Arvada West Chorus Teacher Advances To Grammy Finalist

ARVADA, CO -- Arvada West HS Choir Director Chris Maunu advanced to the top 10 finalists for the Music Educator Award, presented yearly by the Recording Academy and the Grammy Museum. The contest supports music teachers, kindergarten through college, who have made "a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools," according to a statement from the Recording Academy.

Maunu will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the school will receive a matching grant.

The winner will be flown to New York to attend the 61st Annual Grammy Awards and Grammy Week events and receive $10,000.

Maunu has been at Arvada West since 2006. He brought the Arvada West Vocal Showcase Choir national renown in the spring when the choir was invited to perform among collegiate choirs from around the world at the Minneapolis national conference of the American Choral Directors Assn. held in March.
Maunu is also a professional singer and co-founder of Denver's Anima Chamber Ensemble. His bio on the Anima website says he grew up in Frederick, South Dakota. Under Maunu's leadership, the number of students participating in Arvada West's choir program has more than doubled from 120 to 300 students, according to Maunu's bio profile.

See the Arvada West Choir perform here with Maunu at the baton:

Image via YouTube.