NATS Alaska Scholarships
The NATS Alaska Chapter is proud to offer scholarships to students through our yearly competitions.
We celebrate the history of our chapter with scholarships in honor of our beloved past members & students.
We celebrate the history of our chapter with scholarships in honor of our beloved past members & students.
The Janet Stotts Memorial Youth Competition & Scholarships
JANET STOTTS, Director, earned her Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Vocal Music Education at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Her graduate work in Early Childhood Music and Choral Music was done at BYU, Dominican College and with the Robert Shaw Workshop in New York. Janet served as clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor for several regional, state and national events. In addition to her work with Alaska Children's Choir, Janet taught private voice and piano lessons and conducted a preschool music program, Exploring Music in her Wasilla studio. She served as Music director for several Valley Performing Arts productions.
In 1996, Janet received a Woman of Achievement Award presented by BP Exploration and YWCA. In 1997, Janet received a Distinguished Alumna Award from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In 2005, the Alaska Children's Choir , under Janet's direction, was awarded a Mayor's Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2006, Janet received the Governor's Arts Award for Arts Educator as sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts.
Janet was a member of several professional music organizations--National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Choral Directors Association, Alaska Keyboard Teachers Association and Music Teachers National Association.
Janet was a founding member of the NATS Alaska District Chapter. Michael More, also a NATS Alaska founding member, provided the following story of NATS Alaska's inception and Janet's involvement:
"I believe it was in September of 1984 that the six voice teachers in Anchorage held a meeting to investigate applying for a NATS Chapter in Alaska. Lois Cepparo spearheaded the effort and got us all together. Lois was already a National NATS member who had just relocated to Anchorage from Los Angeles in 1979 or 1980. The founding members were Lois, Janet Stotts, Kathryn Chenoweth, Ora Lee Kapp, Mickey Belden and I. Lois was the only official member and she sponsored all our applications for National membership. By December of 1984, we were all official NATS members and the request to establish an Alaskan chapter was approved.
We met the week between Christmas and New Year's (1984) to elect officers and hold our first meeting. Lois Cepparo was President, Ora Lee Kapp was Vice President, Janet Stotts was Secretary, Michael More was Treasurer, Mickey Beldon was Historian and Kathryn Chenoweth was a Director, which covered all remaining miscellaneous duties. I drafted a set of By Laws based on the National format and we established a monthly meeting schedule.
Our first order of business was to plan a Spring Competition. Our first competition had 7 contestants, was held in a Methodist Church on Tudor Rd, and the prize money totaled $175 ($100, $50 and $25)! It wasn't much more than that for several years. We sought donations from individuals and businesses in Anchorage to sponsor prize money."
Janet held several positions on the board of NATS Alaska, including Vice President and Secretary. She was chiefly responsible for coordinating the annual Youth Competition. Her students consistently placed in our competitions.
Janet passed away at her home on April 26, 2015. She will live on in our hearts, our music, her students and our memories.
In 1996, Janet received a Woman of Achievement Award presented by BP Exploration and YWCA. In 1997, Janet received a Distinguished Alumna Award from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In 2005, the Alaska Children's Choir , under Janet's direction, was awarded a Mayor's Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2006, Janet received the Governor's Arts Award for Arts Educator as sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts.
Janet was a member of several professional music organizations--National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Choral Directors Association, Alaska Keyboard Teachers Association and Music Teachers National Association.
Janet was a founding member of the NATS Alaska District Chapter. Michael More, also a NATS Alaska founding member, provided the following story of NATS Alaska's inception and Janet's involvement:
"I believe it was in September of 1984 that the six voice teachers in Anchorage held a meeting to investigate applying for a NATS Chapter in Alaska. Lois Cepparo spearheaded the effort and got us all together. Lois was already a National NATS member who had just relocated to Anchorage from Los Angeles in 1979 or 1980. The founding members were Lois, Janet Stotts, Kathryn Chenoweth, Ora Lee Kapp, Mickey Belden and I. Lois was the only official member and she sponsored all our applications for National membership. By December of 1984, we were all official NATS members and the request to establish an Alaskan chapter was approved.
We met the week between Christmas and New Year's (1984) to elect officers and hold our first meeting. Lois Cepparo was President, Ora Lee Kapp was Vice President, Janet Stotts was Secretary, Michael More was Treasurer, Mickey Beldon was Historian and Kathryn Chenoweth was a Director, which covered all remaining miscellaneous duties. I drafted a set of By Laws based on the National format and we established a monthly meeting schedule.
Our first order of business was to plan a Spring Competition. Our first competition had 7 contestants, was held in a Methodist Church on Tudor Rd, and the prize money totaled $175 ($100, $50 and $25)! It wasn't much more than that for several years. We sought donations from individuals and businesses in Anchorage to sponsor prize money."
Janet held several positions on the board of NATS Alaska, including Vice President and Secretary. She was chiefly responsible for coordinating the annual Youth Competition. Her students consistently placed in our competitions.
Janet passed away at her home on April 26, 2015. She will live on in our hearts, our music, her students and our memories.
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Jean SaundersJean was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut, near Darien, Connecticut. While raising three children, she was the private and social secretary to Charles A. Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh for 18 years. After moving to Alaska, She taught for over 10 years at the University of Alaska Anchorage as an adjunct instructor, and was active as a performer in recitals and as a member of the Anchorage Opera Chorus and the Anchorage Concert Chorus. She was a long-time member of NATS Alaska and served as District Governor and archive historian. She took advantage of in-depth musical training, attending many masterclasses and workshops while maintaining an active private voice studio. She has been quoted as saying that she sings, "to create a sense of worth and love around all of us.” Jean gave freely of her time to support other singers and has been known to give impromptu voice lessons while being wheeled into surgery! The Jean O Saunders Music Scholarship Fund has been established at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Anchorage.
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Dennis GoffOriginally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Dennis was a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A baritone, he was an active performer in Alaska for many years. Upon retiring from the Anchorage School District, he maintained a thriving voice studio. Many of his students still speak of his teaching skills, compassion and wonderful sense of humor. A long-time member of NATS, he served for several years as the District Governor. Always enthusiastic about expanding his pedagogical knowledge and skills, he actively participated in the advanced training workshops offered by NATS, many of which he helped to organize and facilitate. Upon retirement from teaching a year before passing, he moved to Hawai’i with his partner, Sheldon.
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Lois Huff CepparoLois came to Alaska in the late 1970’s from southern California where she was a student of the renowned teacher and vocal pedagogical pioneer, William Vennard. Soon after arriving in Anchorage, she opened a private voice studio and taught singing. Lois was a generous patron of the arts and served on the Board of Directors of the newly formed Anchorage Opera. In 1984, Lois founded Alaka NATS and served as the chapter’s first President.
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