Nine of Ten GRAMMY Music Educator Finalists for 2027 Are NAfME Members 

Celebrating Outstanding Music Educators

The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum® announced ten finalists for the 2027 GRAMMY Music Educator Award™, and nine of the ten are members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)*. The finalists include 10 music teachers from 10 cities across seven states. In total, more than 2,000 initial nominations from 177 cities were submitted. NAfME joins in celebrating all of these inspiring, dedicated, and noteworthy music educators.

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

Here are this year’s finalists.

• Justin Antos†, Dwight D. Eisenhower High School, Blue Island, Illinois
• Ernesta Chicklowski†, Roosevelt Elementary School, Tampa, Florida
• Michael Coelho, Ipswich High School, Ipswich, Massachusetts
• Roland Hatcher†, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois
• Rachel Jayson†, Lexington High School, Lexington, Massachusetts
• Dominique Lane†, Crisp County High School, Cordele, Georgia
• Angela McKenna†, Classen School of Advanced Studies @ Northeast High School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Alberto Rodriguez†, Mount Vernon High School, Alexandria, Virginia
• Edgar Rubio†, Gulliver Prep School, Coral Gables, Florida
• Emily Saenz†, Benbrook Middle/High School, Fort Worth, Texas

† Denotes NAfME member

The winner will be announced during GRAMMY Week 2027.

The 2027 GRAMMY Music Educator Award honoree, 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 2027. 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. Here are the semifinalists with NAfME members noted.

The American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

Eleven of the previous thirteen GRAMMY Music Educator honorees, Kent Knappenberger, Jared Cassedy, Phillip Riggs, Keith Hancock, Melissa Salguero, Jeffery Redding, Mickey Smith Jr., Pamela Dawson, Annie Ray, Adrian Maclin, and Jennifer Jimenez—the 2026 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 2028 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, 2027, and applications are due March 31, 2027.

Congratulations and best wishes to the finalists!