October 4, 1989 -- To: University Faculty -- From: Ronald Ross, Director
Caryl Becker passed away on October 2, 1989, at Sartori Hospital in Cedar Falls after an extended illness. Becker joined the music faculty in 1969 as a member of the Voice Area. She was widely respected and admired as a teacher, attracting students to her studio from a broad segment of the country. Known also in the area as an active mezzo-soprano, she appeared frequently as a soloist with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Chorale and Orchestra. Becker received her bachelor of music education degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and her master of music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. She also completed training and coursework at Colorado State University in the area of music therapy, becoming certified as a registered music therapist in the process. Appointment to the Governor's Special Arts for the Handicapped Committee and a Certificate in Orff-Schulwerk were other noteworthy accomplishments during her career at UNI. A program with which she had been associated in recent years was the Women Composers Project. Begun in 1983 at her behest, this program had grown under her leadership to the point where the annual concerts were heard over a National Public Radio network estimated to reach between 500,000 and 1,000,000 listeners. A scholarship fund in her name is being established at the UNI Foundation, and the School of Music's Faure Evening Concert, October 25, 1989, at 8:00 p.m., will be dedicated to her memory. A memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., Friday, October 6, 1989, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cedar Falls.