Averill Summer
Title: Associate Professor of Piano
Specialty: Children’s choir training, conducting, and repertoire; piano performance, and piano literature.
Contact Information:
USF School of Music USF College of Visual and Performing Arts
Phone: (813) 974-4767
E-mail this USF Collaborative Partner
Details:
Topics of expertise:
Children’s choir training, conducting, and repertoire; piano performance, and piano literature.
Educational and professional background:
B.A. in Music and Music Education, University of South Florida. M. Music and D. Music in Piano Performance, Indiana University. Member of music faculties at Susquehanna University, Bucknell University, and USF. Member, guest conductor, and adjudicator of Music Teachers National Association, Music Educators National Conference, College Music Society, American Choral Directors Association. Recitalist, conductor and lecturer in U.S., Canada, and Europe.
What was your Collaborative grant and what did you learn from it?
“From our project, “Generations of Song: A Community Strengthening Project,” I learned the value of inter-generational activities and how they are mutually strengthening and enriching for all parties concerned.”
Have you done any other proposals that have additional grants?
“I have done proposals to the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Arts Council of Hillsborough County for the Tampa Bay Children’s Chorus. We currently receive funding from the Arts Council of Hillsborough County and have been recommended to receive a grant for our next season from the State of Florida DCA.”
What have you done since the grant?
“I continue to serve as artistic director of the Tampa Bay Children’s Chorus. In that capacity I have been a part of the planning and execution of many projects involving children, families and communities. An example of this was our recent project commissioning American song-leader Nick Page to write a piece especially for performance by children in the community. We brought him to Tampa to work with the children on this and other music at a weekend event, culminating in a free public performance. The event was open to families throughout the area. “Another recent initiative was the establishment of the New Tampa SongFest, a community concert presented by the Tampa Bay Children’s Chorus and the elementary schools of the New Tampa area. The initial concert of this project was presented in spring 2003. In our next season we will expand this project to include SongFests in Wesley Chapel and Temple Terrace. “A third project that will begin in August of 2003 is the establishment of a choral enrichment program in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa. If funded, this project will offer choral training to children in communities where there has not been the opportunity to sing in a choral program of this sort. The program will be a part of the community outreach of the Tampa Bay Children’s Chorus.”
What have you learned from your research that you wish every professional knew?
“I have learned that collaborations within the community are an important and necessary part of our mission in the arts, and that they can facilitate projects that are not possible by a single organization. They also offer a significant level of enrichment to any project.”
What have you learned from your research that you wish every student knew?
“I have learned that there are many needs in our community that can be at least partially met by creative collaborations. I have learned the value of exposing our students early in their academic careers to the support available for their creative ideas.”
What do you think is the biggest issue in your field right now and how would you address it?
“The recent reduction in funding for the arts is the biggest issue facing those of us in this field. Those of us who have relied on government funding are forced to find ways of finding other sources of financial support. Many schools are being forced to compromise or eliminate arts programs because of budget reductions. In my opinion, the more that arts become a valued part of the life of every child, the more secure the future of the arts will be.”
