Maestros of Ministry: Their Legacy in the Department of Music and Worship

34  |  MAESTROS of MINI STRY BACKGROUND After having been an adjunct at Cedarville for many years and a composer-in-residence from 1979 to 1989, Steve Winteregg joined the Cedarville University Department of Music officially as Chair in 2004. At the time, he had been considering a Chair position at Wittenberg Univer- sity, was heavily involved in composing new music, and held a full time seat with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. His education background boasted degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati (B.M. 1974), Wright State University (M.M. 1979), and The Ohio State University (D.M.A. 1987). He followed his wife Candy’s suggestion to consider Cedarville more seriously. She indicated that it just might be the Lord’s leading. After his interview with faculty and administra- tion, he had the assurance that God was leading him to Cedarville. He had to give up his position with the Dayton Philharmonic, which was hard for Director Neal Gittleman to understand, but Winteregg was clear and resolute regarding God’s calling. MINISTRY Dr. Winteregg’s service to Cedarville University was crit- ical as he brought a number of vital administrative skills to the Department. He had previously been a Chair of a committee in the Dayton Philharmonic organization and led the group through a number of negotiations, including some involving legal contracts. At Wittenberg he served on the enrollment management team. Some of his first duties as Chair at Cedarville were to over- see the budget and increase student numbers through aggressive recruiting. In spite of the urgent need for recruitment, Winteregg was delighted to find a vibrant student body with challenging ensembles, learning from faculty who were experts in their areas. One area of Department culture that Winteregg worked to improve was team work. Although DiCuirci had laid good ground work in this area in previous decades, Winteregg still noticed a lack of coordination and care among the different faculty members, especially related to scheduling events. Winteregg’s administrative abilities and passion for a cohesive collaboration of colleagues became a mission for him during his time as Chair. He began by sharing the truth in scripture passages revealing that the Body of Christ has many members that function together. So should we be in the Department, he thought. Additionally, Winteregg initiated hymn-singing in Department meetings, hoping to build a Christ-identified Winteregg’s administrative abilities and passion for a cohesive collabora- tion of colleagues became a mission for him during his time as Chair.