"Music can come from anyone, anywhere, you just have to be willing to give them a voice."
Those are words from music teacher Annie Ray, who will receive the 2024 Music Educator Award during the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards Ceremony Saturday as part of GRAMMY Week 2024.
Ray has a remarkable story - she is a passionate advocate for providing universal access to music education, and her work with children with disabilities has shown that it is indeed possible to create programs that reach students who have traditionally not been included.
A professional harpist who earned Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Harp Performance from the University of North Texas in 2017, Ray came from a musical family - her mother was a music teacher, her aunt an orchestra director and her uncle a band director.
As orchestra director and performing arts department chair at Annandale High School in Annandale, Va., Ray has created several innovative programs to expand participation in music education. Her innovative Crescendo Orchestra program, which she started in 2021, serves students with severe developmental or intellectual disabilities (those classified as "Category B" or "Cat-B"). This includes children with Down's Syndrome, severe autism - some who are almost completely non-verbal.
She began by teaching them with "music movement scarves" to learn to follow symbols on the board, then introduced egg shakers, to help learn to start and stop sound together. They moved on to cardboard instruments, to learn how to take care of an instrument. She even found a charity to provide real instruments for the students. The program was featured January 2022 in Washington Post article.
Additionally, Ray created an orchestra for parents, the Fairfax County Public Schools Parent Orchestra, which allows almost 200 caregivers annually to learn to play their child’s instrument.
Here is the Ted Talk that Ray gave in April 2022, called "The Sounds of Success":
As the recipient of the GRAMMYs Music Educator Award, Ray will receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for the school’s music program. She was one of 10 finalists; the other nine finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants for their schools. They are:
You might also like:
* * *
Enjoying Violinist.com? Click here to sign up for our free, bi-weekly email newsletter. And if you've already signed up, please invite your friends! Thank you.Tweet
Michael, I agree. I'm so glad that the GRAMMYs now recognizes music educators alongside the performing artists they honor every year!
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Violinist.com is made possible by...
Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases
Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
February 2, 2024 at 01:13 AM · Great to see this. All of these educators, and the hundreds throughout the country who are advocates for children of all abilities, deserve the support and encouragement of their communities.