Three sisters united by a love of music
Barbara Bennett (BMUS ’74, MFA ’76), Sally Bennett Fillebrown (BM ’71, DMA ’89) and Susan Bennett Gallimore (BMUS ’83, MM ’85) may live across the country, but their mutual love of music keeps the three sisters in perfect harmony.
Barbara, Sally, Susan, and their late sister Carolyn (BMUS ’79) all graduated from the University of Georgia with degrees in music performance, just a few years apart. Together, the Bennett women have earned eight total music degrees from UGA.
When they were searching for colleges, the sisters hoped to stay in their home state of Georgia to pursue a music education. The Hugh Hodgson School of Music, then just a single department, was considered the best college music program in the state. Sally, the eldest, was the first of the sisters to attend UGA. The rest soon followed suit.
Their mother, Betty Bennett (MFA ’74), encouraged them to attend UGA because she studied music there as well. She was a part-time flute teacher for the department and impressed upon her daughters an appreciation for UGA and music performance.
Sally said that one of the faculty members, Professor Egbert Ennulat, jokingly called the Bennett women “the dynasty” because for 20 consecutive years, at least one Bennett woman was involved in the Hodgson School as either a teacher or student.
(From left) Carolyn, Barbara, Sally, Betty and Susan pose after performing at a concert at the University of California, Riverside in 1998. (Photo: Steve Walag)
Because they all majored in music performance, the sisters had the unique opportunity of navigating their time at UGA as a family. During the times that more than one of the sisters was at UGA, they would be roommates. Barbara said that living together during college helped bring them closer together.
“When we got to Georgia, we became best friends,” Barbara said.
The Bennett sisters’ long history with the Hugh Hodgson School of Music means that they’ve watched it grow from a fledgling program to its own school, rich with opportunities for students and faculty.
“We contributed at least to the beginnings of that,” Sally said of the school’s growth. “It’s an honor to say I was there.”
Barbara said that the music program’s small community felt like a second family. Because it didn’t have a dedicated building yet, music students would gather in buildings across campus to practice and perform.
Sally said that performing in ensembles with other music students helped contribute to the school’s supportive, tight-knit environment.
“It’s kind of the nature of musicians to build a family,” she said, remembering her close friendships with fellow music students.
Inspired by their family’s connections to the Hodgson School, the sisters donated to establish a merit-based scholarship called the Bennett Family Scholarship for Orchestral Performance.
Barbara led the sisters’ efforts to create the scholarship. She said that although their father wasn’t a professional musician like their mother, he was extremely supportive of the sisters’ music education and was at every one of their concerts he could manage to attend. Barbara chose to name the scholarship after the whole family rather than just the Bennett women so that he would also be recognized in their gift.
They had the opportunity to meet one of their scholarship recipients on a video call and were delighted to see that their gift had made an impact on a student.
“I’m proud to have Georgia in my background,” Barbara said. “I’m glad to be able to give back to the university.”
