On a stage in Raleigh, North Carolina Symphony’s Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto addressed the crowd at intermission: “Tonight is a very special night. I seriously mean what I say — we could not do what we do here without music educators.”

Three of these educators from around the state stood beside Prieto as the winners of 2024 NC Symphony’s Music Educator Awards (NCMEA).

“What music educators do is something that makes our world not only much more beautiful, but much more interesting and important, and our communities better,” Prieto said to the symphony audience.

One of these winners, Adam Stewart, hailed from Buncombe County Schools (BCS). A little less than two months prior to the award ceremony, Helene made landfall in his community, dumping around 18 inches of rain and closing the school for nearly four weeks.

Band program in Buncombe County

Mountains of mulch continue to grow beside Cane Creek Middle School in Buncombe County. Next to the school sits a collection site for debris, where down trees and limbs are hauled for chopping.

“Most of our kids, I felt like they were ready just to get back into the swing of it and play,” said Stewart, band director and NCMAE winner. Thankfully his school didn’t sustain any damage or lose any instruments. Stewart said some other schools in the district couldn’t say the same.

Stewart grew up in Rockwell and went to Western Carolina University, where he did everything he could with music. During his senior year, he became one of four staff coordinators for the school’s marching band. With this job, he was able to see what goes in to actually running a program, and it provided an invaluable real world experience for him.

He stayed in the western part of the state, teaching at various Haywood County schools before taking the position at BCS. He is in his third year at Cane Creek and loves teaching middle school students because of their energy.

Last March, Stewart sent in a video of his seventh graders to the New York Invitational Music Festival. They reviewed the school’s spring concert and were accepted to perform at this year’s festival.

Those students are now in eighth grade and will be heading north to perform. Stewart also opened up auditions to the new seventh graders. They were required to present a solo and learn new scales. It was important to Stewart that more students have an opportunity to join the trip.

Fourteen seventh graders will be joining the eighth grade class for the trip. These younger students are working on the music independently, coming in after school to make sure they are perfecting their part. Stewart said so far, 63 students are going to New York and performing at Carnegie Hall.

Audrey Reyes and Jamen Ramsey are both in eighth grade and looking forward to the trip. Ramsey plays the trumpet because his mom also played. Reyes is on the french horn and said music has a way of calming her down.

“When you’re playing, you kind of just don’t think, and it’s like, very relaxing,” reflected Reyes.

Both came in during an extra class period to practice their pieces with Stewart.

The Cane Creek buses will take off for New York City on March 8, students will practice with a guest artist on the 9, and the performance is on the night of the 10. In between the music, Stewart is planning a full New York City experience for his students.

They will visit Time Square, the Empire State building, and weather dependent, take a ferry ride around the Statue of Liberty. They are going to see Wicked on Broadway and enjoy the American Museum of Natural History. He admits its a lot to pack into a short trip, but its worth it.

The cost for such a trip is expensive, and Stewart had a planned fundraiser that was disrupted by Helene. This website was set up by the school to help to cover the costs for the Carnegie Hall trip and sponsor some students more heavily affected by the storm.

This dedicated music educator is looking to give exceptional instruction in Buncombe County, while at the same time exposing his students to opportunities outside of it.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Stewart said of his students performing on the famed Carnegie Hall stage.