Congratulations to CV Musician Named Outstanding Music Educator

Congratulations to Outstanding Music Educator Greg Conway

Castro Valley native Greg Conway was selected to receive the 2018 Outstanding Music Educator Award presented by California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Bay Section. The announcement was made at its annual conference held on Saturday, January 13 at Chabot College, Hayward. In the past two years, Conway had received the CMEA Bay Section Gilbert T. Freitas Award for Excellence in Instrumental Music Education (2016), and the CMEA Richard L. Levin Orchestra Educator Award (2017), honoring excellence in orchestra education and given to one music educator statewide each year.

Born and educated in Castro Valley, Conway graduated from Castro Valley High School in 1997, and attended California State University, Hayward, where he earned a B.A. in Music with an emphasis in Music Education and saxophone performance, as well as a teaching credential in Music. He has directed bands and orchestras at summer programs in San Mateo, San Leandro, and Fremont. For the twelfth year this summer, he will be directing the Symphonic Band of the Jenny Lin Foundation Youth Music Program, which has been offered to eligible Bay Area high-school and middle school students free-of-charge for over 20 years.

Since joining Hopkins Junior High School, Fremont, as Director of Instrumental Music, Conway has continued the tradition of excellence in the school’s band program, which has consistently received superior ratings at CMEA Festivals and other competitions throughout the state. In the same year, he introduced a string orchestra program to the Instrumental Music Department. Both the band and orchestra programs have grown exponentially and brought home a steady stream of awards. In the current school year, Conway directs three concert bands, two string orchestras, two jazz ensembles, and a full orchestra, involving 370 seventh and eighth graders --- about one-third of Hopkins’ student population. What’s more, he teaches two advanced elementary ensembles for sixth graders, and coordinates five other elementary-level classes designed for fourth to sixth graders of the Mission San Jose Attendance Area of the Fremont Unified School District.

Having served on the CMEA Bay Section Board of Directors since 2006 as an Area Representative, Conway is currently the Large Group Festival Coordinator. Since the establishment of the CMEA All-State Band and Orchestra Festival in 2013, both flagships of Hopkins---Wind Ensemble and Advanced Orchestra---have been invited to participate in the event each year, along with a dozen of top-performing groups in California. Thanks to the directorship of Conway, both groups received the highest possible rating every single year at the All-State Festival! In 2016, in particular, Hopkins Advanced Orchestra captured a perfect score of 100---unprecedented in the four-year history of the Festival! In addition, Advanced Orchestra enjoyed the honor of performing in front of a most discerning audience at the California All-State Music Education Conference as a featured performer in 2012, and then again in 2017 as the only orchestra qualified to participate.

Congratulations to an accomplished educator and mentor, and to the thousands of fine musicians whose lives have been profoundly touched by Conway’s passion for youth music education!