Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, October 2, 2025
President Olaf chaired the meeting.
Rotarians and guests were welcomed
Guest Presentation
For the program today, two musical artists currently employed by the School of Music at the campus of Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK): Dr Elizabeth Janzen on flute and her associate Dr Sehee Lee on piano were introduced and welcomed
They gave a brief performance of the first movement of a composition by Bernard Kane called "The Gulf Stream" by Bernard Kane. This movement was inspired by the composer's experience here in Corner Brook, Newfoundland a few years ago, and is called "The Rock".
As well as being Professor of Flute at TAMUK, Elizabeth currently serves as Interim Director of the School of Music as well as Professor of Flute. She performs as 2nd Flute/piccolo in the Victoria (Texas) Symphony Orchestra, is a Burkart Artist, and serves as co-chair of the National Flute Association's IDEA Committee. Her playing has established her as a prominent musician, teacher and clinician across Canada, the United States and Mexico.
She was accompanied on the piano by Sehee Lee, DMA. Sehee is a distinguished pianist celebrated for her versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative artist. With a dynamic career that spans continents, she has performed extensively across the United States, Korea, Germany, Mexico, Luxembourg, and now (for the first time) in Canada, delivering over fifty recitals annually in collaboration with leading instrumentalists and vocalists.
Elizabeth began her talk with a reflection on the impact of people like Alison (Steele) McHugh, Vicky Crocker, and Gary Graham who influenced her musical training while growing up in Corner Brook. She also recalled the influence of local Corner Brook businesses, churches and coffee shops where she performed, as well as her education in French Immersion and what was then Herdman Collegiate, where she was a member of the school band. She gave particular attention to the impact of participating in the Rotary Music Festival, not just for the obvious musical experience, winning two Senior Rose Bowls and the Rotary Music Scholarship, but for the way it instilled life skills such as time management, goal setting, supportive competition, and the influence of guest artists and adjudicators. These allowed her to continue her music education, first at the undergraduate level at the University of Toronto and then earning her Masters and DMA at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City (this last also included a Post-Graduate Fellowship with the Juilliard School and Carnegie Hall).
Her musical career also activated another skill learned from Corner Brook, namely commitment to community service. She explained how her parents led by example, but she stressed as well that Rotary was also a recurring illustration of how people and organizations can serve as the backbone of a community through community engagement, leadership and advocacy. Now that she lives in South Texas, these skills have never been more valuable. Kingsville, where she lives and works, serves some of the poorest counties in the United States, with many first-generation students and students with immigrant families. Furthermore, both post-secondary education and the arts are increasingly dismissed, both in Texas and the United States, as a luxury for those who can pay or as something which is not a right for all. Increasingly, universities there (like those here) face financial aid cuts and reduced grant funding for science and the arts. This puts more pressure on faculty to find community resources and supportive individuals to make ends meet. Corner Brook already has that and is exceedingly lucky. The dedication of the Rotary Club of Corner Brook to service, to the arts, to the community is invaluable to the tapestry of this community. This service shapes programs, community diversity and the life skills, confidence and talents of individuals of all ages.
The Rotary International website boasts that for more than a century, Rotary has bridged cultures and connected continents. It displays all the lofty achievements and goals of a truly international organization: promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, etc. But two weeks from October 2, Elizabeth will have the opportunity to speak at Rotary again, in Kingsville, Texas. She plans to share with them a very similar presentation, which she hopes will inspire them to support the arts, and young local students of all backgrounds, with a focus on developing, sustaining, and expanding their own community in the same way you have. She concluded with a resounding “Thank you for your service!”
Elixabeth and Sehee were thanked for playing and Elizabeth for her heartfelt talk.
The meeting was then adjourned