Six Massachusetts music teachers are among 25 semi-finalists for the Music Educator Award by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum. The award honors exceptional educators who inspire the next generation of music leaders.
The finalists will be announced in November and the winner will be recognized during Grammy week in February.
The six teachers from the Commonwealth made the list from a total of 25 cities — the most from any state.
Texas and Florida each have three in the semi-finalist group. More than 2,000 initial nominations were submitted.
The six nominees from Massachusetts are Marcos Carreras from the Conservatory of the Arts (Springfield); Michael Coelho, director of fine arts, Ipswich High School (Ipswich); Rachel Jayson, orchestra director, Lexington High School (Lexington); Stefano Marchese, music teacher, Elliot K-8 Innovation School (Boston); Kevin McDonald, choral director, Wellesley High School (Wellesley) and Cameron Siegal, music teacher, George H. Potter Elementary School (Dartmouth).
The award was established to recognize current educators — covering kindergarten through college at both public and private schools — who make a significant contribution to the field of music education and demonstrate a commitment to maintaining music education in the schools.
Cameron Siegal teaches music education to pre-school-aged children up to grade five in the Dartmouth School District.
“One of my favorite quotes about music, and it’s true for all levels but especially for elementary, is that 'education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire,'” Siegal said, adding that he is passionate about teaching music to the younger students.
“My philosophy is, if I can get students really excited about music and loving it, and concurrently provide a strong foundation, they’re really ready to pursue music ,not only in school, but out of school in whatever way they want to, and live musical lives,” he explained.
Marcos Carreras, director of music at the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts grades 6-12, is also among the six Massachusetts semi-finalists. He said he is so excited to be in such a special place in his career and part of an amazing group of teachers.
“What is so special is that there are [six] teachers from Massachusetts who made it to the Top 25, it is truly amazing,” he said.
Carreras is a member of The Recording Academy Class of 2025, The Latin Recording Academy Class of 2026 and a seven-time Grammy Music Educator of the Year nominee.
“It just goes to show not only why Massachusetts has the highest educated adults in America, and we are number one in K-12 Education in America, number one in the ranking of high schools in the national top quarter, number one in Public School Education. So, it is no surprise we have the highest-ranked music teachers in America, too,” Carreras said.
As a native of Puerto Rico, he said he spends a great deal of his time educating students in Springfield, which is made up of 70% Latino students.
He is a graduate of the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, and has been teaching for 33 years. He’s married and has one daughter.
“I need music in my life like I need air to breathe, and I’m constantly pursuing excellence in any way that I can, whether it’s in my own personal life as an artist or in my classroom, in my program,” he said. “I’m constantly thinking about and observing and analyzing how to make it better to have my outcomes be what I want it to be,” he added.
Carreras played Lollapalooza this summer and toured with Latin Grammy award winning artist named Mister G, also known as Ben Gundersheimer.
The Music Educator Award is open to current U.S. music teachers. Anyone can nominate a teacher, and teachers can also nominate themselves. They are then notified and invited to fill out an application.
According to the Recording Academy, each year, one recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students’ lives. The 13th annual honoree will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 2027 Grammy awards and a range of Grammy week events. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants.
Fifteen semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants. 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.
Thirty-eight-year old Siegal teaches in three of his district’s four elementary schools.
A Dartmouth native, he is also an adjunct faculty member at Rhode Island College in the graduate program of music education.
He started playing the drums at age 4. He’s a graduate of the University of Dartmouth, Florida State and Western Oregon University, where he earned his Ph.D. He’s married and has two children.
As a graduate student, he traveled to Ghana, in West Africa, where he learned the Javanese gamelan — a percussive ensemble — and that created a sea change for him of how people and cultures view music.
“I’d grown up in the Western traditions of concert band, marching band, jazz band, but I started learning these world styles and it was a completely new perspective,” he said. “There was this proverb from Ghana that I fell in love with, which is, 'If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. If you can clap, you can drum.’ Essentially, that music is for everyone and that anyone can do it. “
Siegal said he’s excited about the adaptive program in the schools and plans to use the monetary award to buy electric keyboards and headphones for the program.
The 2027 Grammy awards air live on Sunday, February 7.
