From Story to Strategy: Lessons Learned Along the Way from the GRAMMY Music Educator Award Winners
Clinic Synopsis:
Music educators face common challenges such as supporting diverse learners, sustaining program growth, and building student ownership of music making. In this moderated panel, GRAMMY Music Educator Award recipients share practical strategies from their classrooms and communities. Panelists discuss belonging, leadership, interdisciplinary learning, and community engagement, with ideas adaptable for band, orchestra, chorus, modern band, and music technology programs.
Annie Ray
- Biographical Information
Annie Ray serves as the Orchestra Director and Performing Arts Department Chair at Annandale High School in Fairfax County Public Schools. She advocates for universal access to quality music education and is known for creating innovative programs that expand participation for students and families.
She founded the Fairfax Arts Coalition for Education division of Parent Orchestra, which annually teaches about 250 caregivers to play their child’s instrument while mentoring future music educators. Annie also established the Crescendo Orchestra program, designed to make orchestra curriculum accessible to students with significant developmental or intellectual disabilities. In 2020, she was invited by TEDx to present "The Sounds of Success," a talk centered on meeting students where they are and building inclusive music programs.
Annie is a frequent keynote speaker, clinician, writer, and educational conductor, including All-State ensembles across the country. Her work is featured in the Milken Center for the American Dream Museum in Washington, D.C., and she has led the passage of impactful music education legislation in Virginia.
Her honors include the 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator Award, Yamaha “40 Under 40,” the Dr. Alice M. Hammel Award for Inclusion in Music Education, and the 2023 FCPS Outstanding Secondary Teacher of the Year.
A proud University of North Texas alumna, Annie lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband, Dr. Irving Ray, and their children, Eloise, Millie, and Isaiah.
Jen Jimenez - Biographical Information
Jennifer Jimenez, a Kennedy Center Sondheim Inspirational Teaching Award recipient and GRAMMY Music Educator Award finalist, is in her nineteenth year as Director of Bands and Elective Department Chair at South Miami Senior High School in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the United States. A Nebraska native, she discovered her passion for teaching while studying music education at the University of Miami, where she was later inducted into the Band Hall of Fame.
Guided by her belief that “band is the family you choose,” Jimenez has built a program centered on belonging, opportunity, and musical excellence. Her students have performed at Carnegie Hall and two Super Bowls. She is also an active grant writer, securing more than $84,000 to support her program.
Jimenez supports the profession as a clinical supervising teacher, presenter at district and state conferences, adjudicator, and active member of the Florida Bandmasters Association and Women Band Directors International, where she helped establish the Florida chapter and serves on its state board.
Her advocacy for equitable access to music education earned Florida International University’s Graduate Research Award for work focused on underrepresented populations in music education. She has also partnered with the Greater Miami Youth Symphony to expand free and reduced-cost music opportunities for Miami students. Jimenez is principal percussionist with the Miami Symphony Orchestra. She lives in Miami with her husband Desi, their children Noah and Eden, and their puppy Obi-Wan.
Stephen Cox - Biographical Information
Stephen T. Cox views music education as a vital link between community identity and student empowerment. With experience transforming programs in both rural and urban settings, Stephen bridges the worlds of traditional performance ensembles and contemporary music education models. Currently serving as the Director of Music Education for the Willis Wonderland Foundation, his philosophy is rooted in the belief that fine arts must be integral to their communities, connecting students to local history while sparking new creativity and community engagement.
Stephen advocates for a teaching style where student agency is paramount. He believes that when learners have ownership of their artistic journey they develop the resilience needed for adulthood. His ultimate goal is to grant students the autonomy to own their creative process and the skills to chart their own paths in life.
Mickey Smith Jr. - Biographical Information
Educator. Encourager. These words capture the heart of Mickey Smith Jr., a Southwest Louisiana native whose over two-decade career has transformed band programs—and lives—across the country. Mickey has grown multiple music programs in Louisiana, Texas, and Florida by more than 500 percent, with some serving over half of their school populations, including one that reached 100 percent participation. Currently, he teaches band to students in grades four through twelve at The King’s Academy, where he has launched thriving Beginning, Intermediate, Concert, and Junior Jazz Bands, providing students with remarkable and unmatched musical experiences. An eight-time Teacher of the Year and GRAMMY Music Educator Award recipient, Mickey is deeply committed to relationship-based teaching that helps students discover their personal sound and sense of purpose. As a clinician, conductor, and speaker, he shares his “Keep On Going” approach with music educators and core teachers across North America, inspiring them to engage, educate, and elevate every learner to excellence by being a sound adult every day.
Jared Cassedy - Biographical Information
Jared L. Cassedy is the Performing Arts Department
Head and High School Band Director for the Masconomet Regional School District
(MA) and a nationally recognized music educator, conductor, and arts leader. A
recipient of the 2015 GRAMMY Music Educator Award and a 2022 National Music
Teacher of Excellence (CMA Foundation), Jared is known for cultivating musical
excellence through inclusive, student-centered ensemble culture. He currently
serves as President of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and has
held numerous state and national leadership roles with NAfME, MMEA, and NHMEA. In addition to his public school work, Jared has served on the
faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and is the conductor of
the New England Conservatory Preparatory School’s Junior Massachusetts Youth
Wind Ensemble. His ensembles have performed nationally and internationally,
including at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and major music education
conferences including the NAfME Eastern Division Conference. Jared is a much
sought-after clinician and presenter, speaking widely on leadership, equity,
and ensemble culture in music education and has conducted a myriad of honors
ensembles across the Northeast.
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