Dwight E Dyer

                 Dwight Dyer, of Glen Head, NY, died on Sunday, December 18, 2022 at the age of 93. As a teacher and violinist he was prominent in the music and education fields of Long Island from 1960 until recent years.

         Dwight was director of the string music program at North Shore Schools from 1960 until his retirement in 1992, and with the collaboration of his colleagues Marilyn Smith and Doris Rothenberg, North Shore became one of the most admired public school orchestral programs in NY state. In 1975 the North Shore High School orchestra was chosen to play a work of William Schuman when that composer and educator was honored by the New York State Board of Regents in Albany.

         As a violinist, Dwight played for many years in the Huntington Symphony/Long Island Symphony under conductor Seymour Lipkin, with the Nassau Symphony under Andrew Schenck, as concertmaster of the Island Chamber Symphony, and for many years as concertmaster of the North Shore Symphony Orchestra under Charles Gouse, Peter Aaronson and Susan Deaver.

         Always willing to step forward when leadership was needed, he played many prominent roles in local music organizations, most notably with the Long Island String Festival, as president and organizer, conductor and coach, and even designer of its logo.

         Dwight was born in 1929 in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and raised in Oklahoma City. He studied music and education at the University of Oklahoma and earned two masters degrees at the University of Illinois. He taught band for a short time in a middle school in Amarillo, Texas, and later became a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma, teaching at its Laboratory School. On the recommendation of famed pedagogue Paul Rolland, North Shore Schools reached out to him, and he moved his young family to Long Island, where he resided the rest of his life.

         Quite handy, Dwight learned to repair violins and bows for his schools and students, and that eventually became a small business. He also had an aptitude with a pencil, able to make drawings of proper hand positions for his students' reference.

         He was skilled on many instruments, played in the marching band in college, and continued to perform on brass instruments nonprofessionally for many years afterword. He also played recorder, and was a member of the Long Island Baroque Ensemble in its early years.

         Dwight is survived by his wife of 66 years, Emily Karns Dyer, also a violinist and violin teacher, by children David Dyer and Diana Dyer Anderson, both violinists with the Toledo Symphony, and Dale Dyer, illustrator and cellist. There are four beloved grandchildren.

         While a number of his students went on to professional careers as string players, many many more remember the experience of playing Mozart and Beethoven symphonies, in their original form, as a highlight of their high school years.

         Donations in his memory can be given to North Shore Symphony Orchestra: http://www.northshoresymphonyorch.org