NOTES
“Life is a pure flame,
and we live by an invisible sun
within us”
Nancy Ditmer, professor emerita of music at The College of Wooster, passed away on May 1, 2024, in Wooster, Ohio, at the age of 74. She served on the faculty from 1984 to 2019, directing the Scot Marching and Symphonic Bands and Jazz Ensemble, teaching music education and conducting, and founding the Wooster Music Camp. Under her leadership, the Scot Marching Band grew from 80 to nearly 200 members, touring nationally with more than 200 performances.
A devoted mentor and advocate, Ditmer inspired over 200 students to pursue careers in music education. She also served as president of both the Ohio Music Education Association and the National Association for Music Education, receiving numerous honors for her leadership and service. Her legacy lives on through the generations of musicians and educators she guided.
When asked to write a piece about celebrating a person’s life, it can be daunting. How do you honor someone who isn’t here and how do you honor the ones who were impacted by them? I began to think about Nancy Ditmer, and I also began to think about the impact an educator can have—and what impact each of us can have on someone else. There’s a belief that life is an eternal flame, a cycle of eternal light. For some, it takes others to kindle that light, and thus the cycle continues.
Sol Intus (the sun within) is a symbolic celebration of the light that others give to us and in return the light we give to others. Embracing textures of warmth and dazzling embers, I wanted to honor those we’ve lost but haven’t forgotten for their ember lives on within us and it is our duty to pass their knowledge, to give others their wisdom to live by the invisible sun and to give others their light.
This is Sol Intus