Newsletter for Marshall Music. She has presented at national ASTA conferences in Detroit, Albuquerque, Atlanta, and Louisville, and previously served as President in both Tennessee and Michigan, as well as Newsletter Editor in Tennessee. Additionally Winder has adjudicated ASTA state solo competitions in both Tennessee and Michigan.At Eastern Winder has also held positions as Faculty Fellow for the Honors Program and Associate Dean for Programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has been recognized as Adviser of the Year in the College and as an outstanding teacher by the State of Michigan.