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Sister Mary Anne Nelson, CSJ, knows what she likes in her wardrobe. Some days, it's a suit with heels; others, it's black jeans with a turtleneck sweater and leather boots.

When she hangs out at Albany clubs like Bogies, Valentines and Pauly's watching her students perform, it's blue jeans, black Skechers sneakers and a hoodie. She tops off most outfits with Shure SM58 microphone earrings.

It's her way of switching roles - from professor to cake designer to gardener - without actually changing hats.

When he met Sister Mary Anne, "I couldn't believe she was a nun," said Paul Evoskevich, music department chair at The College of Saint Rose in Albany.

He called Sister Mary Anne, CSR's music industry program director, "one of the hippest people I ever met" and the main reason he accepted a job offer there.

Pioneering work
She spearheaded the music industry major in 1981 after years of meeting with groups nationwide. The music industry only emerged in the 1970s, she explained, and there were no programs devoted to teaching people how to manage artists, produce albums or record and polish music.

A quarter of a century later, Sister Mary Anne is still in touch with pop culture and contemporary music. She reads Billboard magazine regularly and listens to the Dave Matthews Band, Phish and heavy metal groups on her iPod Touch.

Ditching her original plan of becoming a doctor, Sister Mary Anne studied music at CSR and then earned her master's degree there in abstract art. Sometime during her adolescence, she said, music became important to her.

"It was like a magical experience," she said.

She always took music and piano lessons and listened to classical composers like Brahms in her youth. The Beatles sparked her interest in modern music.

As a Saint Rose student, she was introduced to electronic music and built a synthesizer from scratch with her brother. She has composed and recorded many electronic pieces over the years.

Sister Mary Anne also felt called to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet at the age of 18 after attending Catholic high school and growing close to the congregation to which her aunts belonged.

The sisters take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Her full salary goes to her order, which gives her an allowance every month.

Her students describe Sister Mary Anne as a hardworking, reserved but relaxed, tough-love kind of professor. Alumni of her program go on to manage recording companies throughout the country, work in public relations doing events promotion, specialize in licensing and royalties or become professional musicians who know what to expect from their sound engineers.

"She's one of the most incredible women I've ever met," said Madalyn Parnas, an 18-year-old professional, classical violinist who went through three years of the music industry program. "I really feel like I can go to her with questions and advice."

Madalyn's professor often tells her not to limit herself and to understand the business so she and her cello-playing sister don't get swindled.

Aaron Scher, an engineer at Cotton Hill Studios in Albany and a 2001 CSR alum, appreciated the structure to Sister Mary Anne's teaching style.

Multitrack recording is rarely used anymore, he noted, but she teaches it. This is not an antiquated view, Mr. Scher said: It forces students to get a solid foundation.

Shane Morris, a current junior, said the professor is understanding when problems arise. When the band he was promoting dissolved, Sister Mary Anne told him to do what he could to prove his work in her artist management course.

"She'll take what you give and she's okay with that," said Mr. Morris, who has taken six classes with her. "It's really what you put into it."

Days and nights
She also throws herself into her work. There were no computer specialists to help Sister Mary Anne when they added computers to the program in the 1980s, so she taught herself how to use and teach sequencing and notation programs, as well as Web design programs and the essential Pro Tools software.

Whether it's taking the students to Europe annually, or trusting them to stay in the studios late into the night - even staying there with them herself until 11 p.m. - it's no secret that Sister Mary Anne is still passionate about the program, which recently added a $6.4 million building with cutting-edge studios and computer labs.

On a typical day, Sister Mary Anne's gray and white cats, Greeley and Mitten, wake her so she can be in class by 8 a.m. Toward the end of a semester, she's out several nights a week until midnight seeing her students perform, though students say she avoids the rap shows.

She often pulls the hood of her sweatshirt over her head at the nightclubs.

"You don't want a 60-plus woman hanging out at a youthful event," Sister Mary Anne explained, adding that she's grateful there's no smoking in these bars anymore.

Sister Mary Anne also loves the outdoors, antiquing and cooking. For the past 15 or 20 years, summers have been spent - with her cats in tow - tilling the vegetable garden at Pyramid Life Center in Paradox, a spot for nature-centered retreats.

Once, when the maintenance crew dug up her garden because of a burst pipe, she patiently planted all over again, said Sister Monica Murphy, CSJ, director of the retreat center.

Backstage
"I don't think it's important for her to be out in the limelight," Sister Monica said. "She has all these talents, but I don't think people know about it."

One is cake design. Her friends' favorites have included a hat made of red roses, cats prancing on a deck, a replica of the Titanic and a tea party scene. Her family operated a catering and baking business; Sister Mary Anne now creates cakes for weddings, anniversaries, retirement parties and birthdays.

Mary Murphy Wong, a professional storyteller in the Albany area, has fond memories of these cakes, which Sister Mary Anne bakes for Ms. Wong's daughter's birthday. Ms. Wong studied theater at CSR when Sister Mary Anne was working on her master's degree.

Sister Mary Anne helped Ms. Wong's family get through the death of her aunt, Sister Dorothy Flood, CSJ, with whom Sister Mary Anne shared an apartment for years. During the late sister's last illness, she sat by her bedside through the night.

Sister Monica said that such gestures show how Sister Mary Anne witnesses the message of the Gospel to others.

While Sister Mary Anne says her job is not to minister to Saint Rose students, her work is spirit-filled, and students notice.

"Our call is to bring the message of Jesus to those that we work with," Sister Monica noted. "She is always affirming these students, and I think they can see this goodness."

(02/18/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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