Jay Althouse, who earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1973 and 1975, respectively), has gifted $25,000 to IUP to support the music program and students planning for a career in music education.
Althouse, a nationally known composer and arranger of choral music, has been a long-time supporter of IUP and the music program. He was honored with IUP’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004 for career achievements.
Althouse has more than 800 works in print for choirs of all levels, and his music is widely performed throughout the English-speaking world. He is a writer member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, a performing rights organization of more than 1 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. He is a regular recipient of the ASCAP Special Award for his compositions in the area of standard music.
He has cowritten several children’s musicals with his wife, Sally K. Albrecht, including “I Hear America Singing,” a choral work performed by the San Francisco Girls and Boys Choirs at the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama. Althouse compiled and arranged a number of highly regarded vocal solo collections such as “Folk Songs for Solo Singers,” and is the cowriter of the best-selling books The Complete Choral Warm-up Book and Accent on Composers. He is also the author of several reproducible books for the music classroom: Ready to Read Music, Sixty Music Quizzes, and One-Page Composer Bios.
Althouse, originally from Lancaster County, resides in Wake Forest, NC, where he has served on the board of the North Carolina Master Chorale. He presently serves on the National Advisory Board of the Folk Art Society of America and has written articles for the Folk Art Messenger, the society’s quarterly periodical.
His gift to IUP will be used to fund the cost of required exams and other expenses incurred by student teachers in music for the next five years. Certification to teach in Pennsylvania is contingent upon a student passing required exams and fulfilling all state requirements.
“I was motivated to give to IUP’s music program after a conversation with Dr. Craig Denison, director of the University Chorale. Dr. Denison also supervises student teachers, and he mentioned to me that financial hardships sometimes enter into a student teacher’s experience,” Althouse said.
“I am pleased that my donation will defray those costs for IUP music student teachers,” he said.
“My years at IUP were invaluable in knowing what public school choral directors and general music teachers need to provide a good experience for their students,” Althouse said. “IUP music alumni have made significant contributions to music education in Pennsylvania and across the United States, and I am pleased to be a part of that group.”
In 2004, Althouse established the Jay Althouse Small Ensemble Room in Cogswell Hall. This room is used principally for small instrumental groups who are either practicing their music for band or orchestra as well as their own music for small groups. The space is also used by young composers who are testing new music for small groups.
“On behalf of music education students and faculty, I am pleased and honored to accept this most generous gift given by one of our most distinguished alumni,” IUP Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs Curtis Scheib said.
“Jay has been a transformative force in music education across the country, and this gift will help the IUP music program to continue to graduate and serve students who will be inspired by this gift and who will in turn make their own significant contributions to future generations of students.”