The Ponca City Federated Music Club invites the public to the Composer’s Workshop 38th annual program, Sunday, January 23 at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church 6th and Central. Local composers include: Elaine Armstrong, Suzi Lenhart, and Debbie Rue. National composers include: Syneva Colle, Rebecca Groom te Velde, Amanda McBroom and Natalie Sleeth. Hostesses for the meeting are Suzi Lenhart and Debbie Rue, co-chairman with Elaine Armstrong, Kathy Hughes, Ramona Lantz and Susan Jones

The program will begin with four hymn miniatures composed by organist/educator Rebecca Groom te Velde from Stillwater, played on the organ by Bradley Newcomb.

Elaine Armstrong will present: “You’re Here” the Insomniacs Song. Written after struggling to get to sleep, listening to nighttime sounds while watching the moonlit shadows travel down the wall, aware of God’s presence and His love but still not going to sleep.

Suzi Lenhart will be presenting her composition “Place of Our Dreams” presented by Uke Club members: Elaine Armstrong, Amanda Cook, Bill Hamilton, Suzi Lenhart, Marsha Moore and Marta Sullivan. Mrs. Lenhart will also present “Mister Rabbit” an American folk song which she has arranged for Orff instruments. It will be performed by the Miss Suzi’s Singing School Orff I vocal ensemble. Singers include Kinzey Burr, Pragnya Gopisetti, Reese Jenkins, Kasha Slavin, Annabell Shelton, Elle Turner, Bennett Turner and Lilyan Wyckoff. “The Rose” by Amanda

McBroom will be presented by Miss Suzi’s Orff III Ensemble: Frankie Diaz, Amelia Morrow, Lennon Shearer, Taylee Slavin, Jaelyn Stolhand, Mallory Stolhand, accompanied/by Connie Van Ausdall, and, on Bass guitar, Seth Griffin.

“Hymn of Promise,” by Natalie Sleeth will be presented by the Choral Workshop lead by Mary Jane Barraclough. Members include: Elaine Armstrong, Dee Kutz, Ebby Jacobs, Ann Thornburgh, Chris Mudd and Rod Kutz and accompanied by Debbie Rue.

Syneva and Stefni Colle’s piece, “Can I Trade My Now For Then?” will be sung by Mallory Stolhand and Kate Branstetter accompanied by Connie Van Ausdall.

Debbie Rue and Kay Anthony Rice will present their version of “Winter Wonderland,” as a very funny piano duet.

The program will conclude with Debbie Rue and her husband, Carroll Rue, singing “Love Unlimited” from the musical Scrooge-a Musical Valentine Tale which Debbie Rue wrote and presented in Brooklyn, NY.

Local composer bios

Debra Rue graduated from the University of Tulsa with a Bachelor of Music Education Degree in Vocal & Instrumental Music. She received her Master of Music Degree in Conducting from the University of Colorado - Boulder. She has two compositions written with composer James Adler published by Colla Voce Music - “Daughters of Music” and “Canticle for Peace” which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music after being performed in New York City at a United Nations Ecumenical Service commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She won the 2018 Sigma AIpha Iota national songwriting competition with her composition, “Ode to Pan’s Cottage” commemorating the 100th anniversary of this historic structure at MacDowell Artists Colony in New Hampshire. This work was performed at the 2018 SAI National Convention in Scottsdale, AZ as well as the composition she wrote with composer James Adler, “Daughters of Music”. She received a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council in New York to write her full length musical, “SCROOGE: A Musical Valentine Tale.” Debra retired as a high school choral director from Fort Worth ISD where she was the recipient of the 2011-2012 Friedman Award for Teaching Excellence in the Performing Arts and Fort Worth Teacher of the Year finalist. Mrs. Rue served as Music Minister for 25 years at Western Hills United Methodist Church in Fort Worth and currently serves on the University of Tulsa National Alumni Board of Directors. She is President of the Ponca City Federated Music Club and Organist/ accompanist at First United Methodist Church

Elaine Armstrong is a member of the Ponca City Federated Music Club and has shared her musical compositions for several years. In 2019, the Ponca City choirs of Northeast Baptist Church (where she participates in the choir and special music) and First Baptist Church recorded a CD of Christmas music. Elaine is a former member of the Singing Church Women of Oklahoma. This choir sang at the Kennedy Center, the Capital Rotunda, and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during Memorial Weekend in Washington, D.C. in May, 2018.

Suzi Lenhart (Miss Suzi) has 2 degrees in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She started writing songs at Girl Scout Camp at age 19. Highlights in her music career include co-compiling the Pax Lodge Song Book which was published by Girl Scouts of the USA in 2004 and she is thrilled to have 6 of her original songs in the collection. In 2006, she co-produced the Pax Lodge Song Book CD, 2008, co-produced the Sangam Cd and 2014, co-produced the Our Chalet CD. In 2004 she received the Outstanding Musician from the Oklahoma Federation of Music Clubs. She is married to Larry and has 2 grown children. This is the 40th year that she has been the owner/teacher for Miss Suzi’s Singing School.

National composer bios

Syneva Colle is a composer, performer, and teacher based in Washington, D.C. In her original works and arrangements, she focused on vocal, piano, and string music. Her string arrangements have been featured on over twenty albums and she composed the original film score for the documentary Huan Dao. Most recently, Syneva and sister Stefni have written a full-length musical Land Girls which was one of four works produced at the 2019 Atlanta Music Theatre Festival. Syneva is an active freelance musician and a founding member of the Corwin Trio, a professional string ensemble. She is currently earning a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Cello Performance from the University of Maryland. Her works are published through Sheet Music Press. She will finish her Doctorate this May.

Natalie Allyn Sleeth - At the early age of four, she began to study the piano . In 1952, she earned a BA in music theory at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She married the Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Sleeth, a professor of Homiletics.[1] The anthem “Hymn of

The anthem “Hymn of Promise” was composed in early 1985, and dedicated simply to Dr. Sleeth, “To Ron,” who was diagnosed with cancer and died weeks after its premiere. Soon after the anthem was published, it became a hymn under two different names. Under the title “In the Bulb There is a Flower,” it appears as hymn #703 in the United Church of Canada hymnal. It appears as hymn #707 under the title “Hymn of Promise” in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Rebecca Groom te Velde studied organ, composition and church music with her father, Lester H. Groom, at Seattle Pacific University (BA). She earned the MMus in organ performance and literature at the U. of Western Ontario (organ with Hugh McLean, composition with Jack Behrens), and did postgraduate study with Michael Schneider and Almut Rössler (Germany), Flor Peeters (Belgium), and Gerald Frank (OSU). Organist of First Presbyterian Church Stillwater since 1991, adjunct prof. at OSU since 1999, she holds the Associate certificate from the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and is an active performer and composer.

Amanda McBroom (born August 9, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is “ The Rose “, which Bette Midler sang in the film of the same name, and which has been sung by many other recording artists.

National Federation of Music Clubs American Women Composers contest

The Ponca City Music Club Composer’s Workshop has been participating in the National Federation of Music Clubs Women’s Composer Contest since 1984 and have placed in the top 10 Clubs on a nearly annual basis. The Ponca City Federate Music Club is part of the National Federation of Music Clubs and Oklahoma Federation of Music Clubs. For those who are interested in joining the PCF Music Club or for more information, Debbie Rue at at 817-296-4621.