This year has been exciting for Lois Ferrari. She recently optioned her romantic comedy screenplay, "On the Fence," to an independent production company. She won several awards at the Moondance International Film Festival for several of her written works. Also, her screenplay rated in the top 10% at the 2001 Austin Film Festival.

You may expect that Southwestern is very proud of the faculty member who is collecting so much experience in film and stage to pass on to her film students. But, in fact, Lois Ferrari does not teach film, nor does she teach theater. Lois Ferrari is a top-notch music professor.

Ferrari's achievements are certainly not limited to her talent in writing. She was recently appointed music director of the Austin Civic Orchestra. She has received recognition for her conducting abilities in the form of scholarships, fellowships and awards. Ferrari will also fill in as Chair of the music department this spring, while the current Chair is on sabbatical. She is currently the conductor of the SU Wind Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra and musical theatre Pit Orchestra.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Ferrari had a wide variety of interests as a child. She enjoyed science, sports, and music mostly. Music has always been a part of Ferrari's life. She does stress, though, that she was no child prodigy and for most of her adolescence and young life, music was not the focus of her educational goals. When she first left for SUNY Albany, Ferrari was majoring in biology and chemistry, with the intention of going pre-med. Soon, though, she found herself neglecting her academic classes in favor of practicing her flute and hanging out with the artists on campus. Finally, she decided that music was her life's calling. She switched her major to music education and performance and moved on to Ithaca College. Ferrari loves music so much because she sees it as "a synthesis of art and science."

Ferrari graduated with her BM from the Ithaca College School of Music. From there, she went on to teach middle school on Long Island (where she grew up). She quickly decided she was not patient enough for that atmosphere and went back to Ithaca College to earn her MM in conducting. She then taught high school in upstate New York and studied hard for two years just to earn an audition for the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. The hard work certainly paid off when she received a full doctoral fellowship to the School.

Ferrari takes the 'we' approach into her teaching, stating that it's about "us communicating what the composer intended. I am just the conduit through which the composer speaks." Ferrari also teaches private flute lessons and conducting courses for both major and non-major students. She really wants her students to understand that music is "an important way to express emotion and intellect together because it involves using and training both halves of the brain."

Ferrari loves teaching because she gets to do what she enjoys all day. "Most people have to save the stuff they like for the weekend," she says. "I save the stuff I don't like for the weekend." One of Ferrari's best rewards is that she is able to interact with good, generous people all day long. She looks forward to her position as temporary chair of the music department this spring, stating that her job will be "to keep the car on the road. Dr. Sheppard does an excellent job."

Ferrari began screenwriting six years ago as an alternative to the music which kept her busy all day long. She took an introductory class at UT-Austin and then started writing as a hobby. She says "I never was a good composer using musical language, so I felt I should try creating something with the English language." She is very excited by the recent success of her romantic comedy, "On the Fence," and has high hopes for its production in the future. She does stress that success did not come overnight, though. Ferrari has been working strenuously for six years to get recognition for her work. She notes that "ironically, when I eased up on wanting it to happen," it finally started going somewhere. Ferrari says that it takes a lot of patience, humility and work to succeed at screenwriting. "You must be willing to accept criticism and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite," she says. All the patience certainly paid off!

Ferrari lives in Austin with her two cats, Buddha and Gandhi. She notes that, after being raised just outside New York City, she is more comfortable with hustle and bustle than with peace and quiet.