Dr. Richard Nickerson advances to finalist status for Grammys - By Elizabeth Richards

Dr. Richard Nickerson, director of choral studies at Windham High School, has been named a finalist for the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation. He is one of ten educators across the country to be named a finalist, from an initial application pool of thousands.

Nickerson was in his classroom with students when the announcement was made Thursday morning on CBS This Morning. “It was just so exciting to see their reaction,” he said. 

Libby McBride, vice president of the Windham Chamber Singers said “It was really exciting when we saw his picture up there. It was incredible. We all gasped and applauded him. We were really excited.”

Nickerson said being named a finalist is “surreal” and he is incredibly humbled by the experience. One of the most powerful results of the announcement, he said, is the number of former students reaching out to him. “When a student goes out of their way to contact you 25 or 30 years later to tell you that you made a difference, it’s just very overwhelming,” he said. Nickerson has been director of choral activities at Windham High School for the past 29 years. He is also the Minister of Music at North Windham Union Church.

Celine Baker, president of the Windham Chamber Singers, said Nickerson is a role model who deserves the honor. She said Nickerson works tirelessly to bring once in a lifetime opportunities, like singing at Carnegie Hall, to his students. “It’s a total honor not only for himself, but for everyone he works with and for the community as a whole. Just to know that someone from our community is being recognized nationwide is just pretty incredible,” she said.

Baker added that Nickerson does a lot that might go unnoticed. “When you think about it, he doesn’t have to do all this stuff. We could be your average high school choir but instead he’s dedicated so much of his energy and his passion and his love of music to help others become what he wants from us,” she said. She believes his dedication inspires many members to continue being involved in music, whether as a career or for personal fulfillment. 

McBride said she works with Nickerson not only with the Chamber Singers, but the school concert choir, on school musicals, and with her church choir. “I’m working with him all the time and he really puts in all of his energy to these groups. He puts in 110 percent so I think that nobody deserves this award more than he does. I think with all the opportunities he’s given us, this is a dream come true,” she said.

Nickerson said now all that is left to do is wait. The winner will be announced during Grammy Week in February. The Music Educator Award “was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public, and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in schools.”

Nickerson said he feels lucky to work in a community that values arts education. “This award is not about me, it’s about my students, it is about the community. If the community didn’t support this kind of work, we wouldn’t be talking right now,” he said.

Dr. Nickerson semi-finalist for the 2017 Music Educator Award - By Elizabeth Richards

For the second time in four years, Dr. Richard Nickerson, director of choral activities at Windham High School, has been recognized as one of the top music educators in the country. Nickerson has been named a semifinalist for the 2017 Music Educator Award to be presented by the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation. 

 

Nickerson was named a quarterfinalist for the prestigious award in April of 2013. This year, he is one of 25 semifinalists from an applicant pool of thousands from all 50 states. In December, 10 finalists will be chosen. The final winner will be announced in February 2017, and flown to Los Angeles to receive the award and attend the Grammy Awards.

“It’s a little surreal,” Nickerson said on Tuesday afternoon. “There’s a lot of excitement around here. The students are very excited.”  

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current full time educators from kindergarten through the college level in either public or private schools “who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in schools.”  

Anyone can nominate a teacher for the award. Nickerson was nominated by another music educator, he said. Once nominated, educators are notified and invited to fill out an application that included both school data points and essay questions on teaching philosophy, Nickerson said. After being selected as a quarterfinalist, Nickerson was asked to submit three videos and a written resume. The videos detailed specific points such as teaching philosophy, how he has dealt with challenges, and an uninterrupted video of him teaching, Nickerson said. Now, as far as he knows, the only thing to do is wait for the announcement of finalists. 

Nickerson said he is overwhelmed with the support he feels from the community, especially the people reaching out in the past few days as word got out that he is a semifinalist. “It’s been very humbling,” he said. “I just continue to be so thankful and feel so blessed that I am so well supported by this community, and that they’ve enabled me to take risks, to try different things in this incredible journey that I’m on and bring my students along for the ride.”

Recently, the Windham Chamber Singers performed a nearly sold out show with a Queen tribute band at the Windham Performing Arts Center. “It was so different from anything we’ve ever done, and I think that was one of the things that the community was really into,” Nickerson said. The energy generated that evening was unlike any concert the students have performed, he added, with people literally dancing in the aisles. 

Nickerson has taught at Windham High School for 30 years. He conducts three choirs, teaches music courses, and is the music coordinator for the district. He is also the Minister of Music at North Windham Union Church. 

Nickerson has won many awards, including Maine Music Educator of the Year and Maine Distinguished Choral Director of the Year. In January 2009, he was named one of ten “choral directors of note” in the US by Choral Director Magazine. Nickerson has also been runner-up for Maine Teacher of the Year. Nickerson has conducted in major concert venues throughout the world, and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1998. Last April, he returned to Carnegie Hall to conduct a festival choir made up of singers from Maine.

Nickerson and the chamber singers are hard at work preparing for the American Family Holiday concert on December 3rd, 2016. In April 2017, the group’s spring tour will take them to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.