The Avivo Prize

About The Avivo Prize

The Avivo Prize recognizes an active teacher for excellence, dedication and a unique, highly creative style in the music education they provide to their students. There are no stipulations for use of The Avivo Prize by the recipient. The Avivo Prize encourages and supports ongoing development of the recipient’s future teaching career. The Avivo Prize, given in July of each year, comes to the teaching recipient in the form of a $5000 gift and frameable certificate.

The Avivo Prize is awarded by the teaching-artists of Avivo. There is no application process. Candidates for The Avivo Prize are nominated and voted upon by all Avivo members who then determine that year’s winner.

Announcing the Winner of the 2024 Avivo Prize, JoAnn Cain

JoAnn Cain has begun her third year of teaching K-5 music at Harford Day School in Bel Air, MD. Previously she served for 14 years as a music educator in the Baltimore County Public Schools as well as several independent and private schools. She has also taught for after-school music programs such as The Childrens’ Chorus of Maryland and The Peabody Childrens’ Chorus.

JoAnn earned her Kodaly Certification at George Mason University and then subsequently earned a Master’s in Music Education with Kodaly Emphasis from Capital University in 2016.

As a teacher, JoAnn is passionate about “helping students express their personal creativity and culture through the vehicle of music.” She goes on to say, “As I’ve grown as a teacher, I realize that no one particular modality is more valuable than another, and I try to offer opportunities for each student to learn music in the ways that bring them joy.” For some students this is incorporating movement into the lesson; for others it is including improvisation and composition; for still others it involves more time playing instruments. JoAnn writes, “All my students want to express and share their unique talents, interests, and identities. My job is to discover how I can facilitate and bring out those qualities for students musically.”

It is just this sensitivity, flexibility, and creativity that inspired the Avivo Teaching Artists to award JoAnn this year’s Avivo Prize! JoAnn plans to use the prize money for travel, professional development, and to fund musical opportunities for students without the financial means to pursue music education outside of school.

“My greatest joy is when I see what kids have taken beyond music class: when they are singing in the halls or on on the playground, when they bring in some lyrics they wrote at home, when they tell me about how they heard one of their favorite songs and made a connection to something we did in music class, when a parent tells me that they sing songs from music class at home, or when they discover that their name is a rhythm and want to know how to write it down. What matters is the person they become as a result of the things they learn in music.”
JoAnn Cain

2024 Press Release

2024 Avivo Prize Awarded to JoAnn Cain

Avivo, a national non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating creativity through music, is proud to announce the winner of the Avivo Prize, a $5,000 award given annually to a music educator who demonstrates noteworthy creativity in teaching and the ability to provide students with a strong foundation in musicianship skills. The 2024 prize has been awarded to JoAnn Cain, a longtime musician and educator in the Baltimore area. The Avivo Prize is awarded without any application process and without stipulations or requirements for how the prize money may be used. Currently in her third year teaching K-5 music at Harford Day School in Bel Air, Cain previously served for 14 years as a music educator in the Baltimore County Public Schools as well as several independent and private schools. She has also taught for after-school music programs such as The Childrens’ Chorus of Maryland and The Peabody Childrens’ Chorus. She earned her Kodaly Certification at George Mason University and then subsequently earned a Master’s in Music Education with Kodaly Emphasis from Capital University in 2016.

Cain will use the prize money for travel, professional development, and to fund musical opportunities for students without the financial means to pursue music education outside of school.

As a teacher, Cain is passionate about “helping students express their personal creativity and culture through the vehicle of music. As I’ve grown as a teacher, I realize that no one particular modality is more valuable than another and I try to offer opportunities for each student to learn music in the ways that bring them joy. I have students that love to express themselves through movement so we move musically in class. I have other students who light up when we get the instruments out so we do that as often as possible. I have many students who delight in being creative and putting their own spin on something so we explore improvisation and composition. All my students want to express and share their unique talents, interests, and identities. My job is to discover how I can facilitate and bring out those qualities for students musically.”

“My greatest joy is when I see what kids have taken beyond music class: when they are singing in the halls or on on the playground, when they bring in some lyrics they wrote at home, when they tell me about how they heard one of their favorite songs and made a connection to something we did in music class, when a parent tells me that they sing songs from music class at home, or when they discover that their name is a rhythm and want to know how to write it down. What matters is the person they become as a result of the things they learn in music.”

Avivo is a community of musicians devoted to the art of teaching drawn together by the legacy of educator Grace Newsom Cushman, who taught at the prestigious Peabody Conservatory and Peabody Preparatory School, and who developed a comprehensive music pedagogy for children. In 2013, Avivo was born to conserve, promote, develop, and spread Cushman’s concepts of creative integrated learning as originally presented in her innovative program, which was simply called “Musicianship.” Teaching Artists Patricia Plude and Pamela Quist serve as Director and Assistant Director, and are joined by Marshall Bessières, Shawn Crouch, Brooke Joyce, Tom Lopez, and Leo Wanenchak, who bring their unique and considerable talents to Avivo. Steve Kusmer is the group’s business advisor. Avivo believes in teaching music as a language that is available to all as a means for personal creative expression.

David Pegel, Winner of the 2023 Avivo Prize

David Pegel is in his second year teaching composition and music technology at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Previously, he worked as a lecturer at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA). Working closely with Avivo Teaching Artist, Dr. Shawn Crouch, David was one of the development leaders for Frost’s Experiential Music Curriculum, a theory, skills and composition/improvisation sequence, which focuses on bringing a deeper understanding of music through creativity. He is a contributing author to the Frost School of Music Experiential Musicianship digital textbook, a creativity-based approach to music learning, which is currently in production.

David is passionate about making music education more accessible in today’s rapidly shifting environment and plays a vital role in his music department’s diverse and forward-thinking program. “It’s clear we’re in a time that the way students learn and approach music is radically changing,” Pegel says. “And I want to be part of that change.” In addition to his teaching, David is working on a new music theory textbook.

Pegel also composes, arranges, and performs as a vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist. His social media channel, PlagalBytes, currently features multitrack recordings of arrangements he’s made with colleagues. David plans to use The Avivo Prize money to travel to conferences and performances this coming year, and to produce parts and a score for the premiere of a new work for wind ensemble.

Upon receiving The Avivo Prize, David responded, “Oftentimes working in academia and arts education can feel like a thankless job, especially when what you’re advocating for is in any way ‘different’ from what people are used to. Receiving this prize has helped me realize that this hard work hasn’t gone unappreciated, and it has reinvigorated me while working on several of my current projects.”

davidpegel.com (website)
davidpegel.com/plagalbytes (social media)

“David is a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer and educator. During his time on the Frost School of Music faculty David served on the Experiential Musicianship Curriculum (EMC) leadership team, wrote much of the EMC improvisation and keyboard harmony curriculum, and helped younger teachers through the EMC Teacher Training program. He is a wonderful teacher and an inspiration to many of his students.”
Dr. Shawn Crouch

"Dr. Pegel’s intense love of creativity and expression brought me to believe I was in good hands in terms of education and the growth of my love for music. Thank you Dr. Pegel, for being an inspiration, an amazing educator, an incredible performer and composer, and an undeniably kind and loving human being when I and so many others needed it most."
Former Student

2023 Press Release

2023 Avivo Prize Awarded to David Pegel

In addition to teaching composition and music technology at Kennesaw State University, Pegel also composes, arranges, and performs as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Most of his work is geared toward making music education more accessible in today’s shifting environment. Pegel states that ”it’s clear we’re in a time that the way students learn and approach music is radically changing, and I want to be part of that change.” His social media channel, PlagalBytes, currently features multitrack recordings of arrangements he’s made with colleagues, and he’s also working on a music theory textbook. The prize money will allow Pegel to travel to conferences and performances this coming year, and will also assist in the production of parts and score for the premiere of a new work for wind ensemble.

“Kennesaw’s School of Music is doing some amazing things for students who, like me, otherwise wouldn’t have access to important resources. This is my second year teaching here, and I’ve never seen a music program so diverse, with such a variety of goals for music students (particularly in composition). The faculty also clearly care about their students and want them to have a high quality education—particularly in making Music Technology a required course in their degree program. That’s the kind of forward thinking I really appreciate in an institution, something that every student needs to receive.”

“Oftentimes working in academia and arts education can feel like a thankless job, especially when what you’re advocating for is in any way different from what people are used to. Receiving this prize has helped me realize that this hard work hasn’t gone unappreciated, and has reinvigorated me while working on several of my current projects.”

Avivo is a community of musicians devoted to the art of teaching drawn together by the legacy of educator Grace Newsom Cushman, who taught at the prestigious Peabody Preparatory School and developed a comprehensive music pedagogy for children. In 2013, Avivo was born to conserve, promote, develop, and spread Cushman’s concepts of creative integrated learning as originally presented in her innovative program, which was simply called “Musicianship.” Teaching Artists Patricia Plude and Pamela Quist serve as Director and Assistant Director, and are joined by Marshall Bessières, Shawn Crouch, Brooke Joyce, Tom Lopez, and Leo Wanenchak, who bring their unique and considerable talents to Avivo. Steve Kusmer is the group’s business advisor. Avivo believes in teaching music as a language that is available to all as a means for personal creative expression.

Erin Pearson, Winner of the 2022 Avivo Prize

Erin Pearson is a 2005 graduate of Santa Clara University, a 2016 masters graduate of Belmont University, a veteran of Avivo’s Teacher Training Institute, and an accomplished Nashville-based musician and educator. Erin’s creative approach to music education fully embodies Avivo’s values of life and play, courage and authenticity. She writes, “Learning, creating, and teaching are a cyclical experience for me. They all inform one another, and I need all three to feel alive, fully functioning and whole. For me, it’s about pursuing expression - while staying healthy - body, soul, and spirit. I do my best to help students into extraordinary growth with a focus on this same way of expression and health - whatever that means for them - musically or otherwise.”

Erin is the author of a book entitled, 10 Reasons Your Kids Don’t Practice Their Music: And What Parents Can Do About It, originally published in 2016. Part of The Avivo Prize money has helped fund the 5th edition of this text, which is available now on Amazon. This new edition reflects on our experiences of the pandemic, technology changes, and major social issues currently being brought to light. She will also use The Avivo Prize money to help produce a new music album called Real Things, which she describes as “Carole King meets Adele and Lake Street Dive, with a touch of Kate Bush.”

erinpearson.com (website)
@erinpearson__ (twitter)
@erinpearson.music.art (instagram)
@erinpearsonmusic (facebook)

In 2023, Erin released her new album, "FIRE". Read the interview of Erin Pearson by Pamela Quist.

Listen to "FIRE" by Erin Pearson on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube.

“Erin, I could go on and on what you have done or what you mean to us. Please know we are thankful for you. We are sending off our girl to Berklee College of Music together, in partnership, with your love, support and guidance over the last 10 years of our girls journey. Cheers to the next chapter! We did it!!! Love you!!!”
Deanna Caballero
Parent

“We couldn’t have done this musical without you. It was such a big step for him and he just killed the lead. But you made it fun, I mean, you guys were all giggling in there. He believed he could do it because you believed he could it and put your fully confidence in him- nobody else in this process did that for him He wasn’t even nervous. You were there for us. I don’t have words to express to you to how grateful I am we found you”
Parent

“With @erinpearson.music.art our paths crossed in 2012 and what started as piano lessons teacher and student developed over the last 10 years as mentor/friend/family.“
Student

“How can I express to you how much you mean to our family? You have been all of my kids most consistent, longest-running teacher through different school choices and moves we’ve made, and you’re bringing music into our home. You’ve given them an entire new language with which to communicate about the world around them! And they ALL love you!! How do you make them feel challenged, motivated, and encouraged even when they are sometimes ill-prepared or exhausted or thinking more about soccer practice or a history test?“
Parent

2022 Press Release

Inaugural Avivo Prize Awarded to Erin Pearson

Avivo, a national non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating creativity through music, is proud to announce the creation of The Avivo Prize, a $5,000 award given annually to a music educator who demonstrates noteworthy creativity in teaching and the ability to provide students with a strong foundation in musicianship skills. The inaugural prize has been awarded to Erin Pearson, a Nashville-based musician/educator, and a graduate of Santa Clara University (B.A. in Music) and Belmont University (M.Ed. in Learning and Organizational Change). The Avivo Prize is awarded without any application process and without stipulations or requirements for how The Avivo Prize money may be used.

Erin has been teaching music on some level since she was 19, and is also a visual artist (painting and guitar string jewelry) and songwriter. In 2011, she opened a private music studio, where she offers instruction in voice, piano, music theory, songwriting, guitar, and violin. Her experiences as an educator fed into her first published book, 10 Reasons Your Kids Don’t Practice Their Music: And What Parents Can Do About It, released in 2016. Part of The Avivo Prize money helped fund its 5th edition, available Oct 25th on Amazon, which will reflect on our experiences of the pandemic, technology changes, and major social issues currently being brought to light. Of her current teaching interests, Erin notes that “most recently, I have been into understanding ‘pain’ and how to help with injury prevention and physical compensation patterns that inhibit musical ability (particularly common in voice, but with instruments too), as musicians are just like athletes. To do that, I became a certified personal trainer and neurokinetic therapist. I use it all. I like to think I grew into teaching, and continue to grow into it as I pursue things that interest me.”

She will also use The Avivo Prize money to help produce a new music album called “Real Things,” which she describes as “Carole King meets Adele and Lake Street Dive, with a touch of Kate Bush.”

“I like to know about a lot of different things—art, the body, psychology, the natural world, and instruments because I use it all when I am teaching, writing music and creating art. All of this sort of infuses what I do with kids and students. They have lots of interests in need of exploration, and they also need fun ways to do something hard, but with appropriate structure and grounding. I like a mixture of methods, unconventional with deeply traditional, grounding elements. Learning, creating, and teaching are a cyclical experience for me. They all inform one another, and I need all three to feel alive, fully functioning and whole. For me, it’s about pursuing expression—while staying healthy—body, soul, and spirit. I do my best to help students find extraordinary growth with a focus on this same way of expression and health- whatever that means for them, musically or otherwise.”