Shelly Schaeufele selected as Luther College Weston Noble Award recipient

Luther College alumna Shelly Schaeufele of Waukee, Iowa, is the recipient of the 2017 Weston Noble Award.

Schaeufele was presented with the award at the Homecoming concert, Sunday, Oct. 8. The Noble Award was one of four awards announced during the concert.

Weston Noble was a member of the Luther music faculty and was known world-wide as the conductor of the Luther College Nordic Choir from 1948-2005 and the Luther College Concert Band from 1948-73. He also was a guest conductor for more than 900 all-state bands, orchestras, choirs and festivals. Prior to his death in 2016, Noble was the Johnson Professor Emeritus of Music at Luther.

Established in 2004, the Noble Award recognizes music educators who honor and continue Weston Noble’s legacy.

The first recipient since Noble’s death, Schaeufele is a 1992 graduate of Luther, earning her bachelor’s degree in music. She also holds a master’s degree in education from Viterbo University.

While a student at Luther, Schaeufele was a soloist in the college’s annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah. The mezzo-soprano also was a member of the Nordic Choir.

Following graduation, Schaeufele taught pre-kindergarten through fifth grade general music and third through fifth grade chorus in the Parkersburg, Iowa, Community School District. She also oversaw the second through fifth grade gifted and talented program. When the Parkersburg district consolidated with Aplington at the start of the 1996-97 school year, Schaeufele moved to teaching at the high school level. She taught ninth through 12th grade chorus, directed show choir and gave voice lessons. She also was the musical director and speech coach for Aplington-Parkersburg High School.

In 2001, Schaeufele took over fifth through eighth grade chorus in the Waukee, Iowa, Community School District. She also taught jazz choir, show choir, directed the musical, worked with students on honor choir pieces and taught private lessons. Currently, she focuses on sixth grade musical students. During her career, more than 200 of her students have been selected for the Iowa Opus Honor Choir.

Among her many accomplishments, Schaeufele was chosen by the Iowa Choral Directors Association to conduct several of their district honor choir events. In addition, she was named one of the conductors of the Iowa Opus Honor Choir Festival in 2016.

For 28 years, Schaeufele has been involved in the Luther College Dorian Summer Music Camps. She first served as a counselor before being promoted to head female counselor and currently serves as the dean of students. She has pushed for a strong social media presence for Dorian, helping to contribute to the skyrocketing attendance of more than 700 campers for the 2017 session.

Schaeufele serves as the choral director for Lutheran Church of Hope Waukee, where she created a new music program for adults to worship through song.

Luther is home to one of the largest collegiate music programs in the nation, with six choirs, three orchestras, three bands, two jazz bands and more than 800 student musicians. Luther students participate in large ensembles, faculty-coached chamber groups, private lessons and master classes. Nearly 275 music majors study music theory, ear training, history, education, composition, jazz, church music and performance.