Why I Give – Professor Dennis Jewett

“As the faculty trustee, I attended finance committee meetings and observed the dedicated work of our trustees to support and ensure the College’s financial viability with generosity and commitment. I decided to have an amount deducted from my paycheck each month to support the ongoing work of KWC. That way I could do a small part to support the College and not feel a reduction in my budget. This is a convenient and meaningful way to support the institution in which I believe.”

                       – Dennis Jewett

Why did you join the faculty at KWC?
“When Dr. Craig Turner came to KWC as president in 2011, he was confronted with the College’s decision to close the Music Department and recommended that Paul Oakley and I join KWC to rejuvenate it. After we moved to Wesleyan, a total of 26 students from our college in North Carolina transferred here with us. While Covid years have been challenging, we are seeing a surge again in numbers of students in instrumental studies as well as in voice.”

Tell us about the choir’s upcoming European tour.
“The Wesleyan Singers have been invited to give a shared concert with the University of St. Andrews Choir in St. Andrews, Scotland, in May. Our choir will also sing concerts in St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. We have also been invited to sing in the cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland, for their Saturday evening mass.

“Many of our students cannot afford a trip of this magnitude. We are continuing to receive donations to the tour scholarship fund to ensure that all of our students can experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

You can make a gift to the Kentucky Wesleyan Singers Choir Tour here or by sending a check to KWC Advancement, 3000 Frederica St., Owensboro KY  42301.  Please indicate that your gift is for this purpose.

Why do you teach?
“I have had several different career positions, but I keep coming back to teaching. The connection to students at this point in their maturation process is often very important to them and deeply gratifying to me.  Making music together requires immediate connection and interdependence that bonds students to each other and to their director. 

“The building of an ensemble is very much like building an athletic team; the results can be so much more than the sum of the parts. Directing the Kentucky Wesleyan Singers also allows me to be involved in their lives and educations often over all four years that they are students. Our experiences together in the annual Festive of Lessons and Carols, concerts and tours are life benchmarks.”

More about Professor Jewett

Professor Jewett has taught in public school music and has taught extensively in the area of the boy’s changing voice. As a church musician, he has served as minister of music in churches in several states and denominations.

He was the Kentucky Music Educators Association District 2 College Teacher of the Year in 2015, and he serves as a board member with Back Alley Musicals and is the director of music at First Presbyterian Church in Owensboro.

Professor Jewett has two sons, Wade and Mason, who live in Texas.

You can learn more about Professor Jewett and the outstanding KWC Music Program here.