Dr. Scott Price, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Music/Piano and Piano Pedagogy and Coordinator of Piano Pedagogy, has been selected by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Board of Directors as the 2026 MTNA Teacher of the Year. The award honors teachers who go above and beyond to demonstrate excellence in music education. Nominated by South Carolina Music Teachers Association President Eunjung Choi, in recognition of being the 2023 SCMTA Teacher of the Year, Price will be honored at the Awards Brunch during the 2026 MTNA National Conference in Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday, March 25.

This honor is among many that Price has received. He is a 2019 recipient of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy Outstanding Service Recognition Award, the 2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award from The Cleveland Institute of Music, the 2023 South Carolina Music Teachers Association Teacher of the Year Award, and in 2020, he was honored as a Carolina Distinguished Professor—the highest recognition given to a faculty member by The University of South Carolina.

Price joins esteemed MTNA Teacher of the Year recipients, including Stewart Gordon, 2025; Alison S. Barr, 2024; and Victoria Fischer Faw, 2023. In addition to this prestigious designation, MTNA recognizes outstanding teachers who make a significant difference in students’ lives, contribute to the community, and model professional excellence through the annually presented Achievement and Distinguished Service Awards.

For well over a century, MTNA has been the foundation of a collaborative community of music-teaching professionals, connecting both experienced educators and those just starting their careers. 

MTNA is just one of numerous national music organizations whose leadership and professional activities feature contributions from distinguished USC music faculty. Cormac Cannon, Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music, was recently chosen to join the American Bandmasters Association. Considered one of the highest honors a band director can earn, membership requires sponsorship by at least three current members; the nomination and election process takes over a year.

The American Bandmasters Association, founded in 1929, with John Philip Sousa as Honorary Life President, recognizes outstanding achievement on the part of Concert Band conductors and composers. The current membership (invitational) comprises approximately 300 wind band conductors and composers in the United States and Canada, with Honorary Members in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. The organization also includes approximately 50 Associate Members (music businesses and corporations that provide significant services to bands and to the publication of band music.)

“Any honor like this is only possible because of the amazing students and colleagues we have at USC, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to do the work that receives this kind of recognition,” says Cannon.

In addition to managing all parts of USC’s band program, Cannon directs the graduate wind conducting program and conducts the Wind Ensemble and the Palmetto Concert Band.