Nineteen of the 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator Award™ Semifinalists Are NAfME Members

Announcing the 25 Selected Semifinalists

The Recording Academy™ and GRAMMY Museum® have announced the 25 semifinalists for the 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator Award™. More than 2,000 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states; semifinalists were selected from 25 cities across 17 states. NAfME is delighted to announce that 19* of the 25 GRAMMY semifinalists are active members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). NAfME congratulates each of these inspiring, dedicated, and noteworthy music educators.

The GRAMMY Music Educator Award was first introduced to highlight the meaningful work done daily by thousands of music educators across the United States, from kindergarten to college, from public to private schools. Teachers honored with this award have made clear contributions to music education, and have committed to the cause of preserving and maintaining music education in schools. The award is a partnership and joint presentation of The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum.

Here are this year’s semifinalists. NAfME members are highlighted in bold.

Tammy Yi	Chapman University	Orange	California
Amanda Hanzlik	E.O. Smith High School	Storrs	Connecticut
Ernesta Chicklowski	Roosevelt Elementary	Tampa	Florida
Ashleigh McDaniel Spatz	Rising Starr Middle School	Fayetteville	Georgia
Drew Cowell	Belleville East High School	Belleville	Illinois
Trevor Nicholas	Senn Arts at Nicholas Senn High School	Chicago	Illinois
Jeremy Bartunek	Greenbriar School	Northbrook	Illinois
Kevin Schoenbach	Oswego High School	Oswego	Illinois
Bethany Robinson	Noblesville High School	Noblesville	Indiana
Meg Byrne	Pleasant Valley High School	Bettendorf	Iowa
Danni Schmitt	Roland Park Elementary/Middle School	Baltimore	Maryland
Michael Coelho	Ipswich Middle and High School	Ipswich	Massachusetts
Michael Lapomardo	Shrewsbury High School	Shrewsbury	Massachusetts
Kevin McDonald	Wellesley High School	Wellesley	Massachusetts
Matthew Shephard	Meridian Early College High School	Sanford	Michigan
Marci DeAmbrose	Lincoln Southwest High School	Lincoln	Nebraska
Antoine Dolberry	P.S. 103x Hector Fontanez	Bronx	New York
Alice Tsui	New Bridges Elementary	Brooklyn	New York
Dawn Amthor	Wallkill Senior High School	Wallkill	New York
Coty Raven Morris	Portland State University	Portland	Oregon
William Bennett	Cane Bay High School	Summerville	South Carolina
J.D. Frizzell	Briarcrest Christian School	Eads	Tennessee
Jasmine Fripp	KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School	Nashville	Tennessee
Vicki Nichols	Grandview Elementary	Grandview	Texas
Annie Ray	Annandale High School	Annandale	Virginia

* This number reflects those whose memberships were current at the time of this announcement and is subject to change. Updated December 13, 2023.

The 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator, selected out of the ten finalists, will receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school’s music program, and be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024. The nine additional finalists will each receive a $1,000 honorarium with matching school grants. Fifteen semifinalists will also receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants. Read a list of the quarterfinalists featuring NAfME members.

The Music Educator Award program, including honorariums, is made possible by the generosity and support of the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. Outreach for this program has been assisted by the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association.

Eight of the previous ten GRAMMY Music Educator honorees, Kent Knappenberger, Jared Cassedy, Phillip Riggs, Keith Hancock, Melissa Salguero, Jeffery Redding, Mickey Smith Jr., and Director of Choral Music at DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas, Pamela Dawson—the 2023 GRAMMY Music Educator Award recipient—are NAfME members. The 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award recipient is Jeffrey Murdock, associate professor of music at the University of Arkansas, and the 2022 GRAMMY Music Educator Award recipient is Stephen Cox, band director at Eastland High School in Eastland, Texas.

More information about the GRAMMY Music Educator Award is available here. Nominations for the 2025 Music Educator Award are open for both teachers, students, and the public to nominate a music educator who inspires them. Nominations are due March 15, 2024, and applications are due March 31, 2024. Best wishes to the semifinalists for the 2024 award!