Egan '49 received her Wall Award to help orchestrate a series of three concerts featuring multi-ethnic music from the period of Spanish conquest and early European settlement of the Southwest. Both religious and secular music was presented from the Native American, Hispanic, and European traditions, including folk songs, villancicos, court music, and Sephardic song with percussion.

Egan told Grinnell Magazine, "the concerts will demonstrate that music is a part of daily life, not merely an esoteric activity of a handful of concert goers. Music is found at the heart of worship, love and mating rituals, the quest for spiritual wholeness, the acceptance of loss, the celebration of joy, and the reverence of nature. While the uses of music are not identical in all cultures, they frequently overlap in ways which, when we are made aware of them, increase our understanding of our common ties."

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