Farmington Schools Music Department Chair Gets Major Award

FARMINGTON, CT — Leslie Imse, Music Department chair for the Farmington public school system, has been selected as Connecticut Music Education Association’s Outstanding Arts Administrator for the 2020-2021 school year.

A virtual ceremony will take place on June 22, during which Imse will be presented with a certificate of recognition by members of the CMEA Executive Board.

Under her leadership, the Farmington music department has been recognized with numerous performance and education awards. Most notably the town of Farmington was named one of the Best Communities for Music Education and the CT Arts Administrators Association’s Excellence in Arts Education Award for the outstanding K-12 music program, school officials said.

Imse is the recipient of several music and educational awards. She was named Connecticut Choral Director of the Year by the CT American Choral Directors Association in 2005 and 2016. The Connecticut State Department of Education awarded her with the Celebration of Excellence in Education Award in 1989 and Teacher of the Year Award in 1992.

An active member in educational leadership, she has served on the following Connecticut State Department of Education committees: 2020-2021 CT Arts Administrators COVID Task Force, Teacher Competency Standards, Arts Interdisciplinary Standards Committee, Model Curriculum in Arts Committee, Review Board of CT Music Standards and Portfolio scoring/TEAM reviewer. At the national level, she is an Advanced Placement Music Theory Reader for the College Board’s Educational Testing Services. Her article, Student-Centered Classrooms: Past Initiatives and Future Practices was published in NAfME’s Music Education Journal in the December 2016 issue.