Since 1918, The Civic Music Association of Milwaukee has promoted and recognized excellence in music education in our community.

Outstanding music teachers are honored each year for their outstanding work in the field of music education. Special recognition is given to the areas of:

• Instrumental Music Instruction
• Choral Music Instruction
• General Music Instruction
• Studio Music Instruction
• Youth Music Instruction

Nominees are also considered for Music Teacher of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award, although these awards are not given annually.

To make a nomination, please print the form at right and submit to the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. All nominations must be postmarked no later than February 1, 2012.

2011 Lifetime Achievement Award

Marion Verhaalen, SSSF, EdD
2011 Lifetime Achievement Award

Sister Marion Verhaalen, a School Sister of St. Francis Jubilarian, has lived her religious ministry as an educator and musician for more than 60 years. She was born in Milwaukee, the youngest in a musical family who played together most evenings, and had her first keyboard lessons at age 13. She later earned a bachelor’s degree from Alverno College, a master’s degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and a doctorate from Columbia Teacher’s College in New York City, where she was teaching assistant to Dr. Robert Pace. After teaching elementary and high school general music for a few years, in 1958 she was appointed to teach at Alverno College. During her 20 year tenure at Alverno, she was introduced to Brazilian music and in 1969-70, was awarded a research grant from the Organization of American States to spend a year in Brazil working with composers Camargo Guarnieri and Francisco Mignone. Upon her return to Alverno, she mounted a four-day festival of Brazilian music with a Brazilian faulty member, Ruth Serrão, which attracted people from around the state. Her research on Brazilian music in the early 1970s was some of the first work done in this area. Since then, she has returned to Brazil many times to give workshops on new ideas for piano curriculum development.

In 1978, Verhaalen left Alverno to spend the next 27 years teaching piano and piano pedagogy at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. During that time, she also was an instructor and coordinator of piano for Milwaukee Public Schools, teaching at Elm Creative Arts School and starting the keyboard program for the High School of the Arts when it opened. While at MPS, she wrote Keyboard Dimensions, the piano curriculum for MPS students. In 2005, she began teaching at Cardinal Stritch University, where she continues to instruct children and adult piano students three days each week.

Verhaalen is also a composer and author. Her musical compositions include many piano works that include arrangements of Brazilian melodies, vocal and choral music, liturgical compositions, and pieces for other instruments. She has published two books on composer Camargo Guarnieri, A Brief History of Brazilian Music, a profile of her friend the Milwaukee composer John Downey, and other historical books relating to the local and international religious community.