The Longwood music department has quite a diverse set of classes for anyone to take including piano, chorus, guitar, wind percussion and so much more! Now they have welcomed yet another section to their group: a strings program with the new official teacher, Dr. Lauretta Werner.
Before she came to Longwood, Dr. Lauretta Werner had built up an impressive background in the music performing arts and the educational works. She has three degrees including a Bachelor's in violin performance, a master's degree of musical arts in Suzuki violin pedagogy and a Doctorate’s degree in violin performance. Last year, Dr. Werner was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania teaching adjunct at West Virginia University. She was teaching violin lessons there and to children at after school programs in the area. She also played plenty of gigs at this time because she was a musician. Dr. Werner has built up an astounding resume before coming to Longwood University and as one can imagine, she has her priorities set to get the strings program at its best.
During an interview with Dr. Werner, she was asked what her goals were while she was here at Longwood. She emphasizes in this interview how important it is to expand the strings program. "Develop and grow the string area at LU, develop the string ensemble into a large ensemble and hopefully an orchestra where you have strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion," said Dr. Werner. She has laid out a clear path of her goals and what she wants to get out of this program. She does make it clear that she has a deep passion for this program and will do what it takes to see it grow.
The strings program has taken off since the arrival of Dr. Werner and it has been thrilling. Dr. Werner describes the Longwood strings program through her eyes. "The string ensemble has been so much fun. A very positive environment in which there is a lot of support for all of the string students from me and encouragement and it’s also very structured so all of our rehearsals have a structure and a theme and even though I have people of all different backgrounds and abilities, I still expect their best," said Dr. Werner. She has described how many kinds of people participate in the program coming from different backgrounds in music and how it is exciting to work with such talented people.
The strings program has finally been given a teacher it deserves, and it has been placed in good hands. With a proper teacher, the program is sure to grow into what it wishes to be. Every program at Longwood deserves a little love and the same goes for the strings program. As Lancers, let us support one of the newest programs on campus in any way we can. Let’s welcome the strings program to the Lancer family.
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