Myers Receives Prestigious MCDA Award

Jerry Myers, professor of music at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, recently received one of the highest honors given to choral directors in Missouri. He received the Jeff Sandquist Presidential Award of Excellence from the Missouri Choral Directors Association. 

The award is given for contributing extraordinary service and dedication to the MCDA, as well as intellectual integrity, commitment to excellence and high musical achievement both in teaching and for performance on stage. This award, formerly known as the Presidential Award of Excellence, is not necessarily presented annually.

“I know the person for whom the award is named (Sandquist), and he is a very successful choral conductor who has given most of his career to serving many music organizations,” Myers said. “I also hold the utmost respect for the past awardees. I do not teach or serve MCDA for any type of recognition. I do it to make our students and profession better. So, to be recognized for an award that has been given to others who I see as highly influential and impactful to choral music has left me stunned and very humbled.”

Myers is shown in the accompanying photo receiving the award from Amy Krinke, MCDA past president. He also received the MCDA Legacy Bronze Certificate in recognition of more than 25 years of service to the organization.

Myers has taught at STLCC for 15 years. He serves as the director of choral activities and is the music program coordinator. Myers also directs the Meramec Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. He is the faculty adviser for the Meramec chapter of Phi Theta Kappa and is the Honors program coordinator. Outside of STLCC, Myers serves as the executive director of Crescendo Youth Choirs.

“Watching a student grow as a musician from their first to last semester at STLCC is the reason I went into teaching,” he said. “I love the interaction between teacher and student where we identify a student’s strengths and capitalize on them, and find what they need to improve upon and guide them through that growth.”

Prior to joining STLCC, Myers taught at Washington and Lee University. There he served as associate director as well as acting director of choral activities.

He holds a doctor of musical arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a master of arts in music–music education and choral conducting from Western Illinois University. His bachelor’s degree in music vocal performance is from Illinois State University.