Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu
www.selu.edu/NewsEvents
Date: 2/7/97
Contact: Christina Chapple 95
Editors: Photo accompanies release -- Please note local interest
SLU NAMES TWO TO MUSIC HALL OF FAME
HAMMOND -- Two new members will be inducted into the Southeastern Louisiana
University Music Department's "Music Hall of Fame" at the Feb. 14 concert featuring the new
SLU Chamber Winds. The free concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Pottle Music Building
Auditorium.
The Chamber Winds is a new ensemble of 11 select music students. Their premier
concert, which will feature 18th century music, will spotlight soloists Don Woods, trumpet, of
Huntsville, Ala., and Brennan Arcenaux, euphonium, of Hammond.
The Chamber Winds' music director, SLU Director of Bands Frank Dubuy, explained that
while he coaches and teaches the new ensemble, the student musicians perform in concert
without a conductor. Each student, he said, is responsible for his or her independent part of the
musical program, unlike in a larger ensemble when several play the same part. Participating in a
smaller, unconducted ensemble will stretch the students' musical abilities, Dubuy said.
The Music Hall of Fame recognizes Southeastern graduates "who have distinguished
themselves in their careers and personal lives and who have brought favorable recognition to the
university and the Music Department." 1997 Inductees are music educators Jack Richard of
Hammond, Class of 1951, and Marie Cotaya of Baton Rouge, Class of 1958.
Richard, who is retired after a more than 25-year career, was a music teacher and band
director at Hammond High School and Sulphur High School and in the Bossier City school
system. He also was instructor of woodwinds at Southeastern from 1967-73.
(MORE)
SLU MUSIC HALL OF FAME -- Add One
He received a bachelor's in music education from Southeastern and a master's degree
from Louisiana State University. His high school bands received superior ratings for eight
straight years and won three sweepstakes trophies in state Louisiana Music Educators
Association festivals. He was honored as LMEA "Band Director of the Year" in 1966. Richard
was a founding member of the Louisiana Bandmasters Association and served as the
organization's president, vice president and board member.
He also performed as a clarinetist with symphony orchestras in Lake Charles and
Beaumont, Texas, and continues to work as a freelance musician in the New Orleans area.
Richard is a former president and treasurer of the SLU Music Alumni Club.
Cotaya has been a music educator for 40 years. Head of the Fine Arts Department and
chair of the Faculty Cabinet at Scotlandville Magnet High School, she also has taught music and
directed bands at Jackson High School and Woodlawn High School.
Cotaya's many honors and awards include the Silver Baton Award and the School of
Excellence Award of the Women Band Directors National Association, 1992 East Baton Rouge
Parish Band Director of the Year, and Phi Beta Mu National Fraternity Outstanding Louisiana
Bandmaster in 1990 and 1996. In 1984, she was chosen by the "National School Musician"
magazine as one of the top ten music educators in the nation and was inducted into the Louisiana
Music Educators Association Hall of Fame in 1993.
She also frequently serves as guest conductor and clinician and currently is director of the
Louisiana Music Educators Association's District IV. She was LMEA state president from 1992-
94 and was president of the Louisiana Bandmasters Association, secretary and national president
of the Women Band Directors Association and president of Kappa Province of Delta Omicron
International Honorary Music Fraternity.
- SLU -
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