ACDA Southwestern Region President-elect Jeffrey A. Murdock has just been named GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year.
“I am humbled beyond words to have been selected as the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year,” responded Murdock. “It is especially an honor, as I realize that each and every one of my music education colleagues are working each day in the trenches, doing this same work.”
He said, “Today, I am especially thankful for those music educators like Felicia Cooper and Bill Crowell, Rachel Earnest and Kevin Meador, Kimberley Davis, Gregory Fuller, Leo Davis, and Ryan Fisher who saw in me what I often couldn’t see in myself, and who pushed me to become the best musician and educator that I could be. I am thankful for my first students in Memphis, Tennessee, who showed an unmatched grit and determination to beat the odds stacked against them to be their best musical selves, and who stirred within me the passion for equity in music education, and my desire to level the field in music education such that every learner – no matter where they are from, no matter their socioeconomic status, no matter their age or ability, no matter who they are or who they love – has access to high quality music education each and every day.”
“I am thankful for my current students at the University of Arkansas, who have bought in to my radical positions related to justice and equality and who are committed to engage learners with a praxis that is both culturally responsive and paradigm shifting,” he continued. “I am thankful for the American Choral Directors Association, who continues to move in tangible ways toward the inclusion of ALL in our noble art. Thank you all for your support, and I look forward to continuing this great work alongside each of you, my dear friends and colleagues.”
Hilary Apfelstadt, interim executive director of ACDA, responded, “What a tribute to Jeffrey Murdock’s gifts as a musician, teacher, and advocate for music education and social justice! ACDA is thrilled for Jeffrey and proud of this stellar accomplishment. As a role model for prospective choral music educators and conductors, Jeffrey is outstanding, and we are honored to have him among our members. In a year of so many challenges for teachers, it is especially important to highlight this award, Jeffrey’s selection, and all of the deserving semi-finalists and nominees. Teachers are heroes in this pandemic. Thank you, Jeffrey, for being such an inspiration.”
Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock is Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arkansas and has held leadership at both the state and region levels in American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), as well as serving as president of Arkansas ACDA. Murdock is internationally known as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. He conducts the Inspirational Chorale, the Razorback’s Chorus, and teaches courses within the choral music education curriculum. He is a 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, a 2018 Golden Tusk Awardee, and the 2019 Faculty Member of the year for the University of Arkansas. While he is an accomplished classical musician, he is also a skilled Gospel musician. He currently serves on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, Inc., and has collaborated with Gospel recording artists, including Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Mary Mary, Marvin Winans, Marvin Sapp, Lisa Knowles, and Kathy Taylor.
Presented by the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools.
Previous ACDA member recipients of the GRAMMY Music Educator Award include Jeffrey Redding (2019), Keith Hancock (2017), and Kent Knappenberger (2014). In addition to Murdock, eight other ACDA members reached semifinalist stage: Amanda Hanzlik, Blake Richter, Brad Drinkwater, Chris Maunu, Kimberly Barclay Ritzer, Michelle Folta, Pamela Dawson, and Tracy Williamson. Dawson, Folta, and Maunu were finalists.
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