Music teacher Mary DeMarsh honored

The musicians of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, along with a select group of area music educators, have chosen five people to receive the RPO Musicians' Awards for Outstanding Music Educators.

These awards will be presented on the stage of Eastman Theatre as part of the program of the RPO Philharmonics concert on Thursday, May 29, "Music Educators' Night at the RPO."

The winner of this year's award for Outstanding Classroom Music Specialist is the Charles H. Perkins School's own Mary DeMarsh. She has been teaching in Newark for 17 years and in 1986 was the Newark Teacher Association's Teacher of the Year.

Well-known as one half of the Wild Washerwomen Storytellers, she co-authored with Cynthia DeFelice the award-winning children's picture book Three Perfect Peaches. Mrs. DeMarsh believes that the primary level is the most exciting place to be teaching. Her goal is to instill in every child an appreciation of the precious instrument that their singing voice is and "to develop in them the understanding that they have the ability to find and make beauty in their lives, no matter what their situation."

She is pictured in her classroom, with second graders from Joanne Brumm's class.

The RPO Musicians' Awards were the first such program in the country designed to honor the dedicated teachers who foster a love of music in the next generation and to recognize how important their work is. Every year an awards committee of music educators and RPO musicians selects winners from among nominees from a nine-county area submitted by school administrators, educators, parents and students.

Tickets for the Philharmonic concert are available at Ticket Express (716-222-5000) and Ticketmaster (716-232-1900) from $10-$38 (20% discount for students and senior citizens). Rush tickets for students and seniors ($5-$15) are available on the day of the concert at Ticket Express or the Eastman Theatre box office.

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