December 4, 2025 — Wellesley Public Schools extends its warmest congratulations to Wellesley High School Choral Director Dr. Kevin McDonald, who was has been named one of 10 finalists nationwide for the 2026 GRAMMY Music Educator Award! The GRAMMY honors educators who have made significant contributions to music education and the lives of their students.
Dr. McDonald has been a semifinalist for the award for the past four years, but this is his first time as a finalist. Most of this year’s finalists are high school teachers, but the list also includes elementary and university educators. The winner will be announced shortly before the February 1 GRAMMY Awards and will have the opportunity to attend the event and walk the red carpet.
The 10 finalists were announced on CBS This Morning.
“I am absolutely ecstatic that Dr. McDonald has been named a GRAMMY Music Educator Award finalist,” said Lauren Saracino, interim WPS K-12 Director of Performing Arts. “For those of us lucky enough to know and work alongside him, this is no surprise – it is a thoroughly deserved honor. Dr. McDonald’s talent is immense, his contributions are remarkable, and his commitment to his students is the very definition of this award.”
As a finalist, Dr. McDonald will receive a guaranteed $1,000 honorarium and a matching grant for the WHS music program. The winner receives a $10,000 honorarium and a matching school grant.
“I am honored and humbled to be on this list of incredible educators and want to emphasize that we are merely representatives of the amazing work so many music educators are doing every day to keep music education alive and providing beacons of light for all students,” Dr. McDonald said.
“I also want to be sure to emphasize that this award is not an individual award! It is recognition that has been made possible by my mentors, colleagues, family, community, and most of all students and musicians that I share my life with.”
McDonald is in his 22nd year as Choral Director at Wellesley High School, where he leads a thriving program consisting of 5 curricular choral ensembles and 4 extracurricular a cappella groups. The many highlights of Dr. McDonald’s career at WHS include:
- In 2023, he received the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Lowell Mason Award, presented annually to recognize members of MMEA who have been leaders in music education in Massachusetts.
- The WHS Rice Street Singers have earned a Gold Medal at the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education Awards for 15 straight years.
- His choral programs have performed the national anthem at Fenway Park, most recently in September with the Keynote and Rice Street singers.
- His students have performed multiple times with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. Most recently, the Keynote Singers appeared with the Pops in the 2023 performance of Video Games Live.
- The Rice Street Singers were High School Champions twice in WGBH’s Sing that Thing competition, in Seasons 3 (2017) and 4 (2018).
In addition to his teaching in Wellesley, Dr. McDonald is the conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus of Tenors and Basses in Boston, Director of Music at Wellesley Village Church, and is an active guest conductor for State/District Festivals throughout New England. He frequently serves as clinician at many state/regional music conferences.
Dr. McDonald holds a B.M. in music education from the University of New Hampshire, a M.M. in low brass performance from the University of Idaho, and a DMA in music education with choral conducting emphasis from The Hartt School, University of Hartford.