Spring 2009 - Incarnate Word Academy

One Alumna’s Legacy of Music
When Betty Ann Martin Kowis ‘53 looks back at her time
as a student at the Academy, she remembers performing
Ernesto Lecuona’s “Malaguena” and George Gershwin’s
“Rhapsody in Blue.” After donating an $18,000 baby
grand piano to the Academy, she hopes that those songs,
and others, will continue to be played by IWA students for
years to come.
“I wanted to do this while I was living,” said Kowis about
the donation. She chose to donate a piano, in particular,
to the Academy, she said, because it was the instrument
that allowed her and a fellow student, Annette Shields, to
bring recognition to the school in the early 1950’s.
The piano duet performed concerts at the Rice Hotel
on the local radio station, KTRH, as part of a high school
competition, as well as at various events around the city.
They ultimately won the grand prize of $100 for the “Talent
Spotlight,” a KTRH radio competition between area
local schools, on March 5, 1952. During Kowis’ senior year,
the pair represented the Academy at several competitions
and shows.
Though Kowis had given up piano playing to raise a family,
she said that now “this may inspire her to go back.”
Annette Shields, left, and Betty Ann Martin
Kowis, right, of the class of 1953.
Betty Ann Martin Kowis ‘53,
then, right, and now, above.
Joe Alston of Station KTRH congratulates
Annette Shields, left, and Betty Ann Martin
Kowis, right, on March 5, 1952 after the duet
won the grand prize at an audience-chosen
radio contest.
The Word 14
Spring 2009