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WINDORSKI, KATE GIBBONS (1937-2006)
Composer Kate (Kathleen) Gibbons Windorski (born March 5, 1937, Rutland, Illinois; died April 15, 2006, Grafton, Wisconsin) was part of a very musical Irish family which celebrates its heritage and fostered the talents of each of its members. It was at Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, Illinois, that Kate received her music education degree in 1959. Her first eleven years of teaching music took place in six elementary schools run by the Sinsinawa Dominicans stretching from Wisconsin to Illinois to Wyoming and South Carolina.
Her life as a music educator flowered during the next 23 years that she taught Wisconsin students in the Milwaukee Public Schools. As choral director at Riverside University High School, Kate Windorski received the Wisconsin Bell Ameritech Award for excellence in teaching in 1992 and the Milwaukee Civic Music Association Award for the outstanding high school choral teacher in 1993.
the Milwaukee Public Schools as an Educational Assistant in the School To Work Program and taught music in local retirement communities. She served as WMEA State Chair for Adult Music Education and wrote monthly articles for The Wisconsin School Musician magazine.
Kate was a musically creative person and had great piano skills as is evident in her two compositions which she wrote for her singers—"The Irish Blessing" and "Prayer for Peace"—in 2003 and 2005. They are now posthumously published by Alliance Publications, Inc.
Editorial additions include dynamics and articulations which were presumed by the composer in the score. These two works are available in Vocal Solo and in Choral Octavo editions depending upon the need. Singers will find them to be very beautiful and lyrically expressive enabling them to use their entire range of voice to express the sentiments of the texts which Kate wrote based upon the traditional "Irish Blessing Prayer" and the "St. Francis Prayer for Peace." They are a fitting tribute to her memory and commitment to music education in the schools and communities in which she served.