Nearly All of the 2020 GRAMMY Music Educator Award^TM Semifinalists Are NAfME Members

Announcing the 25 Selected Semifinalists

Recently, the GRAMMY Museum® announced its 25 semifinalists for the 2020 GRAMMY Music Educator Award™. More than 3,300 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states; semifinalists were selected from 25 cities across 18 states. NAfME is delighted to announce that 21* of the 25 GRAMMY semifinalists are active members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). From band and orchestra directors to choral conductors and elementary school general music teachers, NAfME congratulates each of these inspiring, dedicated, and driven 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^TM and the GRAMMY Museum.

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

The ten finalists will be announced in December. 

The 2020 GRAMMY Music Educator, selected out of the ten finalists, will be flown out to Los Angeles to attend the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards on January 26, 2020, and attend various GRAMMY week events. The nine additional finalists will each receive a $1,000 honorarium; the schools of all ten finalists will receive matching 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 six of the previous GRAMMY Music Educator honorees—Kent Knappenberger, Jared Cassedy, Phillip Riggs, Keith Hancock, Melissa Salguero, and Jeffery Redding (who is delivering a keynote address at the 2019 NAfME National Conference)—are NAfME members.

More information about the GRAMMY Educator Award is available here. Nominations for the 2021 Music Educator Award are open for both teachers, students, and the public to nominate a music educator that inspires them today. Best wishes to the semifinalists! 

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