News Release
May 2001
(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)—Moravian College announced
that Neil Wetzel, applied music teacher, is the first recipient of the
T. Edgar Shields Prize for Outstanding Studio Instruction. Wetzel, a
teacher at Moravian College since 1989, teaches saxophone, jazz, diatonic
harmony, chromatic harmony, musicianship I-IV, beginning woodwind techniques,
jazz artists and epochs, and the Art of Music. In addition to teaching,
Wetzel directs the Big Band and was recently appointed director of Jazz
Studies at Moravian College. Wetzel is currently a doctoral candidate
at Columbia University Teachers’ College.
The T. Edgar Shields Prize for Outstanding Studio Instruction
was established by Moravian’s Music Department this year. Music
majors were asked to nominate studio instructors based on quality studio
teaching, contributions to the profession (recordings, performances,
editions), and their interaction with students. Full-time members of
the music faculty reviewed the nominations and awarded the prize to
Wetzel.
The prize is named for T. Edgar Shields who taught music
for 40 years at the Young Ladies' Seminary. Shields directed the choir
at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. He was also an
organist for the Bach Choir. During his tenure, Shields was considered
to be the leading American authority on the works of Bach. In addition
to his duties at the Young Ladies’ Seminary, Shields also served
as head of the music department at Lehigh University, before retiring
in 1947.
