Sarah Waters
Dr. Sarah Smith Waters is a Professor of Music at Ohio Northern University, performs with the Lima Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Blue, and is the Director of the ONU Annual Summer Music Camp. She has traveled to perform and study music cultures in Ghana, China, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Eastern and Western Europe, and Guyana. From these experiences, she has written several articles. Waters has published her research in Percussive Notes, Triad, and Music Educators Journal. She has performed with “birdsong” steel band at Panorama in Trinidad and Tobago, and has presented research on calypso songs in Havana, Cuba. Waters’ percussion duo, Duoma, has been invited performers at several conferences. This contemporary duo is dedicated to performing original new music, especially that of women composers. Her own compositions: Piece for Ghana, Ghana Grooves, and Ioinised are available from Per-Mus Publications and Steve Weiss Music; Shh is available from C. Alan Publications.
About Me
Sarah (b. 1965) is proud to be from Lima, Ohio, having attended Lima Central Catholic High School. After graduation from Ohio Northern University, Sarah became the band director at Clyde Junior High School (1987-1989). She then attended Western Michigan University (1989-1991), obtaining a Master of Music degree in both Percussion Performance and Wind Conducting. Taking a position at Muskingum College as the percussion instructor enabled her to attend The Ohio State University for her DMA in Percussion Performance (1992-1995).
Her first full-time college position was at Mississippi Valley State University (1995-1997), an HBCU in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Here she developed an interest in steel band music, American music, the blues, jazz, and a love for the South. She met her husband Robert A. Waters at MVSU and several life-long friends. Sarah later took a position at The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota (1997 - 2003). She was the Principal Timpanist of the South Dakota Symphony, and the Principal Percussionist and Timpanist with the Sioux City Symphony (1997-2003).
She received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Botswana, Africa for 1999-2000, the start of her research into the music of Africa. Her son Donald was born in November 2002 in Sioux Falls, and Sarah soon decided to become a full-time mom. The family moved to Lynd, Minnesota where Rob took a position at Southwest Minnesota State University. After experiencing four blizzards in two months, the family jumped at the chance to move to New Orleans in December for Rob's new teaching position at Southern University at New Orleans.
Sarah took a job at Holy Cross School for Boys, joined the New Orleans Civic Orchestra and Concert Band, and won a position with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Their second son, Robby, was born in New Orleans in September, 2004, and life was good and on track! However, Hurricane Katrina would make landfall in August of 2005, and soon after the levees would fail.
The family escaped to Jackson, Mississippi to wait out the storm with friends. Jackson would lose power and people were trapped by trees in the streets. Soon they had to make the decision to go north, not knowing to where. At some point near Bucksnort, Tennessee, Donald had a severe asthma attack and the decision to go to Lima was made.
Days after their arrival in Lima, their schools called to say that the buildings were destroyed and their jobs were on hold. The family went to Ohio Northern University to see if there was some part-time work to be had, and that afternoon, left with adjunct positions.
Forever grateful to the Polar Bear family, both Waters are tenured professors and looking forward to the next chapter in life following their boys' film careers.