Eight of Ten GRAMMY Music Educator Finalists for 2021 Are NAfME Members

Jeffrey Murdock was named the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award honoree.

The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum® announced ten finalists for the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award™, and eight of the ten are members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)*. More than 1,989 initial nominations were submitted from across the country—from public to private school educators, from general music teachers to band directors, choral conductors, string teachers, and college professors. NAfME congratulates each and every one of these talented, dedicated music educators.

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

Justin	Antos	Dwight D. Eisenhower High School	Frankfort	IL
Stephen	Cox	Eastland High School	Eastland	TX
Pamela	Dawson	DeSoto High School	DeSoto	TX
Michelle	Folta	Columbus State University	Columbus	GA
Elizabeth	Hering	Churchill High School	Livonia	MI
Chris	Maunu	Arvada West High School	Arvada	CO
Brian	McMath	Northwest Guilford High School	Greensboro	NC
Jeffrey	Murdock	The University of Arkansas	Fayetteville	AR
Lynne	Ruda	Lancaster High School	Lancaster	NY
Donald	Walter	Northwest Guilford Middle and High Schools	Oak Ridge	NC

The 2021 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 2021. 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 honorariums and grants provided to the finalists and schools are made possible through the support of the GRAMMY Museum’s Education Champion Ford Motor Company Fund. Outreach for this program has been assisted by the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association.

All seven of the previous GRAMMY Music Educator honorees—Kent Knappenberger, Jared Cassedy, Phillip Riggs, Keith Hancock, Melissa Salguero, Jeffery Redding, and Mickey Smith Jr.—are NAfME members. Learn more about the Music Educator Award^TM process.

Best wishes to all the finalists!

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