A teacher's influence

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri's Otto Dingeldein Award, recently given to Mike Dumey, was a well-deserved tribute. Mike's positive influence on his many students, especially the love of musical theater, cannot be measured.

A teacher who had the biggest single influence on my life passed away this week in Baton Rouge, La. Miss Mary Lou Henry was a voice instructor in the music department at Southeast Missouri State from 1959-1972. When I began my studies there, I was a music education major with an emphasis in piano. After taking Miss Henry's freshman voice class, I decided to pursue a degree in voice. Her influence went far beyond vocal technique. She helped in all my vocal performing endeavors in Cape Girardeau and beyond. A very special memory is a sacred recital I presented as a college senior at the First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. Miss Henry helped organize the concert, which was sponsored by the then Christian Arts Council, founded and headed by the great silversmith artisan Otto Dingeldein.

Mary Lou Henry's influence, of course, changed the course of my life. It is with me at all times. It is also with my many students, their students and audiences everywhere. An artist and teacher's life's work and influences are never over. Those of us who have been blessed by their work are eternally grateful.

JUDITH FARRIS, Artist in Residence and Instructor, Department of Theatre and Dance, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau