Dr. Margarita Leonor Dietel Merriman earned the distinguished title of professor emeritus at Atlantic Union College in 1990.
LANCASTER, MA, January 22, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Margarita Leonor Dietel Merriman with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Merriman celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
A celebrated music educator and composer for more than 40 years, Dr. Merriman earned the distinguished title of professor emeritus at Atlantic Union College in 1990. Joining the college in 1959 she taught music theory, composition and other classes in music and the humanities, chaired the music department from 1979 until 1985 and later served as the Honors Core Program coordinator between 1987 and 1993. She continues to assist the Thayer Performing Arts Center in retirement. Previous teaching appointments were at Southern Adventist College, Andrews University and Shenandoah Valley Academy. Additionally, she has been organist and choir director at several area churches, as cellist was a founding member of the Thayer Symphony Orchestra, and served on the Lancaster Arts Council.
Among her many compositions Dr. Merriman is most proud of her oratorio, "The Millennium," which received several performances,and her two symphonies, and a piano concerto. In 1982 she authored "A New Look at 16th Century Counterpoint," a text book based on the styles of Palestrina and other giants of the Renaissance golden age of choral music, published by the University Press of America. She also authored a novel entitled "Unleashed" published in 1979 under the pen name Leon Orr by the Southern Publishing Association, as well as several articles for Adventist magazines.
In her community, Dr. Merriman stays active in various capacities at the Seventh-day Adventist College Church. She also assisted her husband as the co-owner of Atlantic Funding, brokering commercial loans. She has been showcased in several editions of Who's Who in Entertainment and Who's Who in the East.
Born on November 29, 1927 in Barcelona, Spain, to American parents, Dr. Merriman later studied at the University of Tennessee where she received a Bachelor of Music in piano performance in 1948. She subsequently attained both a Master of Music in 1953 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1960 at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. For her doctoral dissertation Dr. Merriman composed a symphony that was read under the baton of Howard Hanson and later performed by the Thayer Symphony Orchestra and the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, both directed by Dr. Jon Robertson.
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