RELATIVES STILL SEEK ANSWERS ABOUT PHYLICIA THOMAS' WHEREABOUTS

Area Gun Thefts Draw Feds' Attention/ More Than 50 Handguns And Rifles Were
Taken In A Recent Break-in In Broadheadsville, Monroe County.

By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@leader.net
 Sunday, December 11, 2005 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





Stephanie Sunder became known as "the violin lady" back when she toted her
black instrument case through the halls of Hazleton Area High School as a
substitute teacher. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I went through the school administration, all the way up to the
superintendent, and got an all-around OK to bring my violin to classes,"
Sunder recalled during a phone interview from her office at the Las Colinas
Symphony Orchestra in Irving, Texas. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Once (students) were done with their work, we had a lot of fun." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The 25-year-old Freeland native has been director of Education/Community
Partnerships for the Las Colinas Symphony and the executive director of the
Lone Star Youth Orchestra since January. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sunder talked about her experience with Hazleton Area students. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As a substitute teacher in 2003-2004, she incorporated music instruction
into math, science, history and other core curriculum subjects after she
covered absent teachers' regular lesson plans. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If it was an English class where they were studying `Romeo and Juliet,' I
might have played Tchaikovsky's `Romeo and Juliet.' Or after a math or physics
lesson, the students could see and hear the wave lengths they were studying as
they observed Sunder's violin bow travel across the vibrating strings of her
instrument, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's weird how things work. All of that helped me a great deal with my
current position." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Opportunity for arts elsewhere &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Frustrated by a lack of professional artistic opportunity in the Hazleton
area, Sunder moved to Texas in August 2004 and took a job as orchestra
assistant to her brother, Gregory Sunder, who directs a middle-school
orchestra program in Arlington. The Las Colinas Symphony hired her four months
later. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As director of education, Sunder designed a curriculum that music teachers
in three school districts use for their music classes for several weeks before
their students attend youth concerts performed by Symphony Arlington and the
Las Colinas and Garland symphonies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She actually works for all three orchestras, which are owned by the same
company. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Each year, we meet with 50 to 60 music teachers ahead of time, share our
ideas and get feedback from them, what they would like to see. From that, I
create the curriculum," Sunder said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The program is designed to bring awareness to the arts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Music education is a big deal here because people want to support the arts
and get kids interested when they're young. The children are our future. It's
big in communities where arts are flourishing. We try to target third and
fourth grade to get them interested," Sunder said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "For many of the students, this is the only concert they may get to see in
their lifetime because of their socio-economic background." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The program is possible because of the grants Sunder secures through her
other position as director of community partnerships. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "A lot of companies won't support symphonies that don't have educational
programs in place. ... A lot of my time is spent going into the community and
meeting with executives of big companies like Verizon, Zales, airlines,
writing proposals, presenting information about the symphonies and soliciting
funding," Sunder said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As a former Hazleton Area student and teacher, Sunder said she would like
to see a similar program created here. She noted that the Northeastern
Pennsylvania Philharmonic offers a Young People's Concert program for grades
three through six, and she would like to see Hazleton Area students take
advantage of it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If local teachers took an interest and someone was willing to seek out
community partnerships with local businesses to support such a program, she
sees no reason it couldn't succeed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sunder didn't rule out the possibility of moving back to Pennsylvania if
the right career opportunity presented itself. But for now, she's content with
her busy life in Texas. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In June, she met with fellow orchestra administrators from around the world
at the American Symphony Orchestra League National Convention in Washington,
D.C., and she lobbied on Capitol Hill for continued arts funding. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She's also been working to build up the Lone Star Youth Orchestra, and she
and two orchestra members were interviewed for a television show scheduled to
air in her area today on the WB network. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In her spare time, Sunder enjoys decorating cakes and has created
music-themed cakes for the symphonies' receptions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Proud of her Slovak heritage, Sunder says she has many Russian, Slovak and
Polish friends from the symphony and has started a side business making and
selling traditional Eastern-European dishes such as halushki, pierogies and
halupki. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I want to expand it into a small catering company and, one day, open my
own restaurant where I can pursue my two passions in life - music and fine
cuisine," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To learn more about the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra's and the
Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic's education programs, visit
www.lascolinassymphony.org and www.nepaphil.org . &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

`violin Lady' Grew From Experiences