The music of esteemed Salem alumna, Salem Professor Emerita of Music and internationally recognized composer Margaret Vardell Sandresky A’38 C’42, including a newly-commissioned piece, will be performed in two major upcoming events.

"Variations on an Original Theme," a piece commissioned by Carson Cooman, composer-in-residence at Harvard Memorial Church at Harvard University, will make its debut with a performance by Cooman at the new Fisk organ in the church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on September 4.

Sandresky’s organ concerto, "Dialogues for Organ and Strings," will be played September 9 at 7 p.m. in Charlotte at St. Peter's Episcopal Church by Aaron Goen and members of the Charlotte Symphony conducted by Dr William Osborne. The piece was commissioned by Salem Professor Emeritus Dr. John S. Mueller in 2002 and premiered by him at Salem College on the Flentrop organ in Shirley Hall Recital Hall in Elberson Fine Arts Center. It has since been played in Arizona and in San Francisco. 

Sandresky, who celebrated her 91st birthday earlier this year, has received numerous honors for her work, including The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which she received in 2011. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the highest honor the governor of North Carolina can bestow upon one of the state's citizens.