Personal Philosophy
"All musical styles are worth learning and knowing. There are numerous musical systems and ways of making music. Each one has meaning and value to an individual or group of individuals. As individuals living in a world community, there is no purpose in judging the quality, value and meaning of one style, cultural or ethnic way of making music over another. Our perceptions of music and musical preferences are the result of our formal and informal experiences in and with music. In short, our preferences for musical styles, the meaning of music to us, and our perceived value of various musical styles are formed, for the most part, from our life experience with music." Lois Veenhoven Guderian
"All human beings are born with creative and musical potential that is educable. The development of musical talent is based on a number of factors: innate potential at birth, home environment, educational opportunities, personal drive and perseverance." Lois Veenhoven Guderian
"Nurturing the musical and creative potential of my fellowhumankind continues to be the focus of my life work. I am thankful for a life so rich in human interaction under the framework of music education."
“Thanks be to God for my wonderful, God-fearing, musical parents and siblings who supported my childhood and life as a musician, the hard-working educators who helped me grow in knowledge and ability, and special thanks to Hope College, Western Michigan University and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for their financial gifts of support in the way of scholarships and fellowships. Heartfelt thanks to the employers, friends and colleagues who believed in me and the thousands of students for their trust, response, and participation in our teaching and learning experiences. I hope you enjoyed your time with me as much as I enjoyed my time with you! Most humble thanks to my dear husband, Don, and children Hans and Alexandra for their support, participation in and contributions of their musicianship to my endeavors. Through God’s love, grace and communion, I will continue to share life, through music, with my fellow humankind, until my earthly existence reaches its close.”