Anthony Ferreira is Director of Choral Music at Suffield High School, Director of Music at Second Baptist Church, Suffield, and Assistant Director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra. Readers of the Observer will remember the first two positions Anthony holds because of the beautiful performance that the combined choirs performed last year, Brahms’ German Requiem. In addition, both groups have presented musical programs separately, in formats welcoming the community to attend. And to top it all off, proceeds from each of these have gone to benefit the Suffield Community Aid’s various efforts here in our town.
The Pioneer Symphony Orchestra, on the other hand, is a group not generally well known in Suffield. Its tickets are sold on a sliding scale, meaning that members of the audience pay what they can; some concerts are free. Not surprisingly, Anthony is particularly interested and involved in the group’s educational concert, which offers upper elementary aged children the opportunity to learn about orchestral music and perhaps to encourage young interest in playing a musical instrument. He also directs Holiday Pops and Summer Pops concerts for the organization.
Anthony has been selected this year, as he was in 2024, to enter the competition for the Grammy Museum Educator Award for excellence in the teaching of music. In 2024, he advanced to the quarter finals stage of the competition. Now is his second opportunity! From two thousand current nominations, 200 music teachers have been invited to continue in the process for the 2026 award. There will be three more stages of competition, culminating for the single winner in a personal stipend of $10,000 and a stipend for the school’s music department of another $10,000. Similar but lesser awards are granted to the finalists. Of course it’s a long shot, and it takes a good deal of preparation for each candidate even to be considered, but what a good experience.
Anthony holds an undergraduate degree in music composition from UMass/Amherst, and a master’s degree from Indiana University/Jacobs School of Music in choral conducting. And how did he decide on a teaching career? For one thing, educational careers run in his family; both his parents have been “in the business.” But early on, Anthony knew that he would prefer to be engaged with other people in his career choice as opposed to composing in the abstract. Next year, along with a teacher of AP geography at the high school, he will be taking a mixed age group of students on a musical journey to Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich. The SHS choir will perform music by German composers as well as American popular music, in several centuries-old cathedrals in Europe–and as a bonus, will be able to walk the streets walked by those composers–a breathtaking opportunity.
In addition to the musical side of the trip, there will be a second angle: the SHS teacher of Human Geography, Kelly Blais, will add another academic dimension and additional chaperone strength. The two teachers are aiming for what Anthony describes as an “intersection of music and history.” Although the detailed plans are not yet complete, they envision a rich cross-disciplinary learning experience for their students. It sounds like an outstanding way to learn, in a setting ideal for history as well as for music.
Anthony is a warm and friendly sort of person who seems relaxed and even laid-back, but what energy! And what devotion to his calling! Much of what he is doing is far beyond the call of duty, and Anthony has plenty of duties calling for his attention. We’re a small town, not a wealthy one compared to some of Hartford’s other suburban settings, but here we have a first rate musician who has chosen to share his talent and his time and his competence with us. Three cheers! And good luck to all participants in the trip; beware of those cobblestones!