National Music Teacher Association Names UA’s Penick Teacher of the Year

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Amanda Penick, professor of music and coordinator of the piano area in The University of Alabama’s School of Music, will be awarded the Music Teachers National Association Teacher of the Year Award Wednesday, April 2, at the Awards Brunch at the MTNA National Conference in Denver.

The Music Teacher Associations of all 50 states and the District of Columbia are encouraged to submit candidates for the award, according to MTNA officials. Penick was unanimously selected by a three-person selection committee. She was chosen for her service to MTNA, her ability as a teacher (including the success of her students) and her abilities as a performer. The fact that she is an MTNA Nationally Certified Teacher of Music also contributed to the award.

“It was inspiring to read of the many ways that Amanda has influenced the lives of her students, friends and colleagues,” says Geri Gibbs, past president of the Southwest Division of MTNA and a member of the award committee. “Simply by reviewing her life through her portfolio, I was deeply touched and personally inspired.”

Penick joined The University of Alabama faculty in 1953. She graduated with academic honors from Hollins College in Roanoke, Va., and received the Master of Music degree from The University of Alabama. She has had subsequent study with Irwin Freundlich and Joseph Prostakoff.

Penick has appeared extensively as a soloist and chamber musician and was featured in the University Television Service weekly series “The Pianist at Work” for more than 28 years. She has served as guest artist, clinician and adjudicator and conductor of master classes for numerous local district, state and divisional levels of the Music Teachers National Association.

Most recently, Dr. Drew Mays, Birmingham ophthalmologist and Penick’s student, won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in June 2007.

The School of Music is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.