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Christa Speed selected for state music Hall of Fame
Christa Speed, orchestra director at Grand Island Senior High School, has been selected for induction into the Nebraska Music Educators Association (NMEA) Hall of Fame. Larry Maupin, who was the orchestra director at the high school for 38 years, nominated Speed for the award. Maupin was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995 and is the only other Grand Island Public Schools teacher who has been selected for the award.
Speed will receive the award at the NMEA Awards Banquet Nov. 21 in Lincoln during the NMEA annual conference.
"No one in Nebraska has done more for string education over the years than Christa," Maupin wrote in his nomination letter. "Her connections to nationally known and respected string educators have been a tremendous asset to the Grand Island school system and to orchestra students and teachers around the state."
Speed began her career in the Grand Island Public Schools in 1978 as a vocal music teacher and has been a string specialist in the school district since 1982. From 1982 to 2003, Speed assisted with the string program in elementary and middle schools. In 2003, she became the orchestra director at the high school and is also a string specialist in six elementary and two middle schools.
"She has taught at virtually all elementary, middle, and high schools in the Grand Island Public Schools," Maupin said.
She earned a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a master's degree in cello performance from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. In addition to teaching in the Grand Island Public Schools, Speed also maintains a private cello studio.
Speed co-directs an elementary string orchestra with musicians from the district's 14 elementary schools. This group meets after school on Tuesdays and performs two concerts annually.
Maupin said one of Speed's major accomplishments was establishing the "Strictly Strings" Middle School Orchestra Festival in 1987. This event, held annually on the first Saturday in November, brings together more than 200 middle school string players from throughout Nebraska. They rehearse with a guest conductor, then perform a public concert in the evening.
Speed's other accomplishments include:
*Serving as the national secretary and executive board member for the American String Teachers Association from 1996 to 1998.
*Serving as the Nebraska Music Educators Association chair of orchestra affairs from 1992 to 1994 and from 2004 to 2007.
*Serving in various roles with the Nebraska Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) including president from 1990 to 1992.
*Writing articles that were published in "The Nebraska Music Educator," "The American String Teacher," and ASTA state newsletters in New Mexico and California.
*Receiving the Nebraska ASTA String Teacher of the Year award in 1993, the National ASTA's Citation for Exceptional Leadership and Merit in 1998, and the Larry Maupin Education Award from Moonshell Arts and Humanities Council of Hall County in 2003.
*Playing as principal cellist for the Hastings Symphony and cellist in the Hastings Symphony String Quartet, a professional chamber ensemble.
*Founding the Tri-City Youth Symphony.
*Organizing a tour for the Grand Island Senior High School Orchestra to England in 2005 and preparing for another Orchestra tour in Austria in the spring of 2009.
The first music educators were inducted into the NMEA Hall of Fame in 1979. The number of people inducted annually varies, but since 1996, either two or three people have been inducted annually. Past presidents of NMEA are members of the Hall of Fame selection committee and vote to select the Hall of Fame inductees after nominations are submitted annually.
For more information, contact: Christa Speed, orchestra director, Grand Island Senior High School, (308) 385-5950, cspeed@gips.org
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