Cyndee Chaffee

Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 in the Sahuarita Sun newspaper

 

For singer and clarinetist Cyndee Chaffee of Rancho Sahuarita, life is all about music and bringing people together.

“Through music, we can reach out in the community,” says Chaffee, the minister of worship and music at Green Valley’s Desert Hills Lutheran Church.

Chaffee moved to Sahuarita from northwest Tucson in 2006 to become music director at Desert Hills and start a contemporary worship service.

The church has an active music program, and Chaffee oversees the entire program, directs a women’s choir and a mixed choir, leads the contemporary service, directs a new clarinet choir and is part of the Alpha Bible Study Program.

The new clarinet choir, which Chaffee started last June, has 11 adult members—some from Desert Hills, some not.

Some are senior citizens who haven’t played the clarinet since high school, but they’re regaining music in their lives and a sense of belonging, she points out.

“These people are having such a good time,” Chaffee says with a smile, adding that musicians of all ages gain a sense of purpose and increase their self-esteem.

Music, she finds, also has the power to heal and inspire.

“It makes a difference in people’s lives when you offer them a chance to make music,” she says.

Chaffee, 55, who grew up in Madison, Wis., comes from a family of musicians and has been involved in music making since age 2, she says.

She learned to play the clarinet and enjoyed singing in school and church choruses, going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in choral music education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s in clarinet from the University of Oklahoma.

Her musical talents brought her the opportunity to travel the world.

She performed in Japan in the 1980s as a member of the Los Angeles-based Roger Wagner Chorale, traveled all over Europe with the London-based Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chorus and sang with the London Symphony Chorus.

“It was a rich personal experience and allowed me to share joy with people,” says Chaffee, who considers herself a teacher at heart.

She moved to Arizona in 2002 from St. Paul. Minn., and is active in the Tucson Chamber Artists, Clarinet Ensemble of Greater Oro Valley and founded the Catalinas Community Chorus, of which she is artistic director.

Through the chorus, Chaffee works to reach out to young people, and her Desert Hills clarinet choir has entertained senior citizens at Casa de Esperanza in Green Valley.

In addition, Chaffee offers clarinet lessons from her home and will begin working with clarinetists at Sahuarita’s Anza Trail School in collaboration with the school’s band teacher, Lou Rodriguez.

“I am truly excited about helping to make a difference by helping young kids with their clarinet playing skills,” she says.

“It is so important for building self esteem, developing their musical gifts, and just because it is so much fun to play the clarinet!”