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Tag: Neodesha

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Ray Essington, Music Teacher

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Is there an electronic piano keyboard gathering dust at your house? I‘m afraid there is at mine. We don’t seem to find much time to use it. Today, we’ll learn about a high school music teacher who is helping students with their keyboard skills. In doing so, he’s building on the tradition of one of the world’s most famous musical instructors. She came from this very same hometown.

Ray Essington

Last week we learned about Dorothy DeLay, one of the world’s most famous violin teachers. Miss DeLay graduated from Neodesha High School in 1933.

Ray Essington is the music teacher at Neodesha today. He grew up at Council Grove.  Ray got a bachelor’s degree in music at KU, taught in Arkansas and then earned his master’s in music education at Kansas State.

Ray’s first Kansas school music teaching job was at Thayer, a rural community of 497 people. Now, that’s rural.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dorothy DeLay, historic violin instructor

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

She taught the masters. She became one of the most famous, sought-after teachers of professional violinists in the world. Her name was Dorothy DeLay, and she came from rural Kansas. Thanks to K-State violin professor Cora Cooper for her help with this article.

Dorothy DeLay

Dorothy DeLay was born in 1917 in Medicine Lodge. Her parents were musicians and educators. She later described her upbringing as strict and religious. The family moved to Neodesha where her father became school superintendent, and Miss DeLay grew up there.

Her musical talents surfaced early. She began studying the violin at age 4 and did a recital at her church at age 5. She was so advanced that she graduated from Neodesha High School at age 16 and enrolled at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Miss DeLay later transferred to Michigan State.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dorothy DeLay, historic violin instructor” →