Awards

Each year the NC ACDA honors a member for "Distinguished Service in Choral Music in North Carolina." This year we proudly announce that the recipient is Betty-Neill G. Parsons.

Betty-Neill G. Parsons taught kindergarten through university during her 44 year teaching career. A native of Fayetteville, she taught in NC, Alabama, and Texas. Currently, after three "retirements," Betty-Neill is Music Director at First Presbyterian Church Fayetteville, NC.

Betty-Neill was among the FIRST 43 graduates of Methodist College in 1964. She earned her MM from East Carolina University and her certification as Educational Leadership/Curriculum Specialist from Fayetteville State University. She taught in private, parochial, and public schools as well as Methodist University. She has been a member of MENC: The National Association for Music Education (now National Association for Music Education) and NC ACDA since 1970.

The most wonderful and outstanding elements of her career she credits as her "students." She was fortunate to be able to travel with her students to perform in numerous places and times in the US and in Europe. Her guest conducting events have been in over 10 counties in North Carolina. She adjudicates choral events annually.

Betty-Neill, with 2 other musicians, was named (as first member) of the Fayetteville Music Hall of Fame, in 2008. Betty-Neill lives with her husband Larry in Fayetteville.

Nominations for the Award

The deadline for submitting recommendations each year is September 30th.

Recommendations should be sent to:

Sam Doyle, Hoggard Award Chair
1313 Westminster Drive
Greensboro, NC 27410
336.282.0549 / 336.370.8287 (FAX)

You may also email recommendations to sam2ann@triad.rr.com.

Hoggard Award Nomination Form

About Dr. Hoggard

Lara G. Hoggard, a William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of music, is internationally recognized as a creative music educator, conductor and author.

Hoggard was born in 1915 in Kingston, Okla. He earned an B.A. from Southeastern State College in Oklahoma in 1934 and an M.A. and a D.Ed. in 1947 from Columbia University.

Hoggard came to UNC Chapel Hill in 1967 with tremendous experience in choral music. He had been conductor of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale in Texas, which he helped establish. He also founded the National Young Artist Competition in Midland, which now honors winners with awards named in his honor. He was director of the Youth and Music in Vienna Festival, whose sponsors offer a scholarship in his name. Hoggard has conducted hundreds of festivals and choirs worldwide and was musical director of CBS and NBC network radio and television broadcasts. He also was the producer and conductor of the award-winning National Concert Company.

Hoggard was the first teacher in UNC Chapel Hill's Division of Fine Arts to be named a William R. Kenan Jr. Professor. At the University, he established the Carolina Choir, which quickly became known as the best in the Southeast. For 25 years he directed the UNC Chapel Hill Summer Institute in Choral Arts. Hoggard wrote "Improving Music Reading" and co-wrote the series "Exploring Music."

Hoggard has been bestowed with many honors and awards. Governor Jim Hunt honored him with the states Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 1980, the highest award the governor's office can bestow. At UNC Chapel Hill, he was named to the Order of the Golden Fleece and received the Tanner Award for excellence in teaching in 1972. He was selected by students as one of the 10 best professors at the University.

Hoggard retired from UNC in 1980. He died in 2007 at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife, Mildred, and their daughter, Susan.

As Robin Garner wrote, "The lifework of Lara Hoggard is synonymous with choral music education, consummate musicianship and inspired performances, not only in North Carolina but throughout the United States and beyond." An Atlanta columnist once conjectured that "it is possible that Lara Hoggard has taught and conducted more people in person than has anyone else in the world."

Past Hoggard Award Recipients