VOORHEESVILLE — Lydia Tobler, who did much to shape the music department in her 35 years of teaching in the district, will be honored when the high school’s performing arts center is officially dedicated to her on March 10.  She died last April at the age of 60.

The high school band’s spring concert will celebrate the memory of her this year, said department chairman Chris Jantson this week.  In June, the school board accepted the request from the Friends of Music, former students, and community members to name the performing arts center for Tobler; it was built as part of the school’s renovation and expansion in 2003.

Beyond engraining the humanities in the school, said former music teacher Michael Tebbano last April, Tobler also brought a global perspective to the music department by teaching the songs of distant cultures.  Tobler helped her students break down the barriers that separate people, he said, and “music was her medium to do that.”

“She demanded a lot from her students, but the students knew she cared,” said Jantson.  For the dedication, he said, “I was inspired to do something a little different — I wrote an original fanfare.”  It will be performed by faculty and students on March 10.

Tobler wrote music from the time she was a teenager until her death. Her music was “creatively simple and emotionally inspiring,” Tebbano said last year.

Jantson’s fanfare is upbeat and bold, he said, “that’s kind of the emotion I was looking to evoke.  It seemed appropriate — we’re celebrating her contributions to music education at Voorheesville and arts education at Voorheesville.”

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.  Refreshments, sponsored by the Friends of Music, will follow.