Posted on Friday, July 16, 2021
One of Kansas City Kansas Community College’s-own has been recognized as one of the top music educators in the country.
Justin Binek, assistant professor of music at KCKCC, is one of 219 quarterfinalists for the 2022 Grammy Music Educator Award. Presented in partnership with the Recording Academy each year during Grammy Week, the Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education. The award is open to current music teachers in the United States who can be nominated by students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves. Once nominated, educators are notified and invited to fill out an application. The quarterfinalists, along with 189 legacy applicants from 2021, are in the running for the 2022 award.
“It’s a real honor, and it’s humbling. Most of all, it’s a tribute to the wonderful students I have taught over the past two decades,” Binek said of his nomination. “I received an email from the Grammy Museum, basically out of the blue. I was getting ready to set up for an outdoor wedding gig, incidentally my first live performance for an actual audience in 14 months. It was a great day to begin with, and that news just made an already fantastic day even better.”
Each year, one award recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their impact on students' lives. Finalists will be announced in September. The award winner will attend the 64th Grammy Awards (Jan. 31, 2022) as well as 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. In addition, 15 semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants. The Grammy Music Educator Award is supported by the NAMM Foundation, the National Association for Music Education and the National Education Association.
“It’s our people,” Binek said of why KCKCC’s music department stands apart from others. “KCKCC’'s music and audio engineering departments are unique in many ways, but we truly have a world-class faculty. Jim Mair, John Stafford, Ian Corbett and our incredible team of adjuncts are on the same level as the faculty at graduate-level music schools across the country. We also have the freedom to teach in a way that truly prepares our students for the reality of being an independent musician in a constantly shifting music industry. Our students are also pretty wonderful. They perform, they write, they are tech-savvy, they’re flexible - the students are the biggest reason why I love coming in to KCKCC every morning.”
Category: Arts and Culture, Academics
Keywords: Music,