NC SYMPHONY HONORS MATT

From the NC Symphony:

Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement

The Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement is named for the Symphony’s former director of education in recognition of his longstanding service and commitment to young people in the state of North Carolina. 

2019/20 Honoree: Matt Fry

Matt Fry, currently in his 32nd year of teaching, is the Chorus Director at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City, North Carolina, where he was named Teacher of the Year for 2006/07 and again for 2017/18. He is a graduate of Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he received a bachelor’s degree in education, with honors, and was named the Outstanding Graduate in Vocal Music in 1988. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA).
Mr. Fry taught for 12 years in Caruthersville, Missouri, where his choirs and soloists consistently received “Superior” and “Excellent” ratings at district and state music festivals. He taught for one year at Eaton-Johnson Middle School in Henderson, North Carolina, before finding his home at Jordan-Matthews. His choirs have achieved “Superior” and “Excellent” ratings in the annual North Carolina Music Performance Adjudication. Several of his students have participated in NCMEA’s High School Honors Chorus and All-State Choral Festival.
In addition to his teaching, Mr. Fry is also the director of the Fearrington Village Singers and the choir at Rocky River Baptist Church in Siler City. He sang for nine years with the Duke Chapel Choir and for several seasons with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, both under the baton of Dr. Rodney Wynkoop.
Mr. Fry is a founding board member of the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, an organization promoting the student artists at Jordan-Matthews. His philosophy of education is inspired the name of his school’s mascot, the Jets: Just do your job. Expect excellence from yourself and others, Teach others what you know, and Show up!

JMArts donates baby grand piano
for students at Jordan-Matthews

SILER CITY, N.C. — The idea took root two years ago when the All County Chorus performed at Jordan-Matthews. It was an evening of glorious choral music, performed beautifully by the community’s best vocalists. But there was only one wrong note: the piano.

"When we wheeled out the old upright from the chorus room, it looked really sad, and its sound didn’t come close to matching the quality of our students' performance," said chorus teacher Matt Fry. "That's when we started wondering if there was any way we could buy a new piano."
But budgets were tight at the school and district, and requests through the usual funding channels didn't bear fruit. So last fall, JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, took up the cause and began a fundraising drive to purchase a used baby grand.
"We were a little nervous about committing to raise the thousands of dollars even a quality used piano would cost," said foundation president Rose Pate. "But Matt kept saying he thought we could pull it off. And he was right.
"The outpouring of support from all over the county was incredible, particularly from the Fearrington community. By January, just a few months after the campaign began, we had enough gifts and pledges to cover not only the cost of the piano, but also the cost of maintenance and building a secure place to store it.”



Matt and new piano