Dr. Cynthia Clawson Courtney fondly remembers walking onto the Howard Payne University campus during her senior year of high school and asking for an audition. After singing for several professors, she was offered a scholarship on the spot and “they welcomed me with open arms,” she said.
“There was so much warmth for me at Howard Payne. I received so many opportunities that prepared me for my future career.”
Now, more than forty years later, Cynthia will take the stage during the dedication of Howard Payne University’s newly renovated Mims Auditorium on April 15. The award-winning artist started her vocal performance career in the late 1960s performing on the Mims stage as a Howard Payne student with the newly established Heritage Singers.
During the dedication ceremony, beginning at 10:30 a.m., she will perform special music, accompanied by her sister Patti Clawson Berry, who was also a Heritage Singer. Later in the ceremony, they will also be joined by several other Heritage Singers from the 1970s, under the direction of their professor Mrs. Sara Baker.
“Mims was our ‘home base’,” she recalled. “It was where we held all of our rehearsals and spent hours of practice time.”
While at HPU, Cynthia was a founding member of the service organization Delta Chi Rho and was very active in the music department. She found many opportunities to perform through school musicals, performance choirs and even a musical variety show written specifically for her during her senior year.
Following graduation from HPU in 1970, Cynthia moved to Dallas and got a job as a jingle singer for radio and television. That next spring, she auditioned for a musical variety show for CBS as the summer replacement for Carol Burnett, her longtime hero. This began a whirlwind of activity that has included guest performances with Bill and Gloria Gaither’s “Homecoming” series and Dr. Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power.” She has 22 recordings to her credit, including her latest “Always,” released in 2009. Additionally, Cynthia has received a GRAMMY and five Dove Awards for her work as a songwriter, artist and musician. She also holds the distinction of being inducted into the Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
In her lifetime, Cynthia has touched millions of people through her music, having performed across the continental United States, India, New Zealand, Holland, Vietnam and many other places.
For the past 11 years, she and her husband Ragan have been co-pastors of The Sanctuary in Austin.
Their children, Will and Lily, have followed in Cynthia’s musical footsteps, as performers as well as working with the family’s record label, The Calla Lilly Company. Will has also produced Cynthia’s last two albums.
In recognition of her outstanding accomplishments, Howard Payne presented Cynthia with the Honorary Doctor of Humanities in 2007. An honorary doctorate is the highest honor the university can bestow.
Like many alumni and friends of the university, Cynthia is looking forward to the upcoming unveiling of the newly renovated Mims auditorium.
“I’m honored to be a part of this historic day,” she said. “My heart is warmed by the efforts to save this important piece of HPU’s heritage.”
