Doree Jarboe ’62 & Timothy Ryan ’85 & ’89 Selected for Distinguished Alumni Awards
The University of Oregon School of Music and Dance have announced their annual selections for Distinguished Alumni. This year’s honorees are Doree Jarboe (B.Mus.Ed 1962) and Timothy Ryan (B.S. Dance 1985, M.S. Dance, 1989).
Doree Jarboe taught music for 46 years at all vocal music levels, including elementary, middle school, junior high, high school, and students with developmental disabilities. She has held vocal music positions in Washington, Ohio, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York, and West Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts from West Virginia University. She was the director of choral activities at Grant High School in Portland for 21 years; her a cappella choir participated in the OSAA State Choir Championships for 19 of the 21 years she was at Grant.
The best known of her choirs was the chamber ensemble, Royal Blues. Under her direction, they represented Oregon in the 50-year D-Day Celebrations in Normandy, France. Thereafter they went on singing tours in England, Wales, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, and later toured Canada and the Washington, D.C., area. The Royal Blues performed with the Oregon Symphony with Ken Kesey and Mason Williams as well as with Doc Severinsen, Pink Martini, Tom Grant, and Josh Groban, among others. They performed at conventions of the Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) and Northwest American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) as well as the National ACDA convention in Los Angeles.
Jarboe was organizing chairperson for the OMEA 1994 Oregon All-State Choir held in Eugene. She is past president of the Oregon American Choral Directors Association.
In 1997 she was nominated as a “Community Treasure” by Portland General Electric in their annual awards, and she received a nomination in 1998 and 2001 for Excellence in Teaching by the Portland Public Schools. In 2000, she was designated Radio K103 Teacher of the Week and was featured in two articles in The Oregonian. Jarboe was presented the Pride of Portland Award by the Lions organization in 2002. In 2003, she was one of five recipients of the Oregon Symphony’s Excellence in Education Award. In 2005 she was knighted by the Portland Royal Rosarians for her work in music education, and in 2006 was presented the Excellence in Teaching award by the University of Oregon School of Educaton. In 2008 the Oregon Symphony presented her with the Patty Vemer Lifetime Achievement in Music Education as the Music Educator of the Year.
Timothy Ryan is director and co-founder of Center for Movement Arts in Portland, Oregon. Since 1997, the Center for Movement Arts has been dedicated to bringing excellence in dance education to children and adults in a positive nurturing atmosphere. With a growing student body of more than 400 students, the Center for Movement Arts strives to develop technically and artistically strong dancers, intelligent dance audiences, and enthusiastic dance supporters.
Ryan has taught dance since 1977 in public and private schools in both Portland and Eugene. He received a graduate teaching fellowship and earned his M.S. and B.S. in Dance, emphasizing pedagogy, from the University of Oregon. He completed his post-graduate study, as one of five students accepted from a pool of 5,000 applicants, at the Royal Academy of Dance Teachers College in London.
Ryan began studying ballet in 1974 and is conversant in English, Vagonova, and Bournonville styles. Ryan has studied ballet under noted teachers and artists, including John O’Brian (RAD), Susan Zadoff (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo), Oleg Briansky (Bolshoi Ballet), Melissa Hayden (Royal Ballet), Robert Irwin (American Ballet Theater), Toni Pimble (RAD/Artistic Director of Eugene Ballet), Pamela Hayes (RAD/Sacramento Ballet), and Edna Odum (North Carolina School for the Arts).
Ryan has danced with the Eugene Ballet, Ballet Oregon, Oregon Ballet Theater, and St. Clair and Co. Dance. He has appeared in featured soloist roles in The Nutcracker, Bolero, Pulcinella, Cinderella, Coppelia, and Seven Deadly Sins. In Portland, he has twice served as a grant review panelist for the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
Ryan’s students have been accepted at many prestigious schools, including Houston Ballet, San Francisco School of Ballet, Juilliard, Boston Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, The Harrid Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Lines Ballet, Chicago Ballet, University of Utah, Goucher College, Belhaven College, the University of Oregon, Interlochen Arts Academy, and The Joffrey Ballet.