Veronica Allen, Eddie Adams, and Timothy Price are the 2018 winners of the North Carolina Symphony’s prestigious Music Educator Awards.
Three music teachers, from three different North Carolina counties, have been named the North Carolina Symphony’s 2018 Music Educator Award winners. These annual awards recognize outstanding teachers who make a lasting difference in the lives of students of all abilities and backgrounds; serve the community in an exemplary manner as a role model in music education; inspire students to reach high musical standards; and instill a love for music in children.
This year’s presentation will take place onstage at the Symphony’s November 30 concert, featuring the Mozart Mass, at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh. Honorees receive monetary prizes that are generously supported through an anonymous annual gift.
Veronica Allen of Alamance County is the 2018 winner of the Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator. This award is named for Maxine Swalin who—together with her husband Dr. Benjamin Swalin, NCS music director from 1939-1972—raised funds to establish the Symphony’s children’s concert division in 1945. Ms. Allen is the orchestra director at Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington, a position she has held since graduating from college in 2011. Under Ms. Allen’s direction, the Williams High School Orchestra has become a visible part of the Burlington community, and in 2015, she formed the Williams High School Chamber Orchestra, an advanced, auditioned ensemble. In addition, she currently serves as Western Region Auditions Chair and Western Region Orchestra Event Co-Chair for the Orchestra Section of the North Carolina Music Educators Association, and is a member of the National Association for Music Education and the North Carolina Music Educators Association. Outside of school, Ms. Allen plays violin in the Elon University Orchestra and the Chapel Hill Philharmonia, and co-chairs the Chapel Hill Philharmonia’s annual Young Artist Concerto Competition.
Eddie Adams of Wake County is the 2018 winner of the Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement, named for the Symphony’s former director of education. Mr. Adams is currently in his 10th year of teaching chorus at Millbrook High School in Raleigh, where he was selected as Millbrook’s Teacher of the Year in 2012. In addition to working at Millbrook, Mr. Adams is the director of music at St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Raleigh. He currently serves as Chair of the High School Choral Section of the North Carolina Music Educators Association, is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, and during his summers, serves as the high school facilitator for the North Carolina Summer Institute for the Choral Arts (NCSICA) in Asheville.
Timothy Price of Carteret County is the winner of the 2018 North Carolina Symphony Musicians Award, which honors emerging music educators with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience. In 2016, Timothy Price joined the faculty at Newport Elementary School, where he has introduced instrumental recorder instruction for all third-grade students and reintroduced drama productions. He produces grade-level instrumental, vocal, and theatrical concerts for each grade, and leads the school’s advanced choir for performances within the larger community. In addition, Mr. Price has assisted with Carteret County’s Elementary All-Chorus. As a performer, he is active with the Carteret Community Theatre and the New Bern Civic Theatre, and is often called on as a vocal soloist in Carteret County.
“Excellent North Carolina music educators play a vital role in making it possible for us to carry out our music education mission,” says Sarah Baron, NCS Director of Education. “We are proud to recognize Veronica, Eddie, and Timothy, for their commitment to enhancing their students’ lives through the arts.”
NCS’s extensive music education program serves nearly 70,000 students of all ages across the entire state of North Carolina annually. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony presents full-orchestra Education Concerts for 4th and 5th graders and sends small ensembles into classrooms. Music Discoveryfor preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences through programs such as the Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition, Ovations pre-concert performances, and master classes with NCS musicians and guest artists.
In addition to the Music Educator Awards, NCS invests in North Carolina music teachers by providing in-classroom resources such as lesson plan guides that prepare students for the Education Concert, aligning with the statewide curriculum. Each August, the Symphony holds a professional development teacher workshop that counts toward teachers’ Continuing Education Unit credit requirement. The 2018 workshop will be held on August 14 at Fletcher Opera Theatre in Raleigh.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is a vital and honored component of North Carolina's cultural life. Its 180+ concerts and 120+ community engagement and small-ensemble education events annually are greeted with enthusiasm by adults and schoolchildren in more than 90 North Carolina counties—in communities large and small, and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. The Symphony’s full-time professional musicians perform under the artistic leadership of Music Director Grant Llewellyn.
NCS’s state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The Symphony’s service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines, and Wilmington, as well as the Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world’s greatest talents to North Carolina and embraces home-state artists from classical musicians to bluegrass bands, creating live music experiences distinctive to North Carolina. Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads the most extensive education program of any symphony orchestra—serving nearly 70,000 students each year. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life. Music Discoveryfor preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences.
NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art, and has presented 48 U.S. or world premieres in its history. In 2017, NCS appeared at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as one of four orchestras chosen for the inaugural year ofSHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras—an honor that recognized the Symphony’s creative programming and innovative community partnerships.
The first state-supported symphony in the country, NCS performs under the auspices of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. To learn more, visit ncsymphony.org.
