Jan. 23, 1968 – Jan. 9, 2023
Sarah Elizabeth Meredith, a music trainer and accompanist who additionally was a profitable grant author, died Jan. 9 in her house in Buffalo after an extended battle with most cancers. She was 54.
Born in Urbana, Ailing., she got here along with her household to Amherst in 1973 and displayed her skills as a woman, collaborating in quite a few choral teams and serving as an accompanist.
At Amherst Central Excessive College, the place she graduated in 1986, she was a member of the Nationwide Honor Society and was president and scholar director of Candy Sixteens, a choose women’ singing group.
She earned a bachelor’s diploma in music schooling from Baylor College, then acquired a grasp’s diploma from Ithaca Faculty and a doctorate in musicology from Florida State College in 2003.
Dr. Meredith taught music and served as music coordinator within the Amherst faculties, was a professor at SUNY Buffalo State College for a number of years, then turned a grants researcher for J. O’Connell and Associates.
She went on to change into a grant author for municipalities and academic establishments. Within the Village of Lancaster, the place she was grants supervisor, she helped deliver greater than $7 million to the neighborhood.
She additionally devoted herself to working with soloists and choirs.
“As an accompanist, she was a musician’s musician,” wrote Sue Fay Allen, founding father of ABC Bel Canto Choir, the place Dr. Meredith was an accompanist. “She labored as a accomplice with these of us who carried out and carried out. A very superb accompanist helps to allow the soloist or the conductor of a bunch to realize the phrasing, the nuances and the tempo adjustments that rework the various notes right into a musical message for the performers and the viewers. It was a present to have Sarah as that accomplice.”
At Lancaster Excessive College, she performed for musicals, rehearsals, choirs and ensembles and labored with soloists. She accompanied New York State College Music Affiliation solo performances and for a few years was chosen to play for the choruses on the annual Erie County Musical Educators Affiliation concert events. She additionally was a presenter and workshop chief at nationwide conferences on music schooling and musicology.
She improved the standard of recitals for the Lancaster Academy for Visible and Performing Arts and offered recommendation and mentoring for highschool choir packages within the Buffalo faculties.
“She was one of the best music trainer,” considered one of her colleagues wrote in a Fb tribute. “She taught me how good a music program could possibly be, firing on all cylinders – band, refrain and orchestra equally. I’ll always remember that or her optimistic persona.”
A member of College Baptist Church in Amherst, she was an avid reader, with a particular curiosity in historical past and family tree. She additionally was a soccer fan and was dedicated to the Baylor Bears and Buffalo Payments.
Survivors embrace her father, Dr. Dale Meredith; a sister, Laura Geiger; a brother, Timothy Neal; nieces, nephews and cousins.
A celebration of her life shall be held at a later date.
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