Semifinalists Announced for First-Ever Music Educator Award

A total of 25 music teachers from 24 cities across 15 states have been announced as semifinalists for the Music Educator Award presented by The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation. In total, more than 30,000 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states. The 10 finalists will be announced in December.

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools.

First	Last	School	City	State
Michael	Allard	Harmony Magnet Academy	Porterville	CA
Gregory	Bennet	Middletown High School	Middletown	NY
Lisa	Bianconi	Kurn Hattin Homes for Children	Westminster	VT
Glen	Cain	Gold Trail School	Rescue	CA
Charles	Cushinery	Ed W. Clark High School	Las Vegas	NV
Amy	Darby	Phoenixville Area Middle School	Schwenksville	PA
Andrew	DeNicola	John P. Stevens High School	Metuchen	NJ
Leslie	Denning	South Miami Middle School	Miami Shores	FL
Mark	Duker	Neuqua Valley High School	Oswego	IL
Krista	Fanning	Caddo Middle Magnet	Shreveport	LA
Elaine	Gates	C.W. Post–Long Island Uni; NYU	Centerport	NY
Vivian	Gonzalez	South Miami K-8 Center	Miami	FL
Deanna	Joseph	Georgia State University	Tucker	GA
Kent	Knappenberger	Westfield Academy & Central School Westf	Westfield	NY
Kathrine	Kouns	Horizon High School	Carmel	IN
Anthony	Mazzocchi	Montclair State University	Maplewood	NJ
Glen	McCarthy	George Mason University	Centreville	VA
Dustin	Olsen	Hot Springs County High School	Thermopolis	WY
Sarah	Payne	Bryan Station Middle School	Lexington	KY
Kathy	Rohrs	Chaminade College Preparatory MS	West Hills	CA
Michael	Smith	Nyack High School	Spring Valley	NY
Kristina	Turpin	Pinecrest Schools	Simi Valley	CA
Steve	Vutsinas	Grassfield High School	Chesapeake	VA
Jo	Wallace-Abbie	Plano West Senior High School	Plano	TX
Mary Jo	West	George Mason High School	Centreville	VA