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Three educators receive North Carolina Symphony’s Music Educator Awards

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Courtesy of North Carolina Symphony

Three North Carolina educators have been recognized with Music Educator Awards from the North Carolina Symphony (NCS), according to an announcement from the symphony.

“For more than 75 years, the North Carolina Symphony has collaborated with statewide music educators to deliver our curriculum-aligned music education program into the classroom,” the NCS website says. “Today, the program engages more than 150,000 elementary school students across North Carolina and beyond. Each year, we recognize three educators that are helping us reach and inspire the future musicians and audiences that are in their classrooms.”

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The recognitions give winners a monetary award, as well as public recognition at an NCS concert, tickets to a concert, and complimentary registration to the NC Music Educators Association Conference. Winners’ schools also receive a visit from a NCS musician or small ensemble, according to the NCS website. 

Jana Winders, who has taught elementary music at Lucama and Vick Elementary schools in Wilson County for 23 years, received the Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator.

Jana Winders. Courtesy of North Carolina Symphony

The award is named after Maxine Swalin, who alongside her husband, Dr. Benjamin Swalin, a decades-long music director for the Symphony, raised funds for the Symphony’s children’s concert division in 1945. The award includes a $1,000 cash prize.

Winders, a Wilson County native, was the 2013 North Carolina Elementary Music Educator of the Year, and has been named Lucama Elementary’s Teacher of the Year twice. Winders is also the President-Elect of the North Carolina Music Educators Association’s (NCMEA) Elementary Board, and served as chair of the NC Elementary Honors Chorus. She has directed numerous All-County Chorus events across the state.

Winders has also been deeply involved in her community beyond the classroom, according to the NCS website. She co-created the Whirlikidz Sing, which showcases elementary students from across her county. She’s also leader of The Singing Cardinals, a fourth- and fifth-grade chorus that performs at community events supporting local charities.

Amanda Tant. Courtesy of North Carolina Symphony

Amanda Tant of Henderson County received the Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement, named after the NCS’s former director of education. Tant has been Hendersonville Middle and High Schools’ orchestra director since 2014. She also conducts the pit for the spring musical and is sponsor of the Glee Club. 

Tant leads the Sinfonia String Orchestra as a staff member of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestras and performs as a section violist with the Hendersonville Symphony and Brevard Philharmonic. She’s also been recognized as the 2024 NCMEA Western Region Orchestra Teacher of the Year and Hendersonville High School’s Teacher of the Year for 2020-21.

Grant Logan. Courtesy of North Carolina Symphony

Grant Logan received the NCS Musicians Award, given to music educators with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience. The award is named in appreciation of NCS musicians’ contributions to the state and the music teachers who influenced them, according to the NCS website.

As St. Stephens High School’s choral director in Catawba County, Logan directs the beginning chorus, concert choir, and honors chamber ensemble. He’s also been a music performance adjudication (MPA) site coordinator for the NCMEA and as the High School Choral MPA Chair for the state. 

According to the NCS website, Logan says his most meaningful experiences as an educator come from seeing his students grow from performers into true musical artists. He has also shared that he feels honored to play a direct role in shaping the next generation of musicians and music teachers.

The NCS also honored three 2025 finalists:

The NCS was founded in 1932, and according to its website, annual hosts “more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings reach adults and schoolchildren in all 100 North Carolina counties.”

“Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads one of the most extensive education programs of any symphony orchestra in the country,” the website says. “In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra in-person and online Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life.”

You can read more about the educator awards on the NCS website.