Celebrating the Legacy of Peggy Dettwiler

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"This is Peggy Dettwiler's legacy, and it will reverberate throughout eternity," exclaimed Jason Strunk '97 as a mass of alumni, students, colleagues, and community members inside Straughn Auditorium stood and applauded the impact that Dr. Peggy Dettwiler has made on them and countless others.

It was the crescendo of Strunk's opening to Dettwiler's emotional farewell concert as part of Mansfield's Alumni Weekend in June. Strunk, director of choral and vocal activities at Shepherd University, walked the audience through the proud history of music at Mansfield before sharing how a Mansfield choral director changed the course of his life, a common occurrence throughout Dettwiler's career.

Dettwiler grew up on a farm in northern Illinois before moving near Madison, Wisconsin, to teach music. She earned her bachelor's degree in voice performance and a master's degree in music education from the University of Wisconsin, then earned a second master's in choral conducting from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Dettwiler went on to earn a doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she would also meet her future husband.

She came to Mansfield in 1990 as director of choral activities, a position she thought she would stay in for only two or three years. However, she credits the university, support for the music department, and the talented students with rural backgrounds like her own as the reason she stayed for 35 years. "It has been such a pleasure to work with these students in a beautiful rural setting," said Dettwiler, looking back on her career.

Having been afforded the opportunity to travel to Europe as an undergraduate student, Dettwiler knew she wanted to share that experience with her own students. "The most profound memories come from the nine European tours I was able to organize and offer to our Mansfield students over the years. For some students, it was the first time on a plane or out of the country!"

Highlights of the European trips include moving a judge to tears with a performance of "Danny Boy" in Zwickau, Germany; in 2002 earning a special award for Artistic Interpretation, winning the Gospel and Spiritual category in Graz, Austria, in 2008; and being invited to perform at Carnegie Hall by one of the judges after the women's chorus won the 2011 competition in Wales.

The Mansfield students performed at Carnegie Hall as the chorus of nuns alongside professional vocalists during The Sound of Music concert performance in 2012. Afterwards, a representative of Rodgers & Hammerstein remarked that it was the best nuns' performance they've featured. Five years later, the choir was invited back to Carnegie Hall for a production of Candide that was reviewed as "superb" by the New York Times.

Over 35 years at Mansfield, Dettwiler roused audiences, guided students in following their passions, and put a spotlight on a small university in rural Pennsylvania that produced incredible music.

Before the farewell concert got underway, Dettwiler was surprised to learn that a scholarship in her honor had been established by Strunk and fellow alumni through the Mansfield University Mountaineer Foundation. In recognition of her many years of dedicated service and brilliant choral leadership at Mansfield, the music scholarship will be available to an outstanding member of the Mansfield Concert Choir. In a show of their continued commitment to music at Mansfield, Dettwiler and her husband Jurgen Thym, helped endow the scholarship with a significant donation of their own.

"I am very honored to help endow this scholarship, which was founded by MU alumni," said Dettwiler. "Having grown up on a farm in rural Illinois, I knew what it was like to find the funds to attend college."

Alumni from several eras, dating back to the 70s, traveled near and far to honor Dettwiler through music at her farewell event. The group moved through eight pieces before Dettwiller gave her closing remarks, sharing with the audience in Straughn that she was grateful for the past and excited for the future. The formal program closed with Ralph Vaughn Williams' "O How Amiable," which includes the line "O prosper thou our handiwork," a fitting notion given Dettwiler's handiwork in bringing so many together in celebration.

The choir concluded with a performance of "A Celtic Blessing" in which Dettwiler invited anyone who knew the song to join them on stage. Afterwards, choir and audience members alike waited to personally thank Dettwiler for the passion she instilled in each of them.

The music made in Straughn that day was beautiful and bittersweet; an emotional ode to someone who poured their heart and soul into a program and so many people. With tears in their eyes, the choir gave their conductor everything they could.

Farewell Concert Photo Album

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• Alumni
• Foundation - Mansfield
• Music

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