By
Mary Williams
From time to time your newsletter editor interviews one of our members
so we can get to know each other better. This month’s interview was not
done in person, sadly, but Nancy is great online too. So here are her
answers to my questions.
Q. For those who don’t know you well, tell us about your family and how
you got started in music.
A: I grew up in Oak Cliff with 3 younger brothers. After 1st grade, I
started taking piano lessons with Betty Zumwalt, who lived behind the
alley. I was her first student, and I had really long lessons, probably
because my mom was watching her 3 younger kids while she taught me. Soon
my best friend (also named Nancy) also started taking with Betty. We got
to learn all the fun pieces (
Alley Cat, Third Man Theme, 76
Trombones, etc.), and we frequently got to perform during
“auditorium class” in elementary school.
When I was in 5th grade, we moved, and I started taking with Bea Carney
(remember her from Mu Phi?) and eventually from Lois Nielson. I started
accompanying band friends for Solo & Ensemble in junior high, as well as
accompanying the choir and the annual musicals. I remember looking at
the score for
Brigadoon and remarking to my year-older mentor,
“There’s no way I can learn all those notes.” She gave me my first
lesson in sight-reading – “you just figure out which notes are most
important and play those.” (These days, it seems like adults do most of
the accompanying in schools. While I love accompanying, I sometimes
wonder if I’m not cheating some student out of an invaluable learning
experience.)
Q: You are a pianist and an organist. Do you have a preference on what
you play?
A: I love the instant response I know that I’ll get when I play a piano.
But I also love the great sounds that can come from the organ (assuming
I’ve set it up correctly and press the right buttons!) For most of my
life, I considered myself a pianist playing the organ.It wasn’t until I
moved to San Antonio that I really got serious about learning the organ.
A friend encouraged me to join AGO (American Guild of Organists) and
work on certification.
Q: When did you join the Dallas Alumni Chapter and what has this
association meant to you?
A: After I graduated from SMU, I moved to Duncanville and began teaching
piano. I met Tena Hehn through Dallas Music Teachers Association. It
wasn’t long until Tena invited me to a Mu Phi meeting. I already knew
some of the alumni who had helped with the Mu Chi chapter (Edie
Pfautsch, Frances Stuart, etc.), so I agreed to tag along. I remember
being inspired that these “old” people (who I’m sure were much younger
than I am now!) still enjoyed making music together. In particular, I
remember Katharine Riddle and Tennie Lengel playing together at least
once a year. I can’t think of a better way than being a Mu Phi to keep
music, friendship, and harmony as integral parts of my life!
Q: You have been president of the Dallas chapter, the San Antonio
chapter, and now the Dallas chapter again. First of all – thank you,
thank you! for taking this office. What do you see as the most rewarding
parts of leadership in MPE and the most frustrating parts?
A: The most rewarding part is definitely the life-long friendships with
people who share the love of music. It’s funny that being a Mu Phi is
one of the things that helped me decide to move to San Antonio in 2000.
Our beloved Wynona Lipsett, who was International President at the time,
had decided to have the 2001 convention in San Antonio, even
though there was no local alumni chapter. I had a nice promotion offer
in San Antonio with Southwestern Bell, and I was also intrigued by the
possibility of starting an alumni chapter to help
host the convention. Our first get-together was during the TMEA
convention in 2000. What fun we had building friendships in a new
chapter and working toward that convention!
As far as frustration, COVID restrictions rank on up there. I’m thrilled
that we were able to get going virtually. It’s been so fun getting back
together in person this fall, but it looks like we may have to start
over again for a while.
Q: You had another part of your life with a career at Southwestern Bell
in Dallas and in San Antonio. What did you do for this company and what
did it do for you?
A: Yes, I spent 40 years at Southwestern Bell/AT&T. I started with a
summer job (thanks to my Dad, who also worked at SWBT over 40 years) as
a PBX traffic engineer. I spent many years in Forecasting (predicting
growth in various areas). The most fun positions I had were in
Marketing, where I got to be creative with various programs. Even at
work, I found ways to use music. I played piano for 25 years for the
Bell Singers, a group of employees who practiced at noon and sang
regularly at nursing homes and community events. When I moved back to
Dallas in 2015, the group no longer existed, so we started it again just
in time for Christmas caroling. My daughter now works for AT&T, so the
company is certainly woven into our family.
Q: What other interests do you have besides music? How do you like to
spend your time?
A: Well, it seems like music is in almost everything I do these days. I
lead 30 minutes of singing at Treasured Times, a weekly Alzheimer’s
respite program at church. It’s so rewarding to see some people, who
seemingly can’t remember anything, start singing along! We have a
different theme each week (like Football or Big Band or Halloween), so
it keeps me on my toes coming up with music to use! Mom and I also
participate in Seniors on Stage, who do little skits (with lots of
singing) weekly at various nursing homes.
Q: What are you most proud of in your life?
A: My two children. Chris is a wonderful classical guitarist (although
he still also does the hard rock bit on occasion!). Laura is an engineer
at AT&T, but also can still play every clarinet piece she ever learned
without music. (How come both of my kids got such good ears, but I’m
lost without a musical score?!)
Q: What else we should know about you?
A: Maybe that I’m a bit long-winded?
Thank you Nancy!
Top
Mu Phi Epsilon 
Greetings,
Mu Phi friends!
Our theme for this year is “Back in the Swing.” (Or maybe it should be
“Swinging Back”??)
January
- Bring on the New Year!
February - Swinging with Musician Friends
The delightful program featured librettist Claudia Jameson of Mary Alice
Rich’s opera Anam the Witch and Beatrice the Beautiful that
will be presented by the Diversitá Opera Company on our Concert Series
on April 10th.
Claudia told us the plot of the children’s story on which the opera is
based. She described the complex role of Anam, the witch, who was really
a misunderstood “curandera” and the other characters in the opera. 
Tena Hehn replaced Frances Estes as Sunshine Chair over the summer. Her
hand is slowly recovering. 
Amy
Canchola is heading to New York in January to sing at the NATS winter
workshop. She was chosen to sing for three of the classes (links below).
Mary Williams attended Texas A&M graduation in December to see her first
granddaughter, Nicole, get her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. So proud
of her!
CONCERT
SERIES