University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2017 Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse: The History And Organization Of The New England Youth Ensemble Valencia Collins Thevenin University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the Music Education Commons Recommended Citation Thevenin, Valencia Collins, "Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse: The History And Organization Of The New England Youth Ensemble" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 715. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/715 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. VIRGINIA-GENE RITTENHOUSE: THE HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW ENGLAND YOUTH ENSEMBLE A Dissertation Presented in partial fulfillment of requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Music The University of Mississippi by VALENCIA COLLINS THEVENIN May 2017 Copyright Valencia Collins Thevenin 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT This study focuses on Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse and the history and organization of the New England Youth Ensemble (NEYE). Born in Lacombe, Canada in 1922, Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse was a violinist, pianist, composer, and notable music educator in the Seventh-day Adventist Church who established the New England Youth Ensemble in 1969. The ensemble has toured internationally since the early 1970s and it is the resident orchestra at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland. The youth orchestra has played numerous times under the baton of John Rutter and has performed frequently in Carnegie Hall under the auspices of MidAmerica Productions.