Ben Blasko named 2024 GRAMMY Foundation Music Educator Award quarter finalist

Presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the award recognizes educators who have made a significant contribution and demonstrate a commitment to music education.

Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491 | 05/10/2023

Ben Blasko, assistant professor and director of instrumental studies in the School of Music, has been named a quarter finalist for the 2024 GRAMMY Foundation Music Educator Award. The award, presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, recognizes educators who have made a significant contribution and demonstrate a commitment to music education.

Professionally, Blasko has conducted groups such as the Nashville Symphony, Boston Symphony, the North Texas Wind Symphony and the Agora Brass Ensemble. His music has been played all over the world by groups such as the Nashville, Boston and Colorado Symphonies and the United States Air Force and Navy Bands, Israeli State Band and numerous collegiate ensembles. Additionally, he has orchestrated music for OneRepublic, Colton Dixon and Disney. His work can be found on the Naxos, Mark Custom, Klavier and Capitol record labels.

“Of course it is an honor to be nominated and to be a quarter finalist,” Blasko said, “but what is most exciting for me is that one of the highest honors in commercially released music is bringing light to where it often begins for someone’s musical exposure, music educators. One of the greatest foundations of most music making is the cultivation of a love and respect for all music.”

Blasko’s own conducting teachers included Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Jack Stamp, Dennis Fisher, Brad Genevro, William Stowman and Timothy Dixon. He has studied composition with Bruce Broughton, Stamp, Kirsten Broberg, Bruce Yurko and Alvin Singleton.

“I look at this list and see the names of so many who have poured their very existence into giving others an opportunity to express themselves through music,” Blasko said. “It makes me extremely emotional to think about them. I then think about my own students. It is my greatest desire to see them flourish in all they do, in more than just music, music just happens to be the vehicle.”

Blasko’s teaching and mentoring skills earned him the nomination for the award and the admiration of his students. Luke Snyder (’23), a music composition graduate, came to Lipscomb as a freshman for the opportunity to study under Blasko. He certainly benefited, as Snyder was also recognized this year with a nomination for a prestigious award–the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Award, which honors emerging composers worldwide. 

“Dr. Blasko definitely had an enormous impact on me, both career-wise and as a person,” said Snyder. “The amount of time he spent listening and giving incredible advice, and the music opportunities he gave me these last four years have been incredibly valuable, and I will always be grateful for that!”

Snyder said one of the highlights of his student experiences was working with Blasko on the Tommee Proffitt Christmas album The Birth of a King in 2020 and the live concert in 2022. To arrange the original music for an orchestra, Profitt worked with Blasko, who also conducted the orchestra for the Birth of a King performance. Blasko and the nine Lipscomb students he selected worked on the orchestrations, investing more than 600 hours of work on the project.

“This is the type of work they can do as a job once they graduate,” said Blasko. “They had to walk through this project from first listening to the songs all the way to printing the sheet music for the orchestra. The students were working with established artists, so it added the stress factor that it had to succeed, but they also had my guidance as a safety net. I encourage my students to live dangerously in their creative work.

“I am so thankful that Lipscomb continues to invest in me and my students,” Blasko said. “It gives me hope that we can change people’s lives for the better through music. This Grammy Award category, to me, is a sign that others believe the same.”

Blasko received his Bachelor of Science in music education from Messiah College in Pennsylvania. He then received a master’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate from The University of North Texas. 

The 212 quarter finalists for the 2024 GRAMMY Foundation Music Educator Award, who hail from 197 cities, were selected from more than 2,000 initial submitted nominations. Semi-finalists will be announced this September. 

The ultimate recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024 and the nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. Fifteen semi-finalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.