Columbus Symphony Orchestra Announces 2017 Music Education Award Winners

The Columbus Symphony today announced the winners of the 2017 Music Educator Awards, honoring individuals who make a difference in the community through a dedication to music education and promotion of a greater understanding of and appreciation for the art form.

Three nominees have been selected in the categories of elementary, secondary, and community education. Each winner will receive a $2,500 grant to spend at their discretion on music education endeavors. Past winners have used these funds to host guest instructors, repair instruments, take professional development classes, or purchase new instruments, computer software, and music.

The winners will be presented with their awards at a dinner on Saturday, April 22, at 5:30pm at The Sheraton Capitol Square (75 E. State St.) followed by a presentation on the stage of the Ohio Theatre prior to the Columbus Symphony concert that evening. Tickets to the awards dinner are $65 (includes CSO concert ticket) and can be purchased by calling 614-221-4916.

The Music Educator Awards were made possible through the generous support of American Electric Power and Kim and Jude Swanson.

The winners of the 2017 Music Educator Awards are:

2017 Music Educator Award - Elementary Education

Cynthia Bush

Director of Orchestras, Columbus Academy

Having taught full-time for 30 years, Bush is celebrating her tenth year as director of orchestras for Columbus Academy where she instructs ten ensembles in grades 2-12. She also has a private studio of violin, viola, and cello students in the Gahanna area. Bush plays viola with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra and violin with area string quartets. She has been a freelance violinist with the Canton Symphony Orchestra and the Ganassi Early Music Ensemble, also playing treble and bass viola da gamba, vielle, rebec, and portative organ. She attended Indiana University and received a Bachelor's in music education from Baldwin-Wallace University where she majored in violin. A believer in continuing education, Bush is a member of the American String Teachers Association, the National Association for Music Education, Ohio Music Education Association, and Associated Chamber Music Players.

2017 Music Educator Award - Secondary Education

Bruce Carlson

Director of Bands, Dominion Middle School, Columbus City Schools

Carlson studied euphonium at The Ohio State University, receiving a Bachelor degree in music education and zoology. While at OSU, he marched in The Ohio State University Marching Band and served as an assistant squad leader his senior year. His formal teaching career began in 1991 in Crooksville, Ohio, followed by Riverdale High School in Atlanta. After five years in Georgia, Carlson returned to Ohio for graduate school at the University of Akron and received his Master's in 1999. He then began working for Columbus City Schools as band director at Columbus Spanish Immersion Academy, Northland High School, and several elementary schools. In 2009, Carlson began teaching at Dominion Middle School. He initiated a music booster program, and has built the concert and jazz band programs into one of the finest in the city. The Dominion Concert Band plays a variety of exciting literature and consistently achieves superior ratings at adjudicated events and district solo and ensemble adjudicated performances. Carlson continues his personal musical development as a euphonium player in the Grove City Community Winds, is an active Ohio Music Education Association member, and supports his alma mater by assisting with the OSU marching band tryouts.

2017 Music Educator Award - Community Education

Tatiana Kats

Artistic Director, Columbus International Children's Choir

Kats is the founder of the Columbus Music and Art Academy (CMA Academy), award-winning Columbus International Children's Choir (CICC), and Central Ohio Singing Competition. She has been the executive director of CMA Academy and the artistic director of CICC since 2003. She also conducts the two most advanced CICC groups which perform in prestigious venues around the world (past venues include Carnegie Hall, the White House, and St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican). In addition, Kats teaches piano in her private piano studio. Her piano students routinely excel in the piano and music theory exams administered by National Music Certificate Program. The program named her "Founding Teacher ... instrumental in establishing a national standard for developing musicians in the United States of America." Kats earned a Master's in choral conducting and a Master's in piano pedagogy from The Ohio State University. Before coming to the US, she received her undergraduate in music education and worked as a director of a music school and a conductor of youth and mixed choirs in Moscow, Russia.

www.ColumbusSymphony.com

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