By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Pam Edwards. Photo by Claudia Loucks
Pam Edwards recently completed her 50th year of teaching, and has retired from part-time instruction of vocal music and accompanying choirs at Geneseo High School, but will continue to share her musical talent with the community.
In a recent conversation, she said, “Even though I’m retired from teaching in the public school, I will continue to teach my private 40-voice and piano students. Accompanying is always on the docket and I’ll continue to direct the Community Choir and Children’s Choir. I still have my weekly church jobs as well as playing for weddings and funerals, and travel is always a part of every summer.”
From that statement, it is evident she has no plans to “retire,” as music has always been part of her life.
Edwards was raised in the country between Mt. Morris and Oregon, IL, and shared that her maternal grandmother was a pianist and had her three daughters singing trios…’’That heritage was passed on to me, singing at a very early age. My Dad and brother sang well, too!”
Her Lutheran Church, her piano teacher in Oregon and her band instructor in Mt. Morris also were very instrumental in her musical growth. She played clarinet and saxophone from the time she was in junior high school through her years at Augustana College.
“I started playing organ for church services in eighth grade and have been playing ever since,” she added.
In college, she was a music education major with an emphasis in piano and voice, and earned a Master’s Degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.
Her first teaching job was K-12 vocal music in Galva and Bishop Hill for 11 years.
She commented, “Phenomenal students and parents who are still friends of mine today!”
She then embarked on the next leg of her teaching career at Geneseo Junior High /Middle School, retiring from full-time teaching middle school vocal music in the spring of 2009. In the fall of that same year, she began part-time teaching vocal music and accompanying choirs at Geneseo High School, where she marked her 50th year of teaching in the spring of this year.
“Again, I have been blessed to work with amazing students and parents,” Edwards said. “Each year of teaching there were new administrative requirements, but one thing stayed the same for me – high expectations for students. Students will only reach for the stars if that’s what you expect. There is talent just waiting to be tapped!”
It was Pam Edwards and the Geneseo Park District that together formed the Geneseo Children’s Choir in 1990. Edwards retired the choir for about four years and then in 2013, she teamed up with Alesha Gierhart, former Millikin Elementary School music teacher, to bring the Children’s Choir back to perform with the Community Choir.
It was Edwards who organized the Geneseo Community Choir in the summer of 2009, after she was inspired by a former student who inquired about wanting to sing in a community choir.
“I knew there was an interest in the community and I wanted to have the high school and college students as the core to the choir so the choir needed to rehearse and perform only in the summer. A short-term commitment seemed to appeal to people,” she said, and added that she wanted to make it a community organization that would give back to the community.
In 2009, the choir had 80 participants, and this year the Community Choir of Geneseo had 134 singers and 50 youth in the Children’s Choir. Both groups rehearse in June and perform on the last Wednesday night in June.
The recent performance on June 24 was the Choir’s 18th annual concert, entitled, “American Tapestry-Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday,” and was held in the Geneseo High School Concert Hall.
Edwards explained the mission of the Community Choir is to give financial support to the Community Chest through the performance of an intergenerational ensemble. In the fall of 2011, she set up an endowment fund through the GIFT (Geneseo Is for Tomorrow) Foundation, and the choir took on an additional mission of granting scholarships to seniors pursuing a career in music education.
2026 was the 13th year for a senior to be awarded a scholarship, she said.
Pam Edwards also “gives back” to the community when each year, she recruits a group of high school vocalists to perform at the Geneseo Music Festival Rotary-sponsored Queen Pageant, in addition to serving as the accompanist for the pageant.
When asked to share some of the highlights of her career, she listed: “taking my Middle School students to conventions to teach other music teachers; working on music curriculum for the State of Illinois; playing and singing in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris; guest conducting many ILMEA and conference festivals; conducting the National Anthem with one of my church choirs on the Chicago Cubs home plate; seeing some of my students take their Middle School composition unit to even higher levels; watching former students do unbelievable things in their adult life, and reconnecting with lots of former students.”
Her final comment in our interview, “I’m grateful to have worked in communities that value the arts!”