NAfME Member Spotlight

The University of Michigan School of Music’s Hall of Fame Award was established to recognize and honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to society, their profession, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, one of its departments or programs, or to the School of Music,Theater & Dance Alumni Society. Presented annually since 1977, this year’s recipient is Marvelene Moore.

Marvelene Moorr speaks during a ceremony recognizing her Hall of Fame distinction. — Marvelene Moore speaks during a ceremony recognizing her Hall of Fame distinction. (Photo by Peter Smith, Peter Smith Photography)

Moore, Professor Emerita of the School of Music at the University of Tennessee, and James A. Cox Endowed Chair there, is a prolific writer, and her work has helped to define the field of general music education. She has presented at National Association for Music Education Association (NAfME) and other music education conferences worldwide.

Brenda Kee, who introduced Moore said, “I was a doctoral student in piano when Marvelene Moore arrived to pursue her doctorate in Music Education. We both graduated in 1977, and it has been an inspiration to follow her career.”

Moore taught at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for 35 years. She is a leader in the area of multicultural music and has specialized in the techniques of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Orff Schulwerk, and Kodaly. She has co-authored many of the music textbooks that are used in elementary classrooms throughout the United States.

At the Hall of Fame ceremony, Phyllis Kaplan remarked: “In the music education world, Marvelene Moore is a superstar!” Kaplan is past president of the Maryland Music Educators Association and of NAfME’s Eastern Division, and retired as coordinator of general and choral music for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools,

She added: “Marvelene’s influence on music education here and around the world is nothing short of phenomenal. It includes service to her profession, her university, her professional organizations, and to the thousands of her students who have gone on to teach hundreds of thousands of their students. On the music education family tree, she is the grandmother of an entire generation of students!”

“I am privileged to know Marvelene as a professional colleague and as a friend. We completed our doctorates here at Michigan and graduated together in 1977,” Kaplan said.

“Marvelene’s specialty is the field of general music, the foundation on which school choral and instrumental music programs are built. The breadth of her expertise is unparalleled,” she added.

From left to right) Aaron Dworkin, Dean of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance; Brenda Kee, a University of Michigan graduate who introduced Moore and is a member of the Alumni Society Board of Governors; Marvelene; Phyllis Kaplan, a member of the Alumni Society Board of Governors, who also spoke about Moore, and Peter Witte chair of the Alumni Society Board of Governors. — (From left to right) Aaron Dworkin, Dean of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance; Brenda Kee, a member of the Alumni Society Board of Governors; Marvelene Moore; Phyllis Kaplan, a member of the Board of Governors, , and Peter Witte, chair of the Board of Governors. (Photo by Peter Smith, Peter Smith Photography)

“It is so gratifying and affirming to receive such a prestigious award from my alma mater,” Moore said. “Never in my wildest imagination, as a doctoral student, could I have envisioned returning to the University of Michigan School of Music (Theatre and Dance) to receive the distinguished Hall of Fame Award. I am truly proud to be a University of Michigan graduate. Go Blue!”

Moore’s leadership and service to NAfME began when she was the president of her MENC (as NAfME was then known) Collegiate chapter. Throughout her career, she has never turned down an invitation to serve or lead in the field of music education.

Over the years, Moore has held numerous leadership positions:

Executive Board Member of the International Society for Music Education (ISME)
Chair of the ISME Commission on Music in Schools and Teacher Education
Founder and chair of the biennial National Symposium on Multicultural Music at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville
President of the Tennessee Alliance for Arts Education
Committee on Jazz Education in the Middle School, Smithsonian Institution
Advisory Council of Kindermusik International
State Chair of the Tennessee Music Education Association (TMEA) Society of General Music
First chairperson of the NAfME Council for IN-ovations.

Moore’s publications include the book Critical Essays in Music Education, contributions to several textbook series (Making Music K–8, The Music Connection, Making Music with Movement and Dance), and chapters in many books (The Musical Cultures of Children, Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, and Musical Experiences in Our Lives).

Moore presented at every NAfME national conference from 1984 to 2008. She offered sessions on topics ranging from Orff to African-American music to the National Music Standards for 44 different state Music Education Associations. Internationally, she has presented at the World Congresses of ISME in the Canary Islands, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, and Sweden.

She graduated from Vanderbilt University and has received numerous awards, including the Martin Luther King Achievement Award. She has been inducted into the Tennessee Music Educators Association Hall of Fame.

Moore was named a Lowell Mason Fellow in 2013. NAfME’s Lowell Mason Fellows are recognized for their contributions to the field of music education. This distinction is considered to be an important honor for music educators, music education advocates, and others. The award is named for Lowell Mason, who championed the inclusion of music as part of the regular curriculum of the Boston Public Schools in 1838, the first school system in the United States to do so.

Roz Fehr, NAfME Communications Content Developer, December 10, 2015. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org).