Deborah Turnbull is CSMTA 2015 Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Deborah Turnbull, who received the 2015 CSMTA Teacher of the Year Award at the Local Association Luncheon on June 5, during the State Conference. Deborah’s accomplishments and her contributions to the Douglas-Elbert Music Teachers Association and CSMTA are many. On the state level, she has served as the Commissioned Composer Chair and is currently CSMTA’s Vice President for Membership. She has also served CSMTA as an adjudicator in numerous local association festivals, as a guest lecturer at various local association meetings, and as a presenter at CSMTA conferences.

Ms. Turnbull was the first president of the newly formed music teachers group in the Parker area for four years. This was followed by a second term as Douglas-Elbert Music Teachers Association president for another four years, during which time she was instrumental in encouraging DEMTA to become part of CSMTA.

As a member of DEMTA, Deborah helped start the DEMTA Festival twenty years ago and later introduced the Keynote Independent Theory Service (KITS) theory program for the festival. She is currently the Scholarship and KITS Theory Chairman for DEMTA.

In addition to Deborah’s involvement with CSMTA, she is an active member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers and the National Federation of Music Clubs.  As a NGPT member, she started a new Guild audition center in Parker over twenty years ago, and continues to be the chair of that center, in addition to serving as a consultant for Guild teachers in the area and adjudicating Guild auditions. As a member of NFMC, her students participate annually at both the local and state level festivals. 

Perhaps Deborah’s greatest legacy can be found among the hundreds of students whose lives have been enriched by her teaching and accompanying expertise. In addition to 40 years of private piano teaching, she has taught vocal and general music K-6 in the public schools and served as a full-time vocal staff accompanist at the high school level.

Her private students have participated in and have been award recipients in the DEMTA festivals, CSMTA Student Performance Activities, the DEMTA scholarship program and DEMTA performance award program, the KITS theory program and national honor roll, and the NFMC local festival and state competition. Her students have also participated in many national and international Guild programs, achieving very high scores each year, with four students earning the Guild High School Diploma. Many of her students have continued their music studies in college as music majors and minors.

Beyond festivals and competitions, Deborah and her students invest in their community by sharing their musical talent through outreach performances at retirement centers and nursing homes, hospitals, local businesses, churches and schools. Deborah’s personal community involvement includes serving as a church organist and choir accompanist for over 33 years. As music chairman for the Parker and Elizabeth area the past 15 years, she has organized music for the weekly services and semi- annual meetings. She has also served as an adjudicator for the Elbert and Douglas County 4-H music competitions to select participants for the Colorado State Fair.

In Deborah’s ‘spare time,’ she also composes pedagogical piano pieces and is currently working on getting her works published.

Ms. Turnbull received her BME, magna cum laude, and her MM in Piano Performance from the University of Northern Colorado. Her college honors include the Marvin E. George Scholarship for outstanding leadership in Music Education and the Colorado State Music Talent Scholarship for performance. She was also awarded a graduate teaching assistantship in undergraduate class piano and applied piano. As a member of CSMTA, Deborah was awarded state certification 1985-1995.

I enjoyed reading the letters of reference in support of Deborah’s nomination for CSMTA Teacher of the Year. I would like to share the following quote from Dr. Carleen Graff, Professor of Music at Plymouth State University and NHMTA, Immediate Past President: “In all my years on the MTNA National Board, Chair of the National Competitions, President of Eastern Division, and as Certification Commissioner, I seldom have found such dedicated teachers as Debbie.”

On behalf of the Teacher of the Year Committee, I am proud to present Deborah Turnbull as the 2015 CSMTA Teacher of the Year. Please join me in congratulating her!

Submitted by Mary Beth Shaffer, NCTM