Black Scholar Receives Lifetime Achievement

BROOKLYN   -- The National Association for the Study and Performance of African-American Music (NASPAAM) today is honoring Dr. Jesse McCarroll with its Lifetime Achievement Award at its Eleventh National Biennial Conference in Houston, TX,. 

Dr. McCarroll, professor emeritus of music at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), currently teaches part-time at the College, where he has instructed students since 1970. 

In announcing the award, NASPAAM president Ina R. Allen said, “Jesse McCarroll has proven himself to be an outstanding music educator, enriching the lives of thousands upon thousands of students in his long career. Moreover, he is a dedicated supporter of the arts who has made significant contributions to the field of music in general and Black Music in particular.” 

NASPAAM is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to promoting, performing and preserving all facets of African-American music through advocacy, education and performance. Dr. McCarroll is NASPAAMÂ’s president-elect.

Dr. McCarrollÂ’s commitment to music education is evident from the many organizations he has served in various capacities. He is a board member, treasurer and membership coordinator of the African American Jazz Caucus of the International Association of Jazz Education (IAJE). He is on the board of advisors of the Living Encyclopedia of Global African Music, member of the advisory board and secretary of the Gateway Music Festival (located at the Eastman School of Music) and treasurer and board member of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. McCarroll is the national representative of the United States to the Pan African Society of Musical Arts Education and serves as senior advisor to the Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education. In addition, he was chair for two consecutive terms of the Multicultural Awareness Commission, New York State School Music Association.

He has been honored by the Black Music Caucus of New York and by the National Black Music Caucus (now the National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music) of Music Educators National Conference (MENC), of which he is a member of the board of directors and one of two members at large.

Born on a farm in Dayton, Alabama, Dr. McCarroll grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He studied piano with Friedrich Wuhrer at the Mannheim School of Music, Mannheim, Germany, Eugene Mancini and Marianne Matousek Mastics at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Thomas Richner and Martin Canin in New York City. He received the bachelor of music degree, in piano, from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and master of arts and doctor of education degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Dr. McCarroll, a former junior high school music teacher in the New York City Public School System is co-author of Making Music Fun: A complete collection of games, puzzles, and activities for the elementary classroom (1981) and of Elementary Music TeacherÂ’s Almanack: Timely Music Lessons Plans For Every Day of the School Year (1978). He is a contributing author of Teaching Jazz: A Course of Study (1996).

In June, l999, Dr. McCarroll received City TechÂ’s “Performance Excellence Award.” This award was given for excellence in teaching and service to students. His honors also include being selected “Educator of the Year” by the Association of Black Educators of New York, “CUNY Scholar” by The City University of New York and “Scholar on Campus” by City Tech. 

In addition to his roles as educator and advocate, Dr. McCarroll has given numerous piano recitals in the United States. In l982, he played for the formal opening of the Saenger Performing Arts Center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and was given the “key to the city.” Under the auspices of Operation Crossroads Africa, he performed in a quartet, on a tour of eight countries in West Africa, playing for the Presidents of Mauritania, Liberia and Ghana.