OUR COMPOSERS
Nan Grantham
Nan Grantham (b. 1936) shares her biographical information as if she were speaking to the young people in your music program.
I grew up in a small church in which members, including children, often participated in the music program. I played the piano and organ for services while still in high school, and even led the choir one summer as a college student. I knew that I wanted to go to college and study music, so that I could either (l) teach public school music, (2) teach piano lessons, or (3) work with church music. I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi, and later earned a Master's of Music Degree from the same school.
I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to have all three careers. I taught public school music several years, then taught a large piano class for several more, and finally worked for 25+ years as a church musician. I have been privileged to work in large churches with as many as 18 children's groups, but have also been able to work with vocal groups of all ages and even church orchestras. A fourth career has been that of composer/clinician. I have worked with children's choir festivals and choir leaders in many states all over the country, and have been a curriculum writer for Lifeway Children's Music Series for 25+ years. That writing, plus writing for Choristers Guild, has been very challenging and has allowed me to meet many wonderful friends in the music field.
Special honors that I treasure are the "Editor's Choice Award" given by the Church Music Department of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1993, the "Order of the Golden Arrow" award, given by Mississippi
College to outstanding alumni that same year, and the Senseney Award for the Best Piano Teaching Aids in 1989 for the Choristers Guild Language of Music Series.
Special privileges that have been mine, as extra-curricular activities, have been directing the Mass Piano Concerts in Jackson, Mississippi for many years, and directing the Louisiana Baptist Children's Honor Choir on several occasions.
Special joys continue to be a part of my life, as I continue to work with children and music through the Houston Children's Chorus and teaching a Home School Music Class.
My husband, Kerry, and I live in Fulshear Texas (Houston area), and enjoy being near our son and daughter and their families, including 7 beautiful grandchildren.