Office of University Communications 

Violin professor named Collegiate Educator of the Year

SPRINGFIELD – David Hays, associate professor of music at Missouri State University, was awarded the Missouri String Teacher Association 2008 Collegiate Educator of the Year award for excellence in string teaching at the Missouri Music Educators Association conference Jan. 24 at Tan-Tar-A.

“Congratulations to Dr. Hays on this prestigious award,” said Dr. Roger Stoner, music department head. “Such an honor not only reflects the excellence and dedication of David’s teaching, but also on the quality of the department of music and the College of Arts and Letters.”

Hays earned his bachelor’s degree at Indiana University and his master’s in music and doctorate in music at Northwestern University. A former concertmaster of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute young artists’ orchestra, he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony and others. As a chamber musician, he has performed live on WFMT Chicago with the Sheridan Chamber Players and was a finalist at the 1998 Banff International String Quartet Competition as co-principal violinist of the Fry Street Quartet. As a member of the Hawthorne Trio, he has performed throughout the United States, in Poland, the Czech Republic and England.

“It is very humbling to be recognized by my peers at MO-ASTA (Missouri American String Teachers’ Association) who work so hard for the string students of Missouri,” said Hays.