Pair Of GCS Music Instructors Nominated For Grammys

Two Guilford County Schools educators are nominated for Grammy awards, and they both work at the same school.

Brian McMath is the band director and Donny Walter is the orchestra director at Northwest Guilford High School. The pair are out of 10 remaining nominees.  

Guilford County Schools is the only school system in the country to have more than one finalist competing for the Grammy Music Educator Award, which recognizes teachers from kindergarten through the college level. 

Nathan Street is the Guilford County Schools director of fine arts. He says that the teachers are humbled at their recognition, despite being influential on the growth of the school's music department.

“Donny and Brian have built instrumental programs there that have required us to put extra music teachers at that school because of the number of kids that are enrolling in their programs. Because of Donny and Brian; they're the mainstays, they're the anchors,” Street says.

The winner will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the awards ceremony, while all finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and their schools will get matching grants.

The Grammy Awards will be held on January 31.