James Feiszli, Director of Music at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, has been named 2013 U.S. Professor of the Year for the state of South Dakota by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
For those of you who don't know Jim, he and a few others brainstormed this "ChoralNet" idea out of something called "ChoraList."
Jim has always been an innovator, and I'm very pleased that his university supports him in putting his name forward for this prestigious award. I was honored to write something on his behalf and this is what I said:
In 1993, Jim fused his love for choral music with his passion for technology and created ‘ChoraList,’ an email distribution list for choral music that united choral directors around the globe. This innovation was not unlike other developments in technology in the early days of the Internet, but his continued development resulted in ChoralNet, a tool that has profoundly changed our field. It continues to have a significant impact on the interactions of choral musicians today and grows in significance every year. ChoralNet has evolved into the online center of choral music and a forum for conductors and composers as well as a news resource. The remarkable thing about ChoralNet is that Jim created it, for the most part, by sheer force of will. I still find it extraordinary that Feiszli founded and managed an instrument that had an international impact from his home and office in Rapid City, South Dakota. His achievement was probably unnoticed by most of the other professors with whom he worked but it continues to impact people like me on a daily basis. “I call him one of the true historic figures in choral music for the U.S.A. In my opinion, he has done more to impact the world of choral music than anyone else in this century.
Congratulations on this recognition, Jim. You deserve it.
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