By Utah chapter of the American String Teachers Association
A Brigham Young University School of Music professor and founder of the Provo New Horizons Orchestra was selected as the "Higher Education Teacher of the Year" by the Utah chapter of the American String Teachers Association.
"I'm flattered to be nominated for this award considering that I've been in Utah such a relatively short time," said Andrew Dabczynski. "There are many, many outstanding string teachers at Utah institutions of higher learning, and I consider it a tremendous honor to be recognized from among them."
ASTA is one of the most active professional music educators' associations in the United States. Utah traditionally has a strong representation because of the many talented school string programs, the number of strong string teachers and the support in Utah for high-quality music.
Dabczynski has been a member of the national ASTA organization for many years, but has only been an active member of the Utah chapter since he came to BYU in 2001. He started a student chapter at BYU early in 2002.
Dabczynski has made a number of professional presentations for Utah-ASTA at state music educators' conferences as well as other venues throughout Utah and the intermountain West.
"I've enjoyed getting to know and work with many of the string teachers and string students in the state and region," Dabczynski said.
Other awards Dabczynski has received include the "Citation for Leadership and Merit" from the national ASTA board at the national conference in Columbus, Ohio, in 2003 and at the national conference in Dallas in 2004.
Many BYU colleagues and students will attend this year's national conference in Reno, Nev., Feb. 23-26. The BYU Philharmonic will perform at the conference as one of only two orchestras selected to play at the national conference.
Writer: Rebekah Hanson
