Music Educator Awards
For more than 80 years, the North Carolina Symphony has collaborated with statewide music educators to deliver our curriculum-aligned music education program into the classroom. 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.
The following awards are presented each year:
- Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator ($1,000 Award)
- Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement ($500 Award)
- North Carolina Symphony Musicians Award (for teachers <10 Years’ Experience ($500 Award)
In addition to a monetary award, honorees also receive public recognition at a North Carolina Symphony concert, tickets to a Classical series concert of their choosing, a school visit from a North Carolina Symphony musician and/or small ensemble; and complimentary registration to the NC Music Educators Association Conference.
Thanks to the Jennie H. Wallace Educator Award Fund for their generous support of these awards.
For more information about the Awards or other Education programs, contact education@ncsymphony.org.
Thank you to everyone who nominated educators for the 2026 Music Educator Awards! Honorees will be recognized on stage at a concert in Raleigh during the 2026/27 season.
Nominate a Teacher by December 1, 2025
- To nominate a music educator in your school or community, complete the nomination form linked below. Nominations are due by Monday, December 1, 2025.
- Nominators and nominees will receive two (2) complimentary tickets to a North Carolina Symphony 2025/26 Classical series concert of their choosing.
- Nominated teachers will be contacted separately to provide a supporting recommendation, as well as a portfolio that supports their nomination and exemplifies the award guidelines.
Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator
The Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator is named for Maxine Swalin who—together with her husband Dr. Benjamin Swalin, NCS music director from 1939-1972—raised funds to establish the Symphony’s children’s concert division in 1945.
2026 Honoree: Emma Rainoff
Lumberton Junior High School and Lumberton High School, Robeson County
Emma Rainoff is a string musician and music teacher in Lumberton, NC, serving as orchestra director for Lumberton High School and Lumberton Junior High School and orchestra department chair for the Public Schools of Robeson County.
Having built a career teaching music in Title I schools, Miss Rainoff is a passionate advocate for accessibility in the arts. During her time in Lumberton, she has worked to build an inclusive program accessible to students of all backgrounds. A firm believer in gestalt-based education, she works to build a curriculum that allows students of all abilities to participate in ensemble music. Her teaching emphasizes the exploration of multiple techniques and genres, and in addition to classical music her students learn traditional fiddle music, rock music, and jazz improvisation.
Originally from New York, Miss Rainoff received her bachelor’s degree from the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA, where she played fiddle in a Celtic band and served as Christ Lutheran Church’s director of children’s music. She has taught orchestra in the Public Schools of Robeson County for the past 10 years and has served as orchestra department chair since 2018. She holds certifications from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, the New American School of String Playing, the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Society, and the Foundation for the Advancement of String Education.
A lover of four-part harmony, Miss Rainoff is also a barbershop singer, singing tenor in the Fayetteville-based quartet One of Each and in her local Barbershop Harmony Society chapter chorus, the Fayetteville Sound. She has competed internationally as a baritone in Prism, and currently serves as assistant director for the Fayetteville Sound. In addition to teaching and conducting, Miss Rainoff can be found in the viola section of the Florence Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina and playing fiddle for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers.
Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement
The Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement is named for the Symphony’s former director of education in recognition of his longstanding service and commitment to young people in the state of North Carolina.
2026 Honoree: Dr. Amanda Hoke
Codington Elementary School, New Hanover County
Dr. Amanda M. Hoke is a National Board-certified, Kodály-trained elementary music educator who serves as the Lead Elementary Music Educator for General Music K–5 in New Hanover County Schools in Wilmington, NC, where she has taught since 2016. She currently serves at Codington Elementary School. She has also taught at John J. Blair Elementary and Forest Hills Global Elementary, contributing to School Improvement, MTSS, PBIS, and MTAC teams.
Dr. Hoke is committed to joyful, literacy-rich, and globally minded music instruction that centers accessibility and creativity for all students. She holds full Kodály certification, Feierabend Conversational Solfege training (Levels I and II), and National Board Certification in Early to Middle Childhood Music.
An active member of Wilmington’s arts community, Dr. Hoke performs with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and Cypress Duo and has partnered with local organizations on student performances and service-learning projects. She is a two-time New Hanover County Arts Council grant recipient, supporting a Cypress Duo recording project and the creation of an innovative recorder method book.
A leader in the professional community, Dr. Hoke also serves on the board of directors of the Organization of American Kodály Educators Southern Division and is a past president of the North Carolina chapter. Her work has been recognized with honors including the North Carolina Governor’s Educator Discovery Award and multiple local, state, and national teaching awards.
North Carolina Symphony Musicians Award
The North Carolina Symphony Musicians Award honors emerging music educators with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience. This award is named for the musicians of the North Carolina Symphony in appreciation of their contributions to the children and communities of North Carolina, and in recognition of the fact that each one of the musicians on our stage has been influenced by excellent music teachers.
2026 Honoree: Nicki Garner
North Moore High School, Moore County
Nicki Nall Garner serves as the Director of Bands at North Moore High School, making her the first female high school band director in Moore County. She is in her ninth year of public education and brings over eighteen years of instructional dedication. Her life’s purpose is to help each one of her students reach their full potential: teaching that the power of music extends far beyond notes on a page.
Garner proudly served in the United States Marine Corps from 2008-2012. Following training she was stationed with the Albany Marine Band. After military service, she received a bachelor’s degree in music education with an instrumental emphasis from UNC Pembroke. While there, she was the Spirit of the Carolina’s Drum Major and an instructor for Fred J. Miller, teaching drum majors/leaders nationwide. After completing her degree, she taught, advocated for, and ultimately saved the Woodland Park High School marching band program in Colorado.
Teaching at Overhills High School in Harnett County, NC, Garner grew the program substantially in membership, musicianship, and leadership. The Marching Jaguars represented North Carolina at the National Concert Band Invitational and the NATO Parade of Nations. After her husband’s passing, Garner and her son JJ moved to Robbins, NC. Now as director, her mission is to continue the North Moore Band’s legacy—in the very place and program that shaped her. Already securing consecutive superior ratings and earning several awards on and off the field, she and the Mustangs continue their mission to enrich the community.
Garner is honored to be a member of Band of America’s Few, a non-profit veteran organization composed of Marine musicians reaching audiences across the nation into Canada. She holds active professional memberships in SEDBA and NCMEA.
2026 Honorable Mentions
Luke Arno, West Pine Elementary School, Moore County
Erika Beal, River Bend Middle School, Catawba County
Carey Bland, Eaton Elementary School, New Hanover County
Laura Beth Payne, Topsail Annandale Elementary, Pender County