NAfME BLOG
Six of Ten GRAMMY Music Educator Finalists for 2024 Are NAfME Members
Six of Ten GRAMMY Music Educator Finalists for 2024 Are NAfME Members
The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum® announced ten finalists for the 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator Award™, and six of the ten are members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)*. More than 2,000 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states; semifinalists were selected from 25 cities across 17 states. NAfME congratulates each and every one of these inspiring, dedicated, and noteworthy music educators.
Here are this year’s finalists. NAfME members are highlighted in bold.*
| Ernesta Chicklowski | Roosevelt Elementary | Tampa | Florida |
| Kevin Schoenbach | Oswego High School | Oswego | Illinois |
| Meg Byrne | Pleasant Valley High School | Bettendorf | Iowa |
| Michael Coelho | Ipswich Middle and High School | Ipswich | Massachusetts |
| Matthew Shephard | Meridian Early College High School | Sanford | Michigan |
| Antoine Dolberry | P.S. 103x Hector Fontanez | Bronx | New York |
| Coty Raven Morris | Portland State University | Portland | Oregon |
| J.D. Frizzell | Briarcrest Christian School | Eads | Tennessee |
| Jasmine Fripp | KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School | Nashville | Tennessee |
| Annie Ray | Annandale High School | Annandale | Virginia |
The 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator, selected out of the ten, 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. Here are the semifinalists with NAfME members noted.
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 that inspires them today.
The deadline to nominate is March 15.
The application deadline is March 31, 2024.
Congratulations and best wishes to the finalists!
* This number reflects those whose memberships were current at the time of this announcement and is subject to change.
