PR2011 Jul U1

GLINDA BLACKSHEAR RECEIVES ALABAMA ACDA AWARD

Tuscaloosa - Glinda Blackshear has been selected by the Alabama Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) to receive the Thomas R. Smith Award for Excellence for 2011. This honor is intended to recognize those who, like Dr. Smith, have positively impacted the field of choral music in Alabama. The award was presented at the ACDA Summer Celebration on July 14-15 at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.

Dr. Thomas R. Smith is Professor Emeritus at Auburn University, where he served as chair of the Music Department from 2000 until his retirement in 2006. Prior to serving as department chair, he served as Director of Choral Activities from 1972 to 2000. In ACDA, he has been a state and division President and was state Treasurer for many years. He has served as a church Minister of Music continuously for almost 50 years and still conducts the “Alabama Singing Men” and the “East Alabama Youth Ensemble.”

Nominees for the Thomas R. Smith Award for Excellence must have been active in choral music for a minimum of twenty-five years, distinguishing themselves in the field of choral music and consistently demonstrating the highest musical standards. They must also have provided leadership in the choral arts and earned the respect of colleagues and students.

Glinda Blackshear has been a choral director in the two-year colleges in Alabama for over 30 years; the last 25 years have been at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa. She has directed church choirs for 40 years in Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, most recently directing choirs at Covenant Presbyterian in Tuscaloosa for 15 years. She has served Alabama ACDA as President-elect, President, Past-President, and R&S Chair for Two-Year Colleges. She was recently asked for the second time to serve as “Two-Year College Chair” for the ten-state Southern Division of ACDA.

At Shelton State Community College, Mrs. Blackshear teaches voice and music appreciation in addition to directing the Shelton Singers concert choir and the Bach to Rock ensemble, which received an NCIA national award for creatively responding to community needs. She has received the “Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Two-Year College Faculty Member” in the state of Alabama, the “Todd Award for Excellence in Teaching” at her college, and the “Druid Arts Award for Outstanding Educator” from the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. She is a soloist and past President of the “Prentice Concert Chorale” and sang with the madrigal group, Chanson. In 2009, she realized a life-long dream by playing the role of the Mother Abbess in Theatre Tuscaloosa’s production of The Sound of Music.

Glinda Blackshear is married to composer and jazz musician, Dr. Alan Blackshear, and they have a daughter, three grandchildren, and a peekapoo. Mrs. Blackshear has stated that she feels immensely humbled as well as honored by this award from her ACDA peers. “ACDA has done more than anything else to inspire and equip me to be a better choral director. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to make music with others my whole life. I just pray that some of the joy I have experienced has been communicated to those who shared their music and their lives with me.”

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