Annie Ray is the 2024 Grammy Music Educator Award winner, and the orchestra director and Performing Arts Department chair at Annandale High School (AHS) in the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) system in Virginia. Ray advocates for providing universal access to high-quality music education, and develops creative opportunities to make music accessible to students of all demographics. The FCPS Parent Orchestra she founded teaches nearly 200 caregivers a year to play their students’ instruments, and provides mentorship to upcoming music teachers. Ray also developed the Crescendo Orchestra program (inspired by Giving Bach and United Sound) to make orchestra curriculum accessible to students with significant developmental or intellectual disabilities.

In January 2022, the program was featured in The Washington Post. Her 2022 TED Talk, “The Sounds of Success,” shares her classroom approach and guides educators in meeting students where they are. She has presented at numerous colleges and national and international conferences, and was named the 2023 FCPS Outstanding Secondary Teacher of the Year for her work on equity in education. Ray is a member of the StringRise professional development team, and earned the 2023 Wolf Trap Educator Grant for her high school’s partnership with Grammy-nominated artist Christylez Bacon. She’s also an active performing harpist. An adventurer at heart, her biggest bucket list item is to one day win “The Amazing Race.”

Sessions

• Sunday General Session