The Thunderfnrd Tuesday Nowemfw 29, 1983 Page 9 Music for Stitt an exciting life' by Fletcher Matson I either wish that we had a few more hours in the day or fewer obligations (but Id rather be busy than bored). If the schedule list on her door is any indication, then Virginia K. Stitt, assistant professor of music, has no time to be bored. Besides teaching beginning music theory, music and appreciation, renaissance consort, composition she arrangement and individual tutoring in woodwinds also plays oboe in the SUSC Symphony Orchestra and lends her orchestral talent to theatre and music department productions such as Bamum and Sweeney Todd. During summers she plays the recorder as an Elizabethan musician for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, attends music conventions and continues her oboe studies, yet she still finds time for hiking and nature photography, two of her favorite pursuits. Why does she keep herself so involved? I was given that drive or 'talent and I want to share that with people. 1 would think that I wasn t fulfilling myself if I couldnt share, she says frankly. Stitt learned to play the piano, Washington-borsaxophone, flute, piccolo and clarinet during high school, but she fell in love with the oboe when she heard a Chicago Symphony concert that featured Ray Still playing an oboe solo. From then on she wanted to play "just like him and even studied under Still for two years while she worked her way from undergraduate to Doctor of Musical Arts at four universities. different She supported herself by playing in many different symphonies and teaching after getting her bachelors degree in 1969. She mentions that at one point she was playing in three orchestras, teaching e student herself. 35 students a day and was a She calls symphony playing a very exciting life, but cautions that traveling and playing the same pieces continually without any change of pace can turn even the deepest musical devotion to apathy and boredom. Ive had some very close friends who are symphony players who ended up hating music. there was a I came here for a very basic reason job opening and I got it, she laughs. Stitt has been n mid-we- full-tim- Virginia K. Stitt, assistant professor of music, learned to play the piano during her high school days. However, the oboe is her favorite. teaching at SUSC for seven years and says, I really enjoy classroom teaching. Its one of the real joys of teaching at a small school like this. Ive known for a long time that I didnt want to just sit in a room and teach oboe and work with oboe players. She feels that the attitude toward music on campus is very encouraging, both within and without the department. Our students are really quite serious about it, she notes with approval. Of course, she adds, there are always a few clowns in music appreciation, a class that many people take just to fill their general education requirement, but that only makes the others even more special. Beginning music theory usually weeds out the jokers who think music is all play and no work. She finds the increased attendance at concerts particularly uplifting. When I first came here, for our first concert there were eight people in the audience. She said the fans for last weeks symphony presentation in Thorley Recital Hall numbered almost 200. Although she no longer has the luxury of practicing four hours a day on her oboe the way she did before going pro, Stitt loves her music enough to still feel intensely pleased when the compositions, the players and the mood come together to create a moving, artistically satisfying experience, but she stresses that there are more elements in a fulfilling musical career than just the artistic high. Sharing a craft, seeing a student realize his or her own talent can be even more rewarding than audience acclaim. She recalled one student who began her first year playing at the seventh grade junior high level of expertise but graduated at the same level as her peers. Stitt has also taught two students who have gone on to earn masters degrees and several who are now successful teachers and conductors. If thats what youre living for, she intones, those exciting moments, then youd best get out of music. They dont happen that often. If we can share and learn, to me, that is exciting? Holiday program set Air Supply video features students A slide show musical presentation about the star of Bethlehem is the program for December at the SUSC Ashcroft Observatory. The program, titled The Christmas Star, will be shown each Monday and Friday at 7 p.m. except on Dec. 26. when the observatory will be closed. The program and the accompanying astronomical observation are free to the public. Observatory Director Brent Sorensen is producing the December program. It will demonstrate possible natural phenomena to account for the star that led the Magi to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. Also of interest is the Photograph the Moon session scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 10. Observatory visitors are invited to bring their loaded 35mm cameras and adaptors. Sorensen said he has some and adaptors available for Pentax and for Minolta bayonet mounts. Night owls who have caught a glimpse of Air Supplys new video on the NBC Friday Night Videos or other shows may have noticed some familiar faces. Air Supply had planned to shoot the promotional film for Making Love Out of Nothing at All in Irvine, Calif., but rain ruined the shooting schedule. In order to meet its contracted deadline, the group was forced to do the filming at another time and another tour stop. The chosen time and place turned out to be the Oct. 3 concert at SUSCs own War Memorial Fieldhouse. Air Supply not only used concert footage of y hundreds of SUSC fans rocking to the bands romance ballad, but also hired some local talent for cameo scenes. According to Douglas Baker of the theatre Air Supply called department, a representative the department and asked if they could find two black T-ri- high-tnerg- m girls and four white girls who fit dress sizes seven and eight and were willing to do some camera work by 4:3C that afternoon. Tiya Coleman, Gwen Thomas, Michele Evans, Cindy Jensen, Ashley Long and Cynthia Fisher fit the bill and the dresses. The girls were ready that afternoon but the film company wasnt. They wanted to do it before the concert, said Tiva, but the technicians got lost between here and Los Angeles. The girls ended up doing practice runs and final takes until 3 a.m. It took about 10 hours altogether, said Baker, what with all the sitting around." They were given front-ropasses to the concert and $25 each for compensation. It was worth it, said Ashley. Tiya and Gwen play backup singers for Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock while the other girls are groupies for the band. The video is scheduled for release soon on MTV and HBOs Video Jukebox.