R. Wayne Walters Receives Our A Life in the Arts Award

Perhaps the most joyous part of our May 17th event, which was sponsored in part by PSEG, was the opportunity to recognize someone who's had an immeasurable impact on the arts over the course of a long and varied career. R. Wayne Walters has alternated across a number of roles from soloist to educator to conductor to composer to name just a few.  He is also a former Board member of The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation and a great friend to many. All of this made Wayne the inspiration for our first  A Life in the Arts Award. 

In the image featured here Joseph White (Board Treasurer and host of our YouTube A Life in the Arts series), presents Wayne with a commemorative plaque. 

For his part, Wayne treated us to a premier performance of his latest work, Ode to the Sea, performed by The Morris Choral Society -- a group Wayne also founded. This work was inspired by a letter from a friend, Father Kenneth Lasch, who was also in attendance.  To see the complete roster of performances, view the event Program Guide. 

Pictured here is Wayne with Morris Choral Society singers. 

This is a group shot of the Masterwork Arts Board with Wayne. Pictured from left: Joseph White (Board Treasurer), R. Wayne Walters, Tony Javed (Board President), Eric Hafen, Joen Ferrari, John Thomas, Alice Glock (Masterwork Arts Administrator), Carol May and Todd Whitley (Masterwork Arts Executive Director). Mathews Philips (Board Vice President) was unable to attend the event.

Press Recognizing Wayne

The 65th Celebration generating some nice press on Wayne, including the following: 

WhoFish - Local Events, Businesses and Coupons - Editor's Choice Events for New Jersey

Masterwork Music and Art Foundation to Honor Wayne Walters' 65th Birthday Celebration on May 17

Masterwork Music and Art Foundation - Explore New Jersey

Masterwork Music and Art Foundation to Honor Wayne Walters At 65th Birthday Celebration on May 17th

Thanks to Don Jay Smith of LKS Associates for his work securing these placements. 

About Our Honoree - R. Wayne Walters' Bio

Educator - Conductor - Soloist - Composer 

R. Wayne Walters is a well-known New Jersey musician who sings, composes, and conducts in the Morris area and beyond. After graduation from Wilkes University with a B S. Degree in Music Education, Mr. Walters was granted a graduate voice scholarship by the Julliard School of Music where he was a student of the renowned coach and music editor, Sergius Karen. He later earned an M.A. degree in voice and conducting at the College of New Jersey.

Mr. Walters was the founder and current Conductor Emeritus of the Morris Choral Society, now in its 52nd season. The award-winning community chorus toured England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany and Poland under his direction. As a bass-baritone soloist he performed in concerts, recitals, operas, oratorios and Musical Theater throughout the eastern United States. He appears with the New Philharmonic Orchestra, the Summit Symphony, the Montclair Civic Chorus and Orchestra, the Princeton Opera Theater, the Sussex Lyric Opera, the College of New Jersey Opera Workshop, and the St. Cecilia Chorus. He performed with the Masterwork Chorus under David Randolph, making his Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center debuts in Handel’s “Messiah.” He later returned t Carnegie Hall as a repeat conductor at the annual “Messiah Sing.”

 

Mr. Walters was a music educator in the New Jersey Public Schools for thirty-six years , a music teacher and director of choruses at Morristown High School, and guest conductor for the New Jersey School of Music Association. He was honored as Master Choral Music Teacher by the NJ Music Educators and received The Governor’s Award for excellence in the New Jersey “Arts in Education” program. Walters received national recognition as one of eight educators in the country selected to participate in the filming of :Craft and Joy in Teaching,: a video for teacher training in American Colleges and universities. He is a past member of the music an education faculties of Fairleigh Dickenson University and served many rears as adjutant professor of music and instruct of voice at the College of St. Elizabeth. Presently, Walters serves as an area adjudicator for the National Society of Arts an dLetters.

 

As a composer of choral and instrumental music, Walters was granted a fellowship by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Masterwork Music and Art foundation. Among his compositions are choral motets, choral art songs, two suites for symphonic winds, “Nocturn for Cello and Piano”, a Scherzo for Euphonium, four choral works on the poetry of Myra Brooks Welsh, a “Dedication mass”, and a setting of the Friday evening Reformed Jewish Liturgy. His “Requiem Mass in D Minor” was dedicated to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and premiered in 2007. His most ambitious compositions include “Six Anthems for the Season of Christmas” for chorus, flute, oboe and bells, and “Ode to the Sea” for chorus and piano based on the poetic writing os Father Kenneth Lasch.

 

Mr. Walters resides in Morris Plains, NJ with his wife Ann where he continues to compose, conduct and sing with the choir at St Marry’s Benedictine Abbey in Morristown.

About The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation

The Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation has been supporting excellence in the arts for over 60 years. One hundred percent of your donation funds art and artists through community grants, an emerging artist award, and a premier award for a new work. Find out more at www.masterworkarts.org.