Music Educator of the Year Awards

2022-2023 Vocal Music Educator of the Year

Kimberly Harrison

Kimberly Harrison is the Choral Director at Sweet Home High School in Amherst, NY. In addition to her two choirs, she is also musical producer and music director of the Musical Program. This is Kim’s second year at Sweet Home, prior to that she was the Choral/General Music teacher at Cheektowaga Central Middle School for 9 years, where she held the position of drama director, music director, and producer for over 13 Middle school and High school musicals.

At Cheektowaga, Kim was the first director to bring a Middle school choir to NYSSMA Majors. Two years in a row, the 7th and 8th grade Mixed Chorus earned a rating of Silver on a level 2 performance. In the course of 11 years, Kim brought over 130 students to ECMEA Elementary Jr. and Sr. High All County Choral Festivals. In Addition, she has prepared over 120 students for NYSSMA Solo festival, some of whom have been accepted into NYSSMA Jr. and Sr. High Area All State Festivals, and just this year, NYSSMA Conference All State.

She is a graduate of Buffalo State College, earning her undergraduate degree in 2011 and also her Masters in Music Education in 2016. Kim completed some of her graduate studies at Fredonia, where she studied voice under Shinobu Takagi. In November 2022, Kim had the honor of bringing her Concert Chorale to perform at her Alma Mater.

In 2016, Kim was awarded the Community Involvement Award, which was given by the Cheektowaga Central Board of Education. In 2018, Cheektowaga Middle School 6th Grade chorus was invited to perform at the ECMEA Classroom Music Festival. And this past March, Kim was asked to guest conduct at the Orleans County Music Educators Jr. High Festival.

In her spare time, Kim sings professionally with Vocális Chamber Choir and has also been a member of the Buffalo Choral Arts Society for 10 years. She is so grateful for all of the experiences and continued collaboration that Buffalo State University Music Department has to offer. Outside of the world of music, Kim enjoys spending time with her family. She lives in North Tonawanda with Adam, her husband of ten years and their 4 year old son Eli (who keep them on their toes!).

2022-2023 Instrumental Music Educator of the Year

Jared Tinkham

Jared Tinkham is a compelling Guitarist, Composer, and Educator in Buffalo, NY. Originally from Rochester, NY, Jared has a diverse background in music, hailing all the way from Heavy Metal and Punk, to Classical, Jazz, Funk and Hip-Hop. Jared received his Associate’s degree in Music Performance from Monroe Community College in 2012, and his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree(s) in Music Education from SUNY Buffalo State College in 2015 and 2017 respectively. In 2015, Jared was hired as the Guitar Instructor at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, where he currently teaches Guitar Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Theory, and group lessons to grades 5-12. In addition to coaching, Jared also composes and arranges for all of his ensembles at BAVPA. Jared also teaches private lessons out of his studio in North Buffalo, and has been teaching privately since the age of 16. Jared plays out several times a week in Buffalo, and has played with some of the top Jazz musicians in the area, including Bobby Militello, John Bacon Jr., Mark Filsinger, Tim Clarke, Elliot Scozzaro, George Caldwell, Paul Laduca, John Troy, and more.

2022-2023 General Music Educator of the Year

James DesJardins

James M. DesJardins holds a B.M. from SUNY Buffalo State and a M.M. from SUNY College at Fredonia. He has earned specialized certifications from the University of St. Thomas and from SUNY Buffalo in Orff-Schulwerk and Music Learning Theory, respectively. He has been teaching music for 13 years in Western New York, and is a registered Music Together teacher. 

Mr. DesJardins is also a sought-after guest conductor and presenter on the topics of music pedagogy and choral conducting, and has been a church musician and soloist for three decades. He has conducted honors choruses throughout the Northeast and has presented workshops for various chapters of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Erie County Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference, as well as for the New York State School Music Association Winter and Summer conferences. Mr. DesJardins has been a guest lecturer at SUNY Fredonia, has served as composer-in-residence for the Buffalo Niagara Youth Chorus. He has been a featured composer in the Harmonia Chamber Singers Echoes of the Present Concert Series and is the 2017 recipient of the ECMEA/Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Award for Excellence in Music Education. 

When he is not composing, teaching, presenting, or conducting, Mr. DesJardins enjoys exploring his city with his wife, Julienne, and their son, Luke.

2021-2022 Vocal Music Educator of the Year

Erin Holmes

Erin Holmes is a 2003 Music Education Alumna from Buffalo State, where she studied voice under the direction of Dr. Thomas Witakowski. Upon graduation, she completed her master's degree at Medaille College for Literacy Birth-6th grade and taught at three local catholic schools as a general music teacher grades PreK-8. In 2005 she was hired at Lackawanna High School as a High School General Music Teacher with the intention to grow both the general music program and the choral program that had folded a few years prior. Erin and her well-respected colleague James Hayes co-created a sustainable general music program that she later took over while continuing to rebuild the vocal music program. Since 2007, the program has expanded from a choir of 26 students in grades 9-12 to 156 students in grades 6-12.

Erin has offered her students many singing opportunities such as NYSSMA, ECMEA, the Darien Lake Music Festival, Buffalo State Vocal Jazz Festival, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Choral Affiliates Program. Erin has also afforded her students performance opportunities such as singing the National Anthem at the Buffalo Bisons Baseball School Kids Day Game and a singing partnership with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Choir in Williamsville.

Professionally, Erin has performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra in a performance of Carmina Burana and most recently at the Niagara Regional Theater Guild in Company (Sarah) and Crazy for You (Tess). She is a very proud mom of her three children Sophia (17), Abigail (14), and Elliott (10).

2021-2022 Instrumental Educator of the Year

Timothy Martin

Timothy Martin has been teaching music for sixteen years. He began his career in the Bolivar-Richburg Central School District and is currently in his fourteenth year in the Lockport City School District. Throughout his career, Tim has taught instrumental music in all grade levels and is currently teaching grades nine through twelve at Lockport High School. He has served as the Lockport City School District music department chairperson for the past four years and is an active member of several committees and student clubs.

Throughout his career, Tim has been an active member of the Niagara County Music Educators Association, serving as the Vice President of Jazz for eleven years, chairing eight ensembles, and directing multiple All-County ensembles. Tim was instrumental in organizing and advocating for the NCMEA Senior High Instrumental and Vocal Jazz Ensembles participation in the Lewiston Jazz Festival over the past several years. He has also been a director and organizer of the Summer Honors Band program for the past nine years, which includes several Niagara County schools and 400 grade 4-9 band students each year.

2021-2022 General Music Educator of the Year

Patricia Hills

Patricia Hills enjoys teaching PK–5th grade general music and intermediate chorus at Windermere Boulevard School in the Amherst Central School District. She has a Bachelor of Music Ed., Voice degree from Houghton College and a Master of Music Education Degree from SUNY Fredonia. She has completed three levels of the Orff-Schulwerk Music Approach at the Eastman School of Music and is the membership chairperson for the Western New York Orff-Schulwerk Association. She has been an occasional presenter for this group as well and is drawn to this method for its aspect of using imaginative play to teach music concepts and skills.

Patricia is a founding member of Greater Buffalo Friends of Music, an organization that promotes and sponsors extracurricular music education opportunities and musical performances throughout Western New York. She is a co-chair for the annual ECMEA Classroom Music Showcase, which features music teachers presenting lessons with their students to advocate for and inform the community about vocal music education. She has offered her classroom space to many student-teachers over the past 20 years and loves collaborating with students and colleagues. As a performer, Patricia sings with three professional choirs: the Vocalis Chamber Choir, the St. Joseph Cathedral Choir, and the Women’s Choir of Buffalo. She and her husband, Robert Patterson, reside in Buffalo.

2020-2021 Instrumental Music Educator of the Year:

Eve Roushey

At the age of three, Eve Roushey witnessed a group from the Buffalo Suzuki Strings playing at the McKinley Mall. She went home and demanded that her parents sign her up for lessons. Thus began the lifelong relationship with the violin and music. She began teaching lessons privately in high school and continued through her years in college. While studying music education at Roberts Wesleyan College, Eve began teaching for and eventually running the string program for the Roberts Wesleyan College Community Music School.

While working on her Masters Degree in Music Education, Eve worked for the Lancaster Central School District and the Grand Island Central School District teaching elementary strings. After graduating cum laude from The State University at Buffalo, she continued to work in Grand Island and eventually moved on to Buffalo Public Schools where she split her time between Bennett Park Montessori School and City Honors. She landed finally in the West Seneca Central School District where she is currently the West Middle orchestra director.

Starting during the 2019-2020 school year, Eve became a teaching artist with Buffalo String Works, a local non profit organization that teaches music lessons after school, primarily working with immigrant and refugee children in Buffalo. This current school year, she took on a leadership role in the organization and became a faculty coordinator, too.

Teaching has always been Eve’s passion and she has been on committees and chaired events for the Erie County Music Educators Association and the New York State School Music Association. In 2018 she was a guest conductor for the Niagara County Music Educators Association junior high orchestra. She has played violin in a number of community orchestras (including a few concerts with the Buffalo State Philharmonia). Eve lives in Hamburg with her husband, Daniel, and their two dogs, Addie and Andrew.

2020-2021 Choral Music Educator of the Year

Robert Pacillo

Robert Pacillo is the choral director at Lockport High School, where he conducts the Mixed Chorus, Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and Women's Chorus. He is founder and executive director of Harmonia Chamber Singers, a professional vocal ensemble currently in its 15th season. Robert is active as a singer, conductor, clinician, and accompanist. He holds a Master of Music degree in Music Education, Mus. B. degree in Music Education, and a Mus. B. degree in Piano Performance from the University at Buffalo. He is a cantor at St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo and St. Peter’s Church, Lewiston, and has sung with St. Joseph Cathedral Choir, Buffalo Choral Arts, and Vocális. He is music director for the Lancaster Youth Bureau Summer Theater Workshop. Robert resides in Lewiston with his wife, Catherine, and their three children.

2020-2021 General Music Educator of the Year

Kary Dobbs

Kary Dobbs is a native of Niagara Falls, NY. Gospel music is where it all started for her while growing up in a rich musical environment with family and friends. Kary is a proud alumni of the Buffalo State Music Department, class of 2008. She also holds a masters degree in Music Education from the University at Buffalo and has also completed coursework towards a doctorate degree. She has taught in the Niagara Falls City School District for well over 10 years as an elementary general music and chorus teacher. Kary is privileged to make music with young children grades PK3-6th, and is thrilled at seeing their faces light up during a musical experience. Kary is a member of the Niagara County Music Educators’ Association. In the past, she has led various workshops for music education conferences, and enjoys opportunities to learn and grow as a professional.