Congratulations to Castro Valley Resident Recognized for Achievement of Excellence in Music Education at Educators Conference

At the annual California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Bay Section Conference held January 8 and 9, Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) teacher Mr. Gregory Conway, a Castro Valley resident, was selected to receive the Gilbert T. Freitas Award for Excellence in Instrumental Music.

The Award was started to honor the memory of Mr. Gilbert Freitas who passed away in 1985 at the young age of 56.  Mr. Freitas was one of the early owners of Best Music Company and Best Instrument Repair Company, both located in Oakland.  A long-time ardent supporter of music education, Mr. Freitas had generously donated the much-needed resources to many schools, music camps, and youth bands and orchestras in the area.  He had also sponsored scholarships and used the resources of the music stores to benefit disadvantaged schools and their music programs.

At the CMEA Conference held at Chabot College in Hayward, Mr. Gregory Conway, Director of Instrumental Music of Hopkins Junior High School, Fremont, was honored for his incessant pursuit of excellence in music education.  Since he began teaching at Hopkins in 2005, Mr. Conway has continued the tradition of excellence in its band program, which has consistently earned superior ratings at CMEA Festivals and other competitions throughout the state.  In the same year, he introduced a string orchestra program to the school.  Both the band and orchestra programs have grown continuously and brought home a steady stream of awards, with Mr. Conway being unanimously recognized for his remarkable capability of bringing out the best in each of his students.

Hopkins Wind Ensemble was a featured performer at the CMEA State Conference in Sacramento in 2010, and Hopkins Advanced Orchestra was a featured performer at the California All-State Music Education Conference in Fresno in 2012.

In 2010, all of the six ensembles of Hopkins received Superior ratings and First Place awards (as well as First Place Overall awards) at the Music in the Parks Festivals, and in 2015, each of them earned the highest possible Unanimous Superior rating at the local CMEA Festival!

Since CMEA hosted the inaugural All-State Band and Orchestra Festival in 2013, both Wind Ensemble and Advanced Orchestra have been invited each year to participate along with a dozen of other top-performing groups in California.  Only ensembles having earned a Unanimously Superior rating at their local festivals the previous season, and accepted by audition, are eligible for this privilege.  At the Festival in 2015, they were two of only a few groups to again be rated Unanimous Superior there!  In fact, in the three years of the Festival, they were the only groups that have received the coveted rating every single year --- out of the entire state of California!  As of press time, both ensembles have again been invited to participate in the All-State Festival scheduled for May, 2016.

In the current school year, Mr. Conway directs three concert bands, two string orchestras, two jazz ensembles, and a full orchestra, involving over 360 seventh and eighth grstudents --- exceeding one-third of Hopkins’ student population.  In addition, within the Mission San Jose Attendance Area of FUSD, Mr. Conway directs two advanced elementary ensembles for sixth graders, teaches an intermediate elementary band class, and coordinates four elementary-level string orchestra classes for fourth to sixth graders.

Mr. Conway has directed bands and orchestras at summer programs in San Mateo, San Leandro, and Fremont.  For the past nine years, he has also been the Symphonic Band director for the Castro Valley-based non-profit Jenny Lin Foundation Youth Music Program, offered free-of-charge to all Bay Area high-school students every summer.

Congratulations to an exceptional educator and mentor, and to the thousands of fine musicians who have been touched by Mr. Conway’s commendable passion for youth music education!