Dewitt Clinton Award
Liverpool Syracuse Lodge #501 presents the Dewitt Clinton award to Sky Harris of Liverpool NY Sunday Jan 24th. A surprise zoom visit by Robert Bowles (Worshipful Master) and other members of the lodge during her Harmonic Collective rehearsal meeting.
Using music and harmony as her vehicle for change, Sky Harris embodies service and commitment. With a heartfelt passion for enriching the lives of youth through singing, she has combined her professional role with her personal experiences to both create and expand the opportunities for young men and women to find a home to sing.
As a music educator, Sky has led many choral groups across the Liverpool Central School District including the high school chorus and chorale. Outside of school, she has taken her love of barbershop music introduced to her at a young age by her father and become an integral part of the Spirit of Syracuse women’s chorus as a performer, board member, and assistant director. Professional accolades include being awarded the 2015 Name/Sweet Adelines International music educator of the year award, but it is the leadership role she has taken on to try and connect her vocation to her passion that deserves at least equal attention and recognition.
Sky has found numerous ways to offer her love of barbershop music outside of school, with the students she mentors in school, through initiatives such as recruiting young women into SOS, co-founding a summer youth a cappella camp, and spearheading the chartering of a local men’s barbershop chapter which has competed and placed in the top 20 international choruses within three years.
Specifically, with Harmonic Collective, Sky had the vision to initiate the formation of a 20 member youth chorus which evolved into a chartered chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and has since grown to over 50 members ranging in age from 15 to over 80. While this chapter has won multiple district level competitions, reached new scoring heights within the district, and competed/performed multiple years in front of audiences greater than 5,000, she has never lost sight of the mission and vision of the chapter and her work.
Sky is a champion and advocate for servant leadership, aligning her personal beliefs with the chapters work to support and engage with the community such as our donations to Vera House, voluntary performances at nursing homes, and willingness to direct the chorus for three years on a volunteer basis. Her determination, resolve, and passion are relentless – in the name of serving others through music.
Dewitt Clinton (1769-1828) was a man who dedicated his life to service, both as a political leader in the early days of New York State, and in his tenure as Grand Master of Masons from 1806 – 1819. Clinton’s political service included the establishment of public education; the advocacy of the abolition of slavery; and support of programs that encouraged application of new technologies, notably stream navigation and the creation of the Erie Canal System. The Dewitt Clinton award is presented to people outside the Masonic world whose activities in community service demonstrate principles and practices held in high esteem by Freemasons, as embodied by the example set by our Brother, Dewitt Clinton. There will be a public dinner event in Sky’s honor when the COVID-19 restrictions end.
As a music educator, Sky has led many choral groups across the Liverpool Central School District including the high school chorus and chorale. Outside of school, she has taken her love of barbershop music introduced to her at a young age by her father and become an integral part of the Spirit of Syracuse women’s chorus as a performer, board member, and assistant director. Professional accolades include being awarded the 2015 Name/Sweet Adelines International music educator of the year award, but it is the leadership role she has taken on to try and connect her vocation to her passion that deserves at least equal attention and recognition.
Sky has found numerous ways to offer her love of barbershop music outside of school, with the students she mentors in school, through initiatives such as recruiting young women into SOS, co-founding a summer youth a cappella camp, and spearheading the chartering of a local men’s barbershop chapter which has competed and placed in the top 20 international choruses within three years.
Specifically, with Harmonic Collective, Sky had the vision to initiate the formation of a 20 member youth chorus which evolved into a chartered chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and has since grown to over 50 members ranging in age from 15 to over 80. While this chapter has won multiple district level competitions, reached new scoring heights within the district, and competed/performed multiple years in front of audiences greater than 5,000, she has never lost sight of the mission and vision of the chapter and her work.
Sky is a champion and advocate for servant leadership, aligning her personal beliefs with the chapters work to support and engage with the community such as our donations to Vera House, voluntary performances at nursing homes, and willingness to direct the chorus for three years on a volunteer basis. Her determination, resolve, and passion are relentless – in the name of serving others through music.
Dewitt Clinton (1769-1828) was a man who dedicated his life to service, both as a political leader in the early days of New York State, and in his tenure as Grand Master of Masons from 1806 – 1819. Clinton’s political service included the establishment of public education; the advocacy of the abolition of slavery; and support of programs that encouraged application of new technologies, notably stream navigation and the creation of the Erie Canal System. The Dewitt Clinton award is presented to people outside the Masonic world whose activities in community service demonstrate principles and practices held in high esteem by Freemasons, as embodied by the example set by our Brother, Dewitt Clinton. There will be a public dinner event in Sky’s honor when the COVID-19 restrictions end.
