Today, the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum announced a total of 215 music teachers as quarterfinalists for the 2025 Music Educator Award. This prestigious award is given to current educators—from kindergarten through college in both public and private schools—who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who advocate for the ongoing inclusion of music education in schools. This year’s quarterfinalists hail from 202 cities and were chosen from more than 2,400 initial nominations. Additionally, 159 legacy applicants from 2024 are also eligible for this year’s award.

Semi-finalists for the 2025 Music Educator Award will be announced later this year. The ultimate recipient will be celebrated during GRAMMY Week 2025.

A collaborative effort between the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award invites nominations from students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers may also nominate themselves, and those nominated are invited to complete a more detailed application.

Each year, one recipient is selected from among 10 finalists and recognized for their profound impact on students' lives. The 11th annual honoree will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 67th GRAMMY Awards and participate in various GRAMMY Week events. The nine other finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. Additionally, fifteen semi-finalists will be awarded a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

Read More: 8 Artists Who Were Inspired By Their Teachers: Rihanna, Adele, Jay-Z & More

The Music Educator Award program, including the honorariums and matching school grants, is supported by the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation this year. Additional backing comes from the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association, which support the program through outreach to their members.

Learn more about the Music Educator Award and see the full list of the 2025 Music Educator Award quarterfinalists and legacy applicants below:

QUARTERFINALISTS

LEGACY APPLICANTS

Music's Biggest Night is back! The 2025 GRAMMYs will take place Sunday, Feb. 2, live at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the Recording Academy announced today. The 2025 GRAMMYs will broadcast live on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on demand on Paramount+. As well, nominations for the 2025 GRAMMYs will be announced Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. See the full list of key dates and deadlines for the 2025 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards, below.

Key dates for the 2025 GRAMMY Awards season are as follows:

Sept. 16, 2023 – Aug. 30, 2024
Product Eligibility Period
The period by which recordings are submitted for GRAMMY consideration. All releases must be available for sale, via general distribution, to the public by this date and through at least the date of the current year’s voting deadline (final ballot) to be eligible for the 2025 GRAMMY Awards.

July 8, 2024 – Aug. 23, 2024
Media Company Registration Period
Media companies must apply for registration with the Recording Academy to submit recordings.

July 17, 2024 – Aug. 30, 2024
Online Entry Period
All eligible recordings must be entered prior to the close of the Online Entry Period, regardless of the public release date.

Oct. 4, 2024 – Oct. 15, 2024
First Round Voting
First Round Voting determines all the GRAMMY nominees for each GRAMMY Awards year.

Nov. 8, 2024
Nominees Announced for the 2025 GRAMMY Awards
Announcing the official nominees list for the 2025 GRAMMYs.

Dec. 12, 2024 – Jan. 3, 2025
Final Round Voting
Determines the GRAMMY winners across all categories revealed on GRAMMY night.

Feb. 2, 2025
2025 GRAMMY Awards
Music's Biggest Night, recognizing excellence in the recording arts and sciences.

This February, the 2024 GRAMMYs proved to be an epic, history-making night. Women dominated the 2024 GRAMMYs: For the second time in four years, women won in the majority of the General Field Categories, winning Album Of The Year (Taylor Swift), Song Of The Year (Billie Eilish), Record Of The Year (Miley Cyrus), and Best New Artist (Victoria Monét). Elsewhere, Taylor Swift broke the all-time record for most GRAMMY wins in the Album Of The Year Category after winning for Midnights. Tyla won the first-ever GRAMMY Award for Best African Music Performance, one of three new GRAMMY Categories that debuted this year.

The 2024 GRAMMYs also celebrated the return of music legends, including Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell and Celine Dion, and ushered in new music icons-in-the-making like Victoria Monét, Samara Joy and Tyla. Relive some of the must-see moments and memorable, heartwarming acceptance speeches from the 2024 GRAMMYs. And rewatch all of the performances and key highlights from the 2024 GRAMMYs all year long on Live.GRAMMY.com.

Learn more about the upcoming 2025 GRAMMY Awards season and the annual GRAMMY Awards process.

Ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs, Virginia educator Annie Ray will receive the 2024 Music Educator Award during the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards Ceremony on Sat, Feb. 3.  

Ray is both the Orchestra Director and Performing Arts Department Chair at Annandale High School in Virginia's Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) system. She advocates for universal access to quality music education, and has developed creative opportunities to make music accessible to students of all demographics. 

For example, her FCPS Parent Orchestra enables just under 200 caregivers to learn to play their child’s instrument each year. Ray also created the Crescendo Orchestra program to bring the joy of orchestra to high school students with severe developmental or intellectual disabilities. In January 2022,  the program was featured in The Washington Post. 

Based on this work, TEDx reached out and asked Ray to give a talk in April 2022. She has presented at numerous colleges and conferences on the topic and was named the 2023 FCPS Outstanding Secondary Teacher of the Year for her work on equity in education. Ray is also a member of the StringRise professional development team and was a 2023 Wolf Trap Educator Guarantee for the AHS partnership with GRAMMY-nominated artist Christylez Bacon. 

She currently resides in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband Irving and their girls Eloise and Millie. She is an adventurer at heart, and her biggest bucket list item is to one day win "The Amazing Race."

As the Music Educator Award recipient, Ray will receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for her school's music program. Nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining 15 semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

The nine semifinalists are:

Meg Byrne: Pleasant Valley High School  Bettendorf, Iowa

Ernesta Chicklowski: Roosevelt Elementary   Tampa, Florida

Michael Coelho: Ipswich Middle and High School Ipswich, Massachusetts

Antoine Dolberry: P.S. 103 Hector Fontanez School  Bronx, New York

Jasmine Fripp: KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School   Nashville, Tennessee

J.D. Frizzell: Briarcrest Christian School  Eads, Tennessee

Coty Raven Morris: Portland State University  Portland, Oregon

Kevin Schoenbach: Oswego High School  Oswego, Illinois

Matthew Shephard: Meridian Early College High School  Sanford, Michigan

The award is open to current U.S. music teachers, and anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves, and nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application. Initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states.

Nominations and applications for the 2025 Music Educator Award are now open via grammymusicteacher.com.

The Music Educator Award program, including honorariums, is made possible by the generosity and support of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

How To Watch The 2024 GRAMMYs Live: GRAMMY Nominations, Performers, Air Date, Red Carpet, Streaming Channel & More

The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum today announced a total of 10 music teachers as finalists for the 2024 Music Educator Award, the annual honor that recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the music education field and who also demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The 10 finalists, who hail from 10 cities across nine states, were selected from more than 2,000 initial nominations submitted from across all 50 U.S. states. See the full list of the 2024 Music Educator Award finalists below.

Each year, one Music Educator Award recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students' lives. The selected recipient will receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school's music program. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining 15 semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

The ultimate recipient of the 2024 Music Educator Award will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024, just days before the 2024 GRAMMYs take place. Quarterfinalists for the 2024 Music Educator Award were announced in May; semifinalists were announced in October.

Nominations for the 2025 Music Educator Award are now open.

Learn More: Meet The 2023 Music Educator Award Recipient: How Pamela Dawson Helps Her Students Achieve Healing And Catharsis

2024 MUSIC EDUCATOR AWARD FINALISTS: 

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An established partnership between the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award is open to current U.S. music teachers. Anyone can nominate a teacher: students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves. Nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application. 

The Music Educator Award program, including honorariums, is made possible by the generosity and support of the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

Learn more about the Music Educator Award program.

8 Artists Who Were Inspired By Their Teachers: Rihanna, Adele, Jay-Z & More

Twenty-five music teachers have today been announced as semifinalists for the Music Educator Award, an annual award, presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, that supports and celebrates music education and music educators across the U.S. The 25 semifinalists, who hail from 25 cities across 17 states, were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 initial nominations from across all 50 U.S. states. Finalists will be announced in December, and the ultimate recipient of the 2024 Music Educator Award will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024, days ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs.

Nominations for the 2025 Music Educator Award are now open.

Read More: Meet The 2023 Music Educator Award Recipient: How Pamela Dawson Helps Her Students Achieve Healing And Catharsis

Presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the music education field and demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The Award is open to current U.S. music teachers. Anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators — while teachers are also able to nominate themselves; nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.

Each year, the recipient of the Music Educator Award, selected from 10 finalists, receives a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school's music program. The nine additional finalists receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining 15 semifinalists, among the group announced today, will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

The Music Educator Award program, including honorariums, is made possible by the generosity and support of the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

Read More: 5 Organizations And Scholarships Supporting Music Education

The full list of the 2024 Music Educator Award semifinalists is as follows:

Learn more about the Music Educator Award and apply to the 2025 Music Educator Award program now.

5 Music Teachers Share The Transformative Power Of Music Education